Here are links to larger, more readable images:

http://www.paymyaddress.com/TrifoldFront.jpg
http://www.paymyaddress.com/TrifoldInside.jpg

I've made a simple tri-fold brochure designed to introduce new users to the general concepts of Bitcoin.  It doesn't go into any technical detail, but it covers a few of the main points (i.e. it's a decentralized online currency; limited supply; has actual cash value).  So far, it seems to be an effective way to help describe what it's all about when I'm trying to explain Bitcoin to someone new.



With financial support from a few sponsors (bitbrew.net, sealswithclubs.org, cheaperinbitcoins.com), I've had a batch of these professionally printed.  If anyone else wants some, I've put an order form at:

http://www.paymyaddress.com/brochures.html

I've been referring to these as "Pay Me" cards, since they basically perform the exact opposite duty of a credit card.  (Probably not the best term, but I sort of copied that from a sci-fi TV show I was watching that referred to ID as a Show Me card.)

Instead of being used to give money, you use them to receive a payment.  Hand your card to someone, he scans it with a mobile device, and then transfers coins to your account.  You could do the same with a cell phone generated QR code, but a card eliminates the need to hand a potential stranger your valuable and rather personal mobile device.

The concept of pulling funds from an account, as is done with basically all modern banking and credit cards, is one of the most fundamental ways the entire banking system is flawed.  It will take a little change in thinking to get used to this reversal in how funds are transferred, but we'll all be much better off in the end.

By the way, I can have your card printed for you at www.paymyaddress.com.  I do also offer a 20% commission on sales from contributed designs.  So far, the best sellers have been my original design and design #5 (the one with the Casascius coin background).

Velorum Incorporated is a business management provider for online businesses.  Our company offers a large portfolio of management services to businesses across a wide range of industries.  By relying on our skills and expertise, firms are able to compete in a global market and expand their market share into areas not readily available without well developed knowledge of the online marketplace.

We are currently seeking a self-motivated web programming expert to assist our technical project lead in deploying and updating a wide range web sites and applications.  This is a part-time, work from home position, involving approximately 15 hours per week with a flexible schedule.

You must be skilled in each of the following technologies:

* Perl programming (for command line, CGI/HTTP, and AJAX applications)
* MySQL
* HTML / Javascript

Preferred, but not required, skills include:

* Apache web server administration
* Linux system administration
* A good eye for quality user interface design.

Other Requirements:

* Fluency in English.
* Reliable, trustworthy, independent thinker with strong self-motivated work ethic.
* Broadband internet access in secure home workplace free from distractions.
* Self-discipline to set your own schedule without neglecting your duties.

Compensation:

$1500 per month payable in your choice of US dollars or Bitcoin.

This is a 1099 contract position.  Therefore, you will be responsible for all applicable taxes and for providing your own work area, computer equipment, internet connection, medical coverage, and whatever other tools you may need to perform your duties.  We estimate that a reasonably competent programmer can satisfy the requirements of this position in approximately 15 hours per week, but it will be your responsibility to complete your projects by your deadlines regardless of how much time you actually spend.  Your workload will vary from week to week, with some weeks being busier than others.  You will be able to set your own work schedule as long as deadlines are met.  Being able to finish your work early and enjoy the rest of your week is your incentive to operate efficiently.

To Apply:

Send your letter of interest to job482751@velorumincorporated.com.  Refer to listing #482751 in the subject line.  Additionally, please address the following questions:

What would make you a good candidate for this position?
What specific experience do you have that qualifies you?
Why should we hire you over someone in an emerging market who would be willing to work for a fraction of the cost?
Considering the work-at-home nature of this position, how can we be assured you will reliably meet your deadlines with minimal oversight?

I mentioned earlier how much trouble I've had trying to introduce new users to Bitcoin.  Every attempt seems to end in frustration with me saying things like, "maybe try reinstalling", "hmm...that's not right", or "just keep waiting. It could take a few hours or days."  I want to give Bitcoins for my Christmas gifts this year, but I want it to be a happy and exciting occasion, not one marred by anger and frustration.

I've been working on what I hope to be a solution.  This holiday season I will be giving my friends and family pre-packaged Bitcoin gift boxes that contain everything needed to get going quickly and easily.  This primarily consists of a USB flash drive with the light-weight Multibit client and a stocked wallet file presented in such a way that it looks like something good (and not some last-minute Christmas Eve cop out).

Because I had to order all the materials in bulk, I'm making these starter kits available at near breakeven if anyone else wants one.  More information and photos are on my site at: http://www.paymyaddress.com/giftset/

A few other sites will also be reselling them, including memorydealers.com, cheaperinbitcoins.com, and bitcoinsforchristmas.com.  I'm hoping these can also be used as new user starter kits for the general public, to break down the numerous obstacles to getting started with Bitcoin, and at least offer a taste of what it's about before demanding excessive time and effort just to try it.

If you do give these out, I would love to hear your recipient's reaction to it.  (I'm hoping for curiosity and appreciation, not disgust and confusion.)

