Jon Matonis with his opinion on the ECB report: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonmatonis/2012/11/03/ecb-roots-of-bitcoin-can-be-found-in-the-austrian-school-of-economics/

ECB: "Roots Of Bitcoin Can Be Found In The Austrian School Of Economics"
+ Comment now

Demonstrators crowd around the euro logo in fr...The ECB (European Central Bank) has produced the first official central bank study of the decentralized cryptographic money known as bitcoin, Virtual Currency Schemes. Ignoring for a moment the ECB’s condescending and derogatory use of the virtual currency phrase and scheme phrase, the study produced at least one landmark achievement.
...
...
..

I almost fell out my chair laughing when I read this part:

Central banks are a form of centralized economic planning so their stated responsibilities are suspect from the outset. Bitcoin represents an intangible math puzzle whose existence is solely restricted to transfer rights on a cloud-based public ledger. It more closely resembles an air guitar than a payment system for purposes of oversight.

 

This is for all you poor voters who are unhappy with the elected government:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmxA67f542M

Here I address some of the important concerns expressed by Democrat and Republican voters, and then give my heart-felt sympathies for your anxiety (sort of).

I just read this article, completely unrelated to Bitcoin itself but highly relevant when it comes to explaining Bitcoin to people and getting them to use it so I thought I'd share it:

http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/10/weve-located-the-reality-distortion-field-and-its-in-the-consumers-brain/?comments=1#comments-bar

We've located the reality distortion field, and it's in the consumer's brain
For some, learning about a product shatters their illusion of understanding.

The Ars Technica readership generally prides itself on wanting to know the technical details behind products, and finding these details generally increases the average Ars reader's desire for a product. But not everybody falls into this information-loving category; for some, learning more about a product actually makes them desire it less. Now, researchers have come up with an explanation for these information foes: the added details expose their existing understanding as shallow, which leaves them disappointed.

..
...

Continue at the link above.


As it turns out there are appear to be two groups of consumers, one that likes and wants to understand in detail how something works before buying it, and one that is perfectly happy with a simple explanation and might even dislike extra detail to the point that it would not buy the product. Someone in the comments made a really good observation:

This is a brilliant breakdown of why both Apple and Android products sell well:

Android products cater to people who want to understand what they're buying and why.

Apple products cater to people that just want something shiny without thinking about it.

(Local rule: No apple vs android debating, any posts about that will get deleted because the quote above isn't stating a scientific rule, merely a general observation that naturally has exceptions.)

I think this is important to keep in mind when you are explaining Bitcoin to potential new users. Look for cues what type of a consumer that person is and depending on how much detail they prefer, cater your explanation/pitch accordingly.

Hello everyone,

As I ponder the heated discussion I had after the Tuesday presentation of Bitcoin here in Slovenia presented by Nejc Kodrič (bitstamp.net), his programer and developer Damian Merlak, another enthusiast programer they met in London Matija Mazi and me, where one audience member just couldn't be convinced that a fixed supply of money is a good thing and actually the best form a money can have..

..I'd just like to call attention to this most often grossly misunderstood issue surrounded with myths that a fixed supply of money with a banking system without a central bank and no regulation will lead to devastating banking problems and economic crisis. Myths that are most often spread without really doing any research on the matter. And when one actually does look at history and look at what the circumstances really were that did undoubtedly lead to pretty bad problems one finds that yet again it wasn't a market regulated strictly by it's consumers i.e. a free market coupled with no government regulations/no central bank the cause of these problems but that the truth is that there were regulations and that it was precisely those (big surprise, not) that lead to all those problems. Meanwhile in that same period of time a not perfectly free but much much better system in Canada worked problems free that barely gets mentioned or remembered.

