Hi, All!

I'm a comp sci PhD student who got started with BTC a few years ago. I'm looking for topics for a thesis and believe BitCoins and the system of trust and anonymity are rather intriguing. I've read a few papers and countless threads on the topic, but nothing like what I'm thinking about.

I'm offering my services as an escrow agent to see first-hand how sales and trades are accomplished. If anyone is in need of a free escrow service please PM me and drop a note on this thread. I'll be checking messages daily. As university isn't free, tips are appreciated but by no means required.

Thanks!

Any interest?

I see the "trust" function (i.e., +1, -1, etc.) on the forums. How do you gain trust?

[To those selling gift cards:]

To those selling gift cards:

PM me with you inventory (company and amount)

To those who buy gift cards:

Before you say I'm cheap or I'll never get any offers, consider that coupons and discounts routinely give 10% to 25% or more off "retail price" at stores. Any buyer can feel like he/she is getting a deal by shopping sales. People like you and me who buy gift cards at less than face are after something more.

Furthermore, consider there are numerous other websites for sellers here to sell their gift cards, designed specifically for this purpose, which will net them 90% actual value.

Lastly, consider that most of the gift cards being offered here are from thieves/crooks/scammers or otherwise obtained not-so-legally, with payment in a supposedly anonymous payment method.

I'd gladly purchase gift cards from major USA "big box" retailers for 25% value to benefit myself and put less in their pockets.

I see many marketing campaigns to "buy your signature" and pay per post for different member levels. I also see members offering their accounts as collateral for loans. Obviously BitcoinTalk.org accounts have developed some level of value over time. I'm curious to add up the average value of accounts and track them over time. Let's start!

What do you think your account is worth?

1.  Newbie:       
2.  JR Member:   
3.  Member:       
4.  Full Member:   
5.  Senior Member:         
6.  Hero:
7.  Legendary:     

I'm interested in offering loans, more as a social experiment than investment. I'm curious if anyone who has *successfully* lent coins (and been paid back) cares to share his/her method with the forum. Much appreciated.

Is LTC still the main alt-coin contender for BTC?

I would think the cost of ASICS and power would make it financially difficult to turn any sort of profit at today's prices. Is anyone still mining today at home? What equipment are you using? What are your cost calculations?

Cost of equipment?
GH/s?
Cost of power?


Electricity is about $0.25 kwh where I live

http://betabeat.com/2013/05/department-of-homeland-security-shuts-down-dwolla-payments-to-and-from-mt-gox/

Yesterday DHS seized Dwolla funds at Mt Gox. There's a few articles starting to spread. Feds are taking notice!

I'm an experienced investor and bond trader. I'm started four small businesses and successfully sold off one (that may not sound great, but in terms of odds and statistics that's actually high above average). I'm between jobs now and came across BitCoins online about a year ago and with all the new hype got back into it. I'm mining now on a small box (1.5 GH/s).

I'm interested in partnering with a developer (PHP, MySQL) to create a customized back-end to create user accounts and track ownership of securities/shares of bonds.

Any PHP, MySQL engineers out there interested in hearing more?

For Sale:

3 x SAPPHIRE 100355-1GOCL Radeon HD 7850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card OC Version

BRAND NEW

$160 each FREE SHIPPING (USA ONLY if you buy all three)

Bioshock Infinite AND Tomb Raider PC Video Game AMD Never Settle Steam Promo

Got some new cards. Extra codes for CHEAP!

0.25 BTC

https://www.bitaddress.org

I'm assuming the algorithm used on this website DOES NOT check that an address it generates is in use, correct? So what's to stop two people from generating the same address, and then having their funds mixed? Same goes for the bitcoin clients. How do they prevent duplicate address generation?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/04/12/zerocoin-add-on-for-bitcoin-could-make-it-truly-anonymous-and-untraceable/

So, is BitCoin flawed?

Love this blog

http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/detlev-schlichter/could-bitcoin-be-the-money-of-the-future

I've looked at a few. I have a Best Buy credit from a while ago I'm trying to use. Has anyone tried this?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Startech+-+PCI+Express+X1+to+X16+LP+Slot+Extension+Adapter/5345252.p?id=1218634979934&skuId=5345252

I may just grab a few from eBay but am worried about shorting my system, and don't want to pay Cablesaurus prices.

How I would manipulate the Bitcoin exchange market

http://www.247btc.com/bitcoins/134/how-i-would-manipulate-the-bitcoin-exchange-market-and-how-a-discrete-double-auction-could-stop-me/

Great article.

Iterations: How Five Real Economists Think About Bitcoin’s Future

http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/14/iterations-how-five-real-economists-think-about-bitcoins-future/

Great arguments from both side on the future of BitCoins. Enjoy!

Got a few new cards that came with game coupons. Anyone interested?

Building a new system for about $1000. Using various PSU calculators, I've got a wide range of numbers and am not sure which are accurate. I've got a Kill-A-Watt so I will know for sure once the system is up and running, but for now it's an educated guess. What's your recommendation?

GPU: 3 x SAPPHIRE 100355-1GOCL Radeon HD 7850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card OC Version
PSU: 1 x Corsair Professional Series  HX 850 Watt ATX/EPS Modular 80 PLUS Gold (HX850)
MB: 1 x ASRock MB-970EX4 Socket AM3+/ AMD 970/ AMD Quad CrossFireX& nVidia SLI/ SATA3&USB3.0/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard
CPU: 1 x AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor FD4100WMGUSBX
RAM: 1 x Corsair Vengeance 8 GB ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit for Core i3, i5, i7 and Platforms SDRAM CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
Case: 1 x LIAN LI PC-7HB Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
CPU Cooler: 1 x COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible with Intel 1366/1155/775 and AMD FM1/FM2/AM3+

http://support.asus.com/powersupply.aspx
-----------------------------------------
Your Recommended Minimum Power Supply is: 900 Watts

http://www.msi.com/service/power-supply-calculator/
----------------------------------------------------
Your recommended minimum power supply is: 572 Watts

http://images10.newegg.com/BizIntell/tool/psucalc/index.html
-----------------------------------------------------------
Our recommended PSU Wattage: 735 W

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine
----------------------------------------------
Recommended PSU Wattage: 447 W

http://www.matthewb.id.au/power/computer_power_consumption_calculator.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power Supply Rating Suggested: 1519 watts

http://www.vbutils.com/powercalc.php
-------------------------------------
our power supply rating should be greater than 641 watts.

The winner will be announced soon!