[UPDATE: This offer may turn out to be is void, since I'm not sure I can I can't get giftable copies of all these games.]

UPDATE: This offer may turn out to be is void, since I'm not sure I can I can't get giftable copies of all these games.

I'm interested in selling the following Steam games:

• Half-Life 2, 0.4 BTC
• Half-Life 2: Episode One, 0.3 BTC
• Half-Life 2: Episode Two, 0.3 BTC
• Half-Life 2: Lost Coast, 0.1 BTC
• Team Fortress 2, make an offer
• Portal, 0.4 BTC (two copies!)
• Portal 2, 2.0 BTC

I want to buy a pack that includes these games. I'll buy the pack if I can find buyers for either Portal 2 or most of the others.[/s]

I have a DVD with original case and manual for the game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2." The game is already activated on Steam and cannot be activated again. I am not the holder of the license for this game, and I am not party to any contract with Activision Publishing, Inc.

I'm selling the DVD, case, and manual for 0.33 bitcoins. Basic shipping is included.

Why is "holding one's liquor" (i.e. alcohol tolerance) something to brag about?

Like, isn't the point of drinking to get tipsy (or at least relaxed)? Isn't accomplishing that task with less alcohol more efficient? Shouldn't you be trying to lower your tolerance, if anything?

(Yeah, I'm a bit tipsy as I write this. So what?)

Given that we're within spitting distance of XAG parity, I think a good way to celebrate might be to trade some bitcoins for 1oz silver rounds, 1:1. I'm looking for 30 - 40 oz altogether.

I don't expect anyone to fill this offer now---I'm just making it now so that someone can possibly accept it later.

Since we've had threads for 2, 20, and now 200, I figured I might as well get this one over with as well.

If someone else wants to start the 20000 USD poll, be my guest.

I'd like to move about $200 Mt Gox to BitcoinMarket. Is anyone willing to make an exchange?

I will pay 5 BTC to the first person who tells me the full name, home address, and telephone number of b4rrydoyle on Bitcoin Market. He owes me either 30 BTC or 500 USD.

This offer is lowered to 1 BTC in the event that I ever actually get my PayPal dollars---or 0 BTC in the event that you are b4rrydoyle.

I have the following information to start with:
Buyer ID 5184
Uses choupex@yahoo.fr
Uses pierre.chabot@laposte.net (but this may be a stolen account)

BitcoinMarket login history:
19913    5184    93.96.21.223    Succeeded    2011-06-02 19:15:25
20041    5184    82.22.253.146    Failed    2011-06-02 20:12:22
20044    5184    82.22.253.146    Succeeded    2011-06-02 20:12:40
21033    5184    80.7.151.74    Failed    2011-06-03 09:36:20
21034    5184    80.7.151.74    Succeeded    2011-06-03 09:36:50
21069    5184    80.7.151.74    Succeeded    2011-06-03 10:13:24
21515    5184    82.255.162.61    Succeeded    2011-06-03 15:47:56
21819    5184    82.255.162.61    Succeeded    2011-06-03 19:17:23
23760    5184    217.23.3.57    Failed    2011-06-04 12:03:02
23762    5184    217.23.3.57    Failed    2011-06-04 12:03:20
23763    5184    217.23.3.57    Failed    2011-06-04 12:03:33

I have some bitcoins on BitcoinMarket and I'd like to exchange them for BMUSD. But I just can't find a place to do this.

When I click "Accept an existing order" I see the following tabs:

BMBTC/LRUSD | BMBTC/MBUSD | BMBTC/MLUSD | BMBTC/PPUSD | BMBTC/PXGAU

But no BMBTC/BMUSD. I do have the option to create a new order for BMBTC/BMUSD, but I'd rather look at what's already available. How do I do that?

Press release

Q&A with HPCwire

We’ve sold the world’s first commercial quantum computer to a large global security company, Lockheed Martin. That’s a real milestone for us. We are excited to work with Lockheed and future customers to tackle complex problems traditional methods cannot resolve.

How does this affect the crypto used in Bitcoin? Are there known quantum algorithms for breaking ECDSA and SHA-2?

Here's the idea:

• Post your public key fingerprint here.
• Offer some solid evidence that you own that key. (You can decide what constitutes solid evidence. Or, more accurately, your audience can.)
• We all collect and sign one another's keys, provided we're convinced of their identity.

For example, I just posted the following message in another thread.

Code:

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

I am the real Ian Maxwell with public key fingerprint BFBC8D95. My key is only self-signed, but you can verify it by doing the following:

- - -  Send an email to ian.maxwell@gmail.com with subject line "BFBC8D95" and body text "bitcoin".

- - -  I will respond with a signed message referencing this one.