How I know all of this? Well I don't know, but I do trust Dr. George Selgin, Professor of Economics at the Terry School of Business at the University of Georgia and author of a number of books on money and banking ("Bank Deregulation and Monetary Order" and "Good Money."), does and I'd invite you to lend him an hour of your time and listen to a lecture on this specific and for understanding the facts of history very important issue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeIljifA8Ls

And please, if at all possible, stop spreading these ugly myths. Thank you!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rules for this thread:
1) the subject of this thread is the false accusation of no regulations + a fixed supply of money as the cause of banking crisis and panics - all posts must stay on this topic
2) any opinion not substantiated with a verifiable fact(s) of history is not allowed
3) sophistry and logical fallacies not allowed

Any post violating my rules for this thread will get deleted as an off topic post. If you want to spread BS you can do so in your own thread.

Go check it out, my post with the most excellent interview [Understanding Bitcoin Security - Trace Mayer interviewed by VisionVictory] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtN9YUvh_XM is on the front page!

Did I earn some tips or what?  



Man oh man I wish I could see some of those stubborn highly skeptical gold bugs' heads explode watching it. It was down rated to -1, and then I uprated it to 0, someone rated it to +1 and now it's at 0 again...

Oh and the video is also on the 46th video on 8th page of "Popular videos around the Web" in the Science & Technology section on youtube!

Well I finally became a bit security conscious and have searched for anything I can find about how to create a secure savings wallet and I really don't like any of the answers available.

I don't like paper wallets because I don't want to print anything on a paper and I don't like liveCDs because I don't want to download the entire blockchain every time I want to spend from my savings wallet I also don't like a brainwallet because it exposes me to the risk of being robbed while entering my pass phrase when trying to spend from it.

Is there really no option to simply have a USB drive that I can pop in, before doing so restart my laptop, boot the USB and have a ready to go client and wallet with a connection ready and free of any worry of getting hacked?

These are my conditions for what I'd like to use:

-I want it in a digital form, preferably on an encrypted USB stick
-I want to be able to use it with my primary and only laptop (needing to reboot my laptop is fine)
-I want to be able to at least send myself an email with an address where to send the coins to and be safe doing so or use some other way of copy/paste
-I want to spend from my savings wallet without having to download the blockchain

[UPDATE: Up now!]

UPDATE: Up now! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfzHC7Pf2fk




James Turk in conversation with Félix Moreno de la Cova talking gold and bitcoin. Video to be released soon.
https://www.facebook.com/goldmoneyresearch




I wonder if James had his epiphany yet about Bitcoin or if he will repeat the same nonsense "it's digital ultimate fiat bla bla bla"

Taxes i.e. letting a small group of people rob me? No thank you.

[8 days]

I was wondering, do people realize just how crazy and obvious the first Bitcoin bubble was?

Take a look at this:

Code:

Timestamp		Open	High	Low	Close	Volume (BTC)	Volume (Currency) Weighted Price
2011-05-31 00:00:00	8.8	9.4998	8.1	8.741	45794.43	406882.27	8.88
2011-06-01 00:00:00	8.741	9.6987	8.3	9.57	43479.96	400564.35	9.21
2011-06-02 00:00:00	9.57	10.888	9.5	10.6	41047.27	415112.72	10.11
2011-06-03 00:00:00	10.6	14.499	10.5752	14.29	72980.24	954513.54	13.08
2011-06-04 00:00:00	14.29	18.89	14.04	18.89	44475.34	729670.85	16.41
2011-06-05 00:00:00	18.89	18.998	16.2	16.7	24278.97	420612.47	17.32
2011-06-06 00:00:00	16.7	19.23	16.4513	18.5499	55092.47	1016927.39	18.46
2011-06-07 00:00:00	18.5499	24.32	18.26	23.9234	53715.04	1068903.32	19.9
2011-06-08 00:00:00	23.9234	31.9099	22.2135	29.6	104925.16	2858820.38	27.25
2011-06-09 00:00:00	29.6	31.5	26.151	28.919	62933.66	1861589.64	29.58
2011-06-10 00:00:00	28.919	29.399	20.01	23.9497	92208.2		2274786.4	24.67
2011-06-11 00:00:00	23.9497	23.99	13	14.6511	121869.97	2146587.96	17.61
2011-06-12 00:00:00	14.6511	24.99	10.25	18.5464	151194.16	2451134.56	16.21
2011-06-13 00:00:00	18.5464	24.5	16	19.84	73421.79	1476239.59	20.11
2011-06-14 00:00:00	19.84	20.5	18.001	19.28	36155.99	696003.98	19.25
2011-06-15 00:00:00	19.28	20	19.022	19.49	27711.9		545336.14	19.68
2011-06-16 00:00:00	19.49	19.89	17	17	49202.14	927743.42	18.86
2011-06-17 00:00:00	17	18.34	13	15.681	108623.77	1684353.23	15.51
2011-06-18 00:00:00	15.681	16.9499	15.052	16.89	35536.55	569949.34	16.04
2011-06-19 00:00:00	16.89	18.8766	16.85	17.51	30176.74	536267.38	17.77