I want to thank everyone who's placed an order or submitted a design.  If you're thinking about contributing a design, here are a few common issues that seem to be coming up a lot:

* I can't do full bleeds.  That means your card image can't go quite to the edge of the card.  I recommend leaving a 20px buffer, which is built into the sample templates.  If you do try going all the way to the edge, when it prints, there will be a little sliver of white space along each side.  However, the white space isn't quite the same on all sides and it doesn't mesh too well with the curved corners.  Overall, I may be making the bleeds into a bigger deal than it needs to be, but I just want to make sure that each card looks as good as possible when it prints.

* I can't use any copyright protected content.  That includes screen captures from movies, video games, sports logos, etc.  If you own the art or you have written permission from the creator to use it for commercial purposes, that's fine.  Otherwise, assume it can't be used.

* I want to be as accepting as possible, and I know it can be frustrating if you put a lot of work into something I can't use, but I do need to reserve a subjective level of editorial discretion too.  This product still needs to convey a professional rated-G feeling.  I've had to reject a few really creepy designs like a stack of dead bodies, skulls, horrific images of war and things of that nature.  Sorry.

(None of the above applies if you just want a custom card for yourself.  I'll print whatever you want if it's just for you.)

As for the QR code thing, I'm using a 1x quiet area on my basic designs and they seem to scan fine.  I suppose going a little larger wouldn't hurt though.

Yes, the back side is blank white.

You sort of can.  With the custom design option, you can upload anything you want.  You can either use an automatically generated generic QR code, or just upload a design that already includes a styled one.

First, I didn't have Java installed, so I was stopped from installing MultiBit until I got that taken care of.  That wasn't too big a deal, just an extra hassle I hadn't anticipated.  After I did get Java installed, I ran the MultiBit installer and it appeared to install fine through the last page of the installation program.  However, I then got a Windows system message that said something to the effect of, "the program you just installed may not have installed properly."  I ignored that warning and started MultiBit.  The splash screen appeared for a fraction of a second, then closed.  I tried opening it several times, tried reinstalling several times, tried reinstalling java, but couldn't get it to work.  I didn't spend any more time trying to diagnose it because I mainly just wanted to evaluate how easy it would be for a new user.

I'm speaking in more general terms here, but we certainly need a simple, quick way for new users to get started.  For those of us who work with computers every day, it's very easy to overestimate the common man's aptitude to perform even simple tasks.  For a lot of ordinary people, even just going to a web site or sending an e-mail is barely within their capabilities.  Installing software is something they call their IT guy in to do.  I'm not at all exaggerating here.  One of our clients is a software company, so I occasionally do phone support just to stay in touch with the guys on the ground.  I can say to a customer, "go to our web site at www..." and he'll respond, "ok, how do I do that?"  One way or another, these people will need to be included in the Bitcoin economy if Bitcoin is to become what we all want it to be, and I don't think user education is going to get us there.



That makes sense; I like that idea.  I can do the cards, but I'm not well equipped at the moment to do the Flash keys.  I need to experiment with that a little more to see if the entire client can run directly from the flash drive.  Even if it does, I could see yanking it out while the client is running could lead to some potential problems.

I'm also thinking the wallet file could come locked with the new encryption feature in v0.4.  A nicely printed certificate or card could be included with the pass phrase on it just to make the whole thing seem more meaningful and important.

I can also work on the brochures, unless someone with more design talent than me would like to volunteer.  I'd be willing to front the cost of a bulk order and then offer them in smaller packages.  Even after Christmas has passed, it would be nice if this could become a general Bitcoin gift set or something of a new user starter kit.

That's an even better idea!  I hadn't even thought about just including the wallet file like that.  Can the client be run directly from a flash key to avoid the hassle of installation?

I've been inspired by www.BitcoinsForChristmas.com to give Bitcoins for my holiday gifts this year.  It think it will be a much more worthwhile gift than some disposable consumer electronics product and more interesting than a sweater.  The trouble is, I'm trying to work out the best way to present these gifts.

I want the recipient to:

1. Recognize the value of the gift.  I plan to give $100-200 worth, so I want the response to be, "wow, this is awesome," and not "I got you something cool and you got me some worthless coupon."

2. Be able to actually redeem and use the coins for something fun and worthwhile without the "gift" becoming a complicated computer science homework project.

I like how BFC makes #2 fairly easy (although I did have considerable trouble installing Multibit on my Windows netbook, and in the end it didn't work).  However, a simple e-mail seems a little flimsy for the value of this gift.  Maybe BFC is just better suited for smaller amounts.

I haven't purchased any of the Casascius coins yet, and I think those would do a much better job of fulfilling requirement #1.  A tangible metal coin would clearly convey value.  But, I'm very unclear on how they can be redeemed, and everything I've read on importing private keys sounds quite complicated -- certainly beyond the capabilities of my intended recipients.  I'll consider it an accomplishment if I can get them to install the client and wait a week for the block chain download.

As a fall back option, I suppose I could set up my own Bitcoin gift certificate redemption web site that issues coins from my own wallet based on a gift code I'd print either on nice certificate paper or a plastic card like the ones I'm selling at www.PayMyAddress.com.  Although, I would prefer a ready-made solution to save me the effort.