If you do verify my identity, I ask that you sign my public key afterward.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (MingW32)
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=o3wJ
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Note: although I'm revealing my offline identity, this is not required! You can use a pseudonymous key if you like, as long as you can prove it's yours. Signing a message with it may be enough.

Or more accurately, why isn't the maximum target 2^256 - 1? The issue of excessively fast block generation would have resolved itself within less than a second after the first client was run. Or the initial difficulty could have just been set to 1,000,000,000.

The scaled-down shares-per-block difficulty may be easier on the eyes, but its interpretation is kind of opaque. Quoting difficulty in Ghash/block at least means something.

Watching the difficulty go up, I realized I needed a way to quickly recognize when the day comes that mining is no longer profitable. So I worked out the following. Maybe someone else will find it useful.

If you are a miner, your your "magic number" is M = (shares * hashes) / (power * cost), where

• shares is the (constant) rate of "share" generation per hash, which is about 0.000233 shares/Mhash or 233 shares/Thash;
• hashes is your hashing rate versus time (say 780 Mhash/sec or 2.81 Thash/hr);
• power is your rate of energy consumption for mining (say 450W or 0.450kW); and
• cost is your cost of electricity (say 0.150 USD/kWh).

All of these numbers are relatively fixed, so go ahead and calculate your M now. Be sure you have the units straight---this "number" is actually denominated in shares per <fiat>. In fact, it has a specific meaning: it's the number of difficulty 1 shares you are generating per <fiat> spent on electricity. Using the data above, for example, my magic number is about 9700 shares/USD.

The point of this exercise is that your mining is profitable on the margin if and only if M > diff / (xcg * reward), where diff and xcg are the current difficulty and exchange rate and reward is the block reward (50 BTC right now). So when difficulty increases and you're wondering whether to keep mining, or the exchange rate soars and you're wondering whether it's time to fire up the ol' CPU again, you now have an easy way of deciding. Just divide difficulty by exchange rate and reward, and compare it to your magic number.

For example, right now we have a cutoff of (244139 shares/block) / (6.63 USD/BTC * 50 BTC/block) ≈ 735 shares/USD. Anyone whose magic number is lower than this shouldn't be mining. Fortunately, mine is still well above it! Unless the exchange rate tanks or the difficulty soars, I should still be in the game for at least a couple of months.

I'll pay 1 BTC to the first person who either writes a thorough explanation of non-standard transactions for the intelligent novice, or links to one that already exists. I have a vague idea of what they are from context, but I haven't found any solid sources to confirm or expand on what I think I know, which is too bad because it sounds like they could play a huge role in Bitcoin's future value.

I'm looking for a guide that a computer-savvy reader could pick up having never heard the term "non-standard transaction" before, and have a good understanding once he put it down. At the least, it should answer these questions:

• Just what is non-standard about non-standard transactions?
• What's the difference between non-standard and invalid?
• Can arbitrary data be stuffed into a transaction? If not, what are the limitations?
• Need these be "transactions" at all in the sense of involving transfers between bitcoin addresses?
• How do I go about creating a non-standard transaction?
• What are some (actual or potential) use cases?

It's okay if the guide assumes some underatanding of what a standard transaction is and how the block chain works, though at least a link might be nice for that. Ideally there should be concrete examples to look at.

I would like someone set me up with a VPN located in China, so that I can see the internet as it appears within China. I don't need anything fancy---a dynamic IP and no storage space are both fine. I'll pay one bitcoin for one month of this service, and may subscribe for a longer term if I find it useful.

Be warned that I'm looking for a similar service elsewhere. If I can find it for free, obviously I'll go with that.

I understand that a lot of people in China use offshore VPNs and proxies to access the uncensored internet. I'd like to go the other way. That is, I'd like to make my connection appear to be from China, so I can see the internet that Chinese users see. This is mostly out of curiosity, but also has a practical purpose: it seems to be the only way I can open a PayPal.cn account. I've done some quick searches, but this is hard to search for because the typical hit for "Chinese proxy" is actually a proxy intended for people in China. Does anyone here know of one?

I'd like to buy up to 1000 yuán at an exchange rate of one bitcoin per 52.0, or 10000 yen at an exchange rate of one bitcoin per 645.

I don't know of a way to receive other than physical delivery, but I'm open to suggestions. If it is physical delivery, banknotes in an ordinary envelope are fine, and I'll repay the cost of mailing once I get the envelope.

There is some confusion on whether "selling BTC" should be in Selling or Buying. Logically it should be considered "buying (whatever currency)", since like other Buying posts it means that the poster is exchanging BTC for something else. But most people consider it to be Selling, as evidenced by where these posts actually end up.

It's because so many people find this confusing that I feel comfortable claiming currency exchange is different from Buying or Selling, and ought to get its own sub-forum.

[How it works]

My wife Jennifer and I are having a baby in September! Or maybe October---the due date is September 30, so there's room for it to go either way. But anyway, this is exciting!