EDIT: hack happened on the 19th of June, after the last entry above

Watch the close price! In a matter of just 8 days we went from 8.741 to 29.6, which means the closing price more than tripled in just over a week. Well if this is a baseline, clearly we haven't again experienced something like it even with the recent price jump.

Don't misunderstand me, we still might be speeding a little bit right now but in the context of the first bubble I don't think we should worry all that much just yet.

What do you think using the first bubble as a baseline for this kind of thought?

I put a lot of work into the bitcoin.org clients page to make everything fairer, and now it will be removed, helping to recentralise bitcoin again.

If he is telling the truth I'd like to know what exactly his work is and why it's being removed. Why is he saying it's going to recentralize bitcoin?

I'd also appreciate it if someone could explain what he meant by:

Electrum maybe has a security flaw and Macs have random problems.

First off this is a serious post although it may appear as trolling to some who don't value science as much as I do.

Circumstance:
- pirate's business remarkably resembles as HYIP ponzi scheme the inevitable outcome of which will result in a total loss for everyone who "invested" with him
- there is no actual credible evidence that would either confirm or deny that pirate runs a ponzi*

In a sense the nature of pirate's business is like the Schrödinger's cat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOYyCHGWJq4

It's in a superposition where it's both a ponzi and a legit business -> 100% proof (not really but you get the point). Only after we get a peek behind the curtain will know which it really is.



Bottom line:
- Those who are "investing" with pirate or defending his practices need to understand that at least some of the time it's certain they are getting scamed and will lose everything and are even defending the scamming.



*we actually do have some circumstantial evidence based on pirates posts that does tip the scale slightly in favor of a ponzi scam but nothing that could stick in a court of law


EDIT:
Disclaimer: I thought it would have been obvious but it appears I overestimated the intelligence of some, particularly that of the first few posters who replied: This is a thought experiment, and not actually a concrete proof either way.

Ok I have this idea for which I wanted to test the waters a bit first to see whether or not I should even bother..


My hypothetical questions to you are this:

a) Would you consider a bitcoin transaction anonymous if the only info associated with it about your identity was your personal photo(no name, no IP, nothing besides your mug shot)? (this is more of a theoretical question)

b) Would you be willing to provide your personal photo to an organization in exchange for singing a contract binding yourself to certain private rules, a breach of which would only mean you'd get your membership with this organization terminated, and then whenever doing a bitcoin transaction you'd only do it if you and the counter party could see for each other that you are both on this organization's private members list of photos therefor knowing you both signed, agreed to and so far haven't broken the same private rules as an assurance against fraud or crime? (practical question)

The private organization in b) is kind of like a one strike web of trust, where a verified personal photo is your ID.

This excerpt is one of the best things I have read in a long while:

http://economicsandliberty.wordpress.com/a-way-to-be-free/?like=1&_wpnonce=2edf2fd66d

I wish I didn't need to pay some publisher $30 to read the whole thing but this excerpt just blew me away. It echoed thoughts precisely how I think about freedom and getting to a free society and right & wrong and good & bad and it gives me even more confirmation that my goal approach to freedom(goal: to live in a society that has the freedom to maximize it's potential) is the only way to really figure out the true requirements for reaching it and not some mythical universal rule of right or wrong i.e. morality.