So my first question is, How does one redeem the Casascius coins?  Is there web site (other than Mt.Gox) where the key can be entered along with a receiving payment address?

Second question is, Does anyone have some sort of brochure or info-graphic that explains Bitcoin in the simplest of terms for someone who has never heard of it, who doesn't understand the fundamentals of money or economics, and who doesn't understand more than the basics of turning on a computer?

My ideal gift would be a nicely wrapped box that contains:

1. Certificate, coin, card, etc. with the bitcoins or equivalent redemption code on it.
2. Brochure that explains in ultra simple terms what the heck this is for and how to use it.
3. CD with the client installer and recent copy of the block chain.

Any thoughts on how I can most easily make any of the above happen before Christmas?

Darn.  Sorry, but I didn't run into that particular error, so I don't know what to do at this point.  Maybe it's actually out of memory?  The lowest-end computer I installed on had 4GB of RAM with 8GB of swap.  All the systems I used were 64-bit too.

It's a real shame that bitcoind is such a bear to install on CentOS.  It's been so problematic that even though I've eventually managed to get it to work, it's been incentive enough for me to investigate other Linux distributions.

It will create the openssl directory in ~/Bitcoin/Deps automatically.  However, you have a few other problems with these paths, including in the previous step when you were trying to compile Boost.  Your Boost compile failed, so you should get that working before moving on to the openssl compile.  I think you have this part wrong:

./bjam --prefix=/home/Bitcoin/Deps link=static runtime-link=static install

Check the location of your home directory by typing pwd on the prompt.  That will show the complete path to your home directory.  Chances are, it will be something like:

/home/paybtc (or whatever your system username is)

Therefore, your prefix for the Boost compile should look something like:

./bjam --prefix=/home/paybtc/Bitcoin/Deps link=static runtime-link=static install

The same will be true of your paths on the openssl compile.  Avoid the relative path with the tilde.  It should look something like this:

# ./Configure --prefix=/home/paybtc/Bitcoin/Deps --openssldir=/home/paybtc/Bitcoin/Deps/openssl linux-generic32

Yes.  I've compiled it successfully about a dozen times on several different CentOS 5.5-5.7 servers, from version 0.3.21 through v0.4.0.  It has been an extraordinary hassle every time, and I've run into all the exact problems you're encountering, but in the end I've managed to finally get it to work each time.

I would recommend starting from scratch.  Then go through that PDF guide and make sure to use absolute paths on everything -- all the dependencies and the DEPSDIR variable in the makefile.  The guide uses relative paths with ../ in a few cases and it also uses paths relative to home with the tilde (~).  Make them all absolute.

I got sha256.cpp from an old version of the source.  I think it came with v0.3.21 but then for some reason it wasn't included with any versions after that.  Save it into your source directory along with all the other cpp files (/home/brad/Bitcoin/Trunk/src/src).

If you still can't find it, send me a PM with your e-mail address and I can send you a copy along with my makefile.

I had similar problems and I think I know what's wrong.  That PDF suggests using a lot of relative paths, such as --prefix=../../Bitcoin/Deps or --prefix=~/Bitcoin/Deps/

Instead, use absolute paths for everything.  Like this:

--prefix=/home/brad/Bitcoin/Deps

It sounds strange that it would matter, but I'm pretty sure that will work.

This could be done by uploading a custom design that already includes the text of your address.

It is possible to encode a magnetic stripe on cards like this, but as MoonShadow pointed out, the purpose of these cards is really the inverse of a credit card.  They could never be used to make a purchase in a store, but rather they're to receive funds from another individual -- such collecting a debt, receiving a gift from a friend, or any other time someone would otherwise be inclined to hand you some cash.

In fact, if Bitcoin ever replaces credit card as the standard way to pay for things, mag stripe readers might go the way of these:

An option to upload a custom design is now available.  During the check out process you can upload a JPEG, and then it gives you the option to place the QR code and plain text address on your image.

I will also be expanding the list of available pre-made designs by offering a 20% rev share for anyone with design talent who wants to participate.  You send me your design, I'll make it an available option, and you'll get 20% of each sale anytime someone chooses a design you made.

More information, including file specs and templates is available here: http://www.paymyaddress.com/contribute-designs.html

Yes, I think so.  I haven't had much chance to experiment with this printer to fully test its capabilities and limitations, but your description of the print quality sounds about right.  Compared to a bank card, the colors are a bit subdued and edges, such as on small text, aren't as sharp.  I suppose this is just the trade-off for cost effective one-off printing.  The QR code scans fine, but I haven't tried with a color or stylized QR code yet.  The address along the bottom is 3.5mm and still readable, but I probably wouldn't recommend going any smaller than that.

I'm presently working on the image upload feature and I'll include some design specs and suggestions along with it.

This is excellent news.  Thank you for bringing that 16oz rule to my attention.  So I can now ship internationally!  I've added a country drop-down to the ordering page.

I've also added a more detailed explanation of how I wrote the checkout system if anyone's interested in the more technical side of it:
http://www.paymyaddress.com/bitcoin-payment-system.html

Next, I'll be working on a way to offer more and/or custom uploaded card designs.