Just days ago, I was telling a friend that most banks actually have VERY poor security, and he didn't believe me...

http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/50-gb-of-credit-card-details-83248

Hard to say what the implications of this hack are, because not much information is available yet, but, if this is real, I imagine it's going to cost a lot to banks, both financially and in terms of reputation. Which could be good news for Bitcoin...  

[this chart]

I've made this chart for my own usage, but thought it might help new users navigate through the existing options for Bitcoin clients.   Note that I purposefully chose to focus on desktop-based (non web-based), open-source clients only.

If others find the chart helpful, I can update it regularly, as new versions get released. Also feel free to suggest any other criteria that would be interesting to compare in a table format. And thanks for letting me know of any mistakes.


Disclaimer: Although I have tried all the clients listed, I'm almost exclusively an Electrum user - and I make stand-alone Windows builds for it.  

What is the current % of Bitcoin users running windows, macOS and linux? Are there some data or charts available somewhere?

Who is the first known person (after Satoshi) that has generated coins - or received coins from Satoshi?

For 0.3BTC, you get the full source code and supporting files for this
 original CSS/Jquery visual effect - supports both text and images!

 Check it out in action here: (just hover mouse in and out of the content to see the effect)
 
 Demo 1 (text):    http://dre.tx0.org/demo1-obf-wox12-3.html
 Demo 2 (image):  http://dre.tx0.org/demo0-obf-wox12-3.html
 
 The price is low, so please note that what you will get is
 some fully functional code, but no documentation, and no support from me.
 Please be aware that the code is messy, but quite short, so it shouldn't be a big
 pain to adapt to your needs.
 
 I will the email you a zip file with the code for this effect right after receiving payment
 to the address in my signature (most often within minutes, if I'm awake).

The Domain name is Ethercash.com.

Appraisals from various sources, as of April 2012 (in USD):

 sedo.com:                                          500-999
 urlappraisal.net:                                   1585
 namebio.com (recent similar sales):   around 2500


So my price should be a big bargain, as I would need to get
some BTC urgently. Anyway, I'm open for discussion.

I can see that many people seem to be begging for a few bitcoins in their signature (me too!) ,
but when i check their addresses in blockexplorer, they invariably appear empty. Let's just admit that technique doesn't work and start actually doing something useful to earn some BTC... What do you think?

While working out at the gym the other day, I suddenly had an idea that made
me very excited... As I have no plans to implement it myself, let me share it with
you guys - and if someone does eventually build it, I would appreciate a little donation

It would be nice to have exercise bikes and/or treadmills  displaying an extra little counter, in BTC, that would rapidly increase as you exercise (even if by Satoshis)?

When you end your session, the gym instantly sends your "earnings" to your address.

Gym equipment that re-uses power generated by users already exists, as can been seen here:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2015615233_greenfitness15.html

So it's only a logical extension to pay back those users with a little fraction of the revenue generated.
It probably wouldn't be much, but it would still be a strong motivator for many of us, I believe! Especially
if uses Bitcoin!

Of course implementing such a system wouldn't be trivial, but shouldn't be an insurmountable feat either.

I would both be a nice way to promote Bitcoin, and get people to exercise more...

Any comments?

[Rules]

OK, I'm changing the format of this sale to make this a bit more fun and exciting.

Rules

1. I will transfer full ownership of the ethercash.com domain name (market value potentially in the 4 digits
    USD!) to the originator of the first 0.5 BTC transfer to my address that is followed by a period of 48 hours during
    which no further transfers come in, OR the first 1.0 BTC transfer followed by 24 hours of no transfers.

2. Please post a reply to this thread referring to your transaction ID RIGHT AFTER you have made the
    transaction. This is ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED to avoid abuse and make sure I'm transferring the domain to
    the correct person.

3. I will trust blockexplorer.com and blockchain.info for transaction timestamps.


So, in other words, the winner will get this domain name at a tiny fraction of its actual value
- possibly for just 0.5 BTC. Kind of a gamble, but can pay off big!
  

The address for this competition: 1E1CTr1sQtRRkJSsigSuXfQ2T1LeNmb4mZ

Good luck!

PS: Automated valuations for this domain name vary wildly, but currently range between $290 (http://www.valuate.com/) and $1540 (http://www.urlappraisal.net/)

Can you remember how you got your first Bitcoin?

I'd love to hear some nice stories - hopefully other than mining
or trading on MtGox, unless there's some unusual/interesting detail...

I, for one, reached my first BTC of wealth just last week, through a couple of kind donations!

I was just wondering, is there any Bitcoin client that supports including a short message in a payment transaction (such as "donation", "thanks", "gym subscription", whatever)?

If not, is it in theory feasible in the future (i.e., does the current protocol and blockchain format allow for it?)

[command-line]

I've been busy packaging a very compact and stable Cameyo-based build of the Electrum thin client!  Then I went a step further and removed ALL non-required Python modules and repackaged the rest using high compression.

Also, the following features cannot be found in other existing Electrum builds for Windows:

- full command-line support
- no installation needed: just download and run!
- highly optimized size and reduced attack surface: a huge number of unneeded executable files are excluded to achieve a lean and robust build
- includes the latest Python runtime security updates
- no need to pre-install Python, PyQt, ecdsa, or anything else: It's all in there,
- each build is pre-scanned by VirusTotal  
- hi-res icons
- no flickering at startup
- no admin privileges needed
- can work as a fully portable app (support for -w switch!)
- I also do a quick manual audit of the code changes that go into each new build

Get the latest Windows stand-alone build (built straight from the Electrum source tree on GitHub) from my website:

EXE and SHA1: http://dre.natverk.org/elecwin.htm

The resulting standalone executable is just 5.9MB.
Compare with the default Cameyo 40-45MB bloated packages!!  


Please let me know if any packaging-related quirks.



If there's enough interest, I can provide Win32 builds on a regular basis. Just a way of contributing to the community.

PS:
Why should you trust me? Well you don't have to. The full Python source code for each release can be examined in the %AppData%\Electrum_SysFiles directory and compared (using diff) with the official Electrum source tree for verification. The only changes I make are GUI-related, to give the app a more polished feel on Windows.

I hate the initial block download delay and don't care about mining myself for now.
what are the best ways to get started with bitcoin without installing the client?
I know it's possible, but would love to have some specific suggestions.

thanks

I made this little goodie with a friend, and thought others might like it too..
it's free, very lightweight, and CAPSLOCK toggles the display.

.

Get it from: http://dre.tx0.org/.

The display is  BIG by design. I like it that way. But I've taken special care
in making the text look good.