And soon (possibly next week) we're going in for an ultrasound and finding out the sex! Even more exciting!

Do you want to use this as a way to make some quick bitcoins and help out a young couple at the same time? Then, ladies and gentlemen, place your bets.

How it works

I'm running a parimutuel betting pool on the sex of my baby. Bet as much as you want by sending bitcoins to one of the following addresses:

IT'S A BOY! at 163oWWKA3C9uQ2UHept19wEPq54JdUGKii
IT'S A GIRL! at 17Qcg9sYFuGSQSj5qPD8K7xRNfHkgNigYb

Send these bitcoins from your own wallet! If you use a service like MyBitcoin your winnings are likely to be lost!

When we find out the sex, I'll take all the bets and split them up between the addresses on the winning side, in proportion to the size of the bet. I'll also take a cut---ten percent, plus any "remainders" after people's winnings are rounded down to fit into eight decimal places. Hopefully it will be enough to help defray the exciting new expenses of being a parent!

Demo

Say the bets break down like this:
Joe bets 5 BTC on "boy"
Susan bets 2 BTC on "boy"
Ed bets 1 BTC on "girl"
Agnes bets 3.14159 BTC on "girl"

That's a total of 11.14159 BTC---7 for "boy" and 4.14159 for "girl". After I take out my 10% cut, there's 10.14159 left in the pool.

Now let's say it turns out it's a girl. Then Ed and Agnes win the pot! I split it up "equally" by sending 2.42115492 to Ed and 7.60627608 to Agnes. (Agnes bet more, so she wins more proportionally.)

On the other hand, if it's a boy, I'll send 7.16245071 to Joe and 2.86498029 to Susan. You can see that you stand to win more by being on the less popular side---it's like a metaphor for Bitcoin itself! 

Q&A

Why would I bet on this when BitLotto only keeps 1%?
Because that guy is spending his take on hookers and blow, and I'm spending mine on diapers and college. (In all seriousness, I'm totally cool with the lotteries and what they're doing. This is not an attempt to compete with them on equal grounds---it's more like a charity raffle in my own name.)

How do I know I can trust you?
I have a minor but positive reputation here. If you don't trust me anyway, I guess you shouldn't bet, or bet very little. Personally, I think my cut is good enough that there's no need for me to try and cheat on top of it.

Do you already have some sort of information on the sex that you're withholding?
Not a thing. I can tell you that Jennifer's family all expect a girl (because they've had a lot of boys lately), and my family all expect a boy (because they've had a lot of girls lately). She also expects a boy, but cheerfully admits it's a wild guess. I'm equally prepared(?) for either one.

I'm still not totally clear on how this works?
Then ask away!

Inspired by this thread and its suggestions, I think it's time for me to buy my wife something nice.

Is there anyone here who is a jeweler, or knows a jeweler, or works for a jeweler, or is otherwise able to get good deals on jewelry? My wife loves blue sapphires and I know she'd appreciate a sapphire ring or necklace. She also loves garnets and pearls, but she has more pearls than anything else at the moment, so I should probably go with something else. She's actually not a fan of diamonds or yellow gold.

I don't really know jewelry and I'm not sure what I should spend on this. My wife is one of those people who gets angry if you spend too much money on her, so I'll set a maximum of 100 BTC or so. (Less is better, of course.) If the value of a bitcoin keeps rising---well, I'll be that much richer, so I should still be able to afford 100 BTC.

My anniversary is in less than a month, so any other suggestions are welcome as well. Anyone own a restaurant?

[Xbox games]

I have some old Xbox and PS2 games taking up space in my cabinet. I've been holding onto them on the chance I'll want to play them again, but it's been long enough now that I don't think that's worth worrying about. If I really want to play them again, I'll buy them again.

I checked out the games' going prices on eBay and they vary pretty dramatically. To make my life easier, I'm offering them all at the same price.

All the games are used (by me) but play perfectly. Other than that, their conditions are listed below.

Xbox games

• Def Jam: Fight for NY (GameStop case, no manual)
• Enter the Matrix (original case & manual)
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (original case, no manual)
• Halo 2 (original case & manual, bought new)
• Legacy of Kain: Defiance (original case & manual, bought new)
• Ninja Gaiden Black (original case & manual, bought new)
• Sonic Mega Collection (original case & manual, bought new)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Tetris Worlds ("promotional offer, not for resale")

Playstation 2 games

• Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies (original case & manual)
• Final Fantasy X (original case & manual, bought new)
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (original case & manual, bought new)
• Shadow of the Colossus (Greatest Hits, original case & manual, bought new, case is damaged)

Note: the 1 BTC price doesn't include shipping. I ship from the US, I'll only charge actual shipping costs at the market exchange rate, and I'll go as cheap as I can manage. Once you send me your address, I'll give you a quote.