 

Please give it a read and share your thoughts.

Hello everyone,

We all know Bitcoin is pretty hard to explain to those who do not share at least the basic knowledge of computer logic and coding and we all also know that many of those who do understand it often suffer from the curse of knowledge and are unable to explain it in simple, layman friendly ways so most people could have even a fighting chance of grasping the basic concept behind it.

But it is my opinion that in order for Bitcoin to grow people will want to understand at least the general picture of what it is and how it works before they'll consider using it and that's why I decided to do something about this IMO problem.


Despite being a complete amateur for creating video content, a foreigner to whom English is not the native language, and not even a programmer who would understand precisely how Bitcoin works I decided to start a youtube channel and recorded a few videos trying to make Bitcoin easier to understand. I think what I created has value and think I should continue making more, but I want to be sure so I decided to write this post and share my content with this community first and decide whether or not to continue based on the response I'll get.

So please, take a few minutes and check them all out, give me your feedback and consider rewarding me with a tip. If you do and the response is positive, I have a lot more topics and ideas in mind I'd like to cover and share. (disclaimer: these may not be 100% technically correct and I merely tried to be practically correct in order to keep it as simple as possible)

Why care about Bitcoin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClLbv1yisG4

Understanding Bitcoin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTFiDeeBpm8

Bitcoin currency rules:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4lNWJYy0vA

Bitcoin transaction properties:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJqFmlhN1lo

Bitcoin rule enforcement part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZuTdRvZLE0

Channel introduction video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnHLHIz7CXE

Also just found the panel discussion with Charlie Shrem[BitInstant] and Jered Kenna[TradeHill]:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poSouQFcb0Q

Virtual Currencies panel @Future of Money & Tech Conference w Jered Kenna, Bitcoin & Philip Rosedale, Coffee & Power & Charlie Shrem, Bitinstant.com & Rebecca Watson, RadiumOne with Eric Chan, Embee Mobile moderator. Video credit to Silvia Matheus

Just found this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98-GJvuwPHw

Nefario, also known as James McCarthy, originally from Ireland, worked as an engineer at Sun Microsystems for a short time on the Solaris team. Spent 2 years teaching English in mainland China. Began using Bitcoin late 2010 and have been a community member since that time, founded and runs the Bitcoin stock exchange (glbse.com).

Nefario was the first person to fly using Bitcoin and also the first person to be detained and deported from the US... also for using Bitcoin.

Currently Nefario is the CEO of GLBSE and the community manager for the second largest Bitcoin exchange, Intersango.

Unfortunately the sound quality is just horrible.. but hey, at least it's up.

Those mother fuckers.   I can't express how angry it makes me that some people out there think they own me.

The House on Thursday approved cybersecurity legislation that privacy groups cautioned was a threat to civil liberties.

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, or CISPA, sponsored by Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Michigan) and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Maryland), passed on a vote of 248 to 168.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/04/house-passes-cispa/

I hope this isn't too off topic and I think I could make somewhat of a case that it relates to Bitcoin since it shows how some guy is trying to get funding for his open source software idea and so I decided to share what I just saw in the kickstarter newsletter:

Light Table is based on a very simple idea: we need a real work surface to code on, not just an editor and a project explorer. We need to be able to move things around, keep clutter down, and bring information to the foreground in the places we need it most.

Basically it's a very interesting idea for a code writing platform, learn more about it here:

https://vimeo.com/40281991

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ibdknox/light-table?utm_campaign=Apr26&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70NajeUt2r8

Significantly ties in Bitcoin from 2min in on.

I thought this newly posted video was quite interesting and also something a lot of people around here are concerned about so I wanted to share:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm6ScvNygUU

video details:

What's beyond silicon? There have been a number of proposals: protein computers, DNA computers, optical computers, quantum computers, molecular computers. Dr. Michio Kaku says "if I were to put money on the table I would say that in the next ten years as Moore's Law slows down, we will tweak it."