Not any better. My transactions from June and July didn't go through, and I ended up just requesting my money back (which they did in 12 hours). I took a huge loss so yeah... I don't suggest you use them for withdrawals.

That's what I meant as in "take my cash," canceling my withdrawal, but I'd still be forced to transfer to the US via my bank. This lesson cost as much as a Lexus, heh.

Still nothing from my June and July withdrawal. I think I'm about to suck it up, take my cash, and buy in at $800 at essentially 1/8 my original Bitcoins sold. Lesson learned, never use Gox again.

     * Japanese Domestic Transfer - Only for Japanese residents.
     * Polish Domestic Transfer - Only for Polish residents.
     * International Wire Transfer - Please note that we are unable to accept funds coming from or going to any entity, state or country listed by the US OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control).  If you wish to deposit from or withdraw to one of these countries, we are sorry but you can not do so through MtGox.
     * SEPA - Only for European residents
     * Okpay - Only for deposits

From the link above updated 10/17/2013. Does this mean no transfers to the US?

Yup, I was offered this manual process with a 5% fee on 10/06/2013 in regards to a withdrawal on 07/18/2013. We went back and forth because I wanted a timeline if I were to go the manual process, and I got the same BS I've always gotten.

edit:
I was actually offered this on 10/05/2013. Here's the start of the conversation




2x withdrawal for $40 vs. $200 "manual" withdrawal which is 5x more. AND no timeline.

I sold some coins in the middle of July and early August, did 2 withdrawals (few days each after each sale) to my US bank account, and still nothing. I've talked to them numerous times, always being courteous, but I'm still getting the ring around. In august, they told me 2-3 weeks, now they simply say, "we've got a backlog and working on the queue." To add insult to injury, I recently received an email stating that they can "manually" process my transfer for a 5% fee if I am in a hurry for funds, essentially quadrupling the $60 charge for 2 wire transfers, and when I asked how long this other process would take, they still did not give me a timeline. Why are you even offering me this other process if you don't know how long this takes? Honestly, at this point, I'm moving my bitcoins out because they are just being scumbags. As good as they were, they won't be anymore at this rate.

I sold some coins 6 weeks ago. On Mt. Gox website, it says it can take up to 3 weeks for an international wire to go through (Japan to USA). I waited 3 weeks after said transfer, I sent in a ticket, and was told 2 more weeks because they were really behind. Well, 2 more weeks pass (last week), and their response is that it's taking a lot of time to do these. It's now been 6 weeks since the transfer started.

Thanks for the kind words. This is our second child so I know what to expect, and it ain't cheap heh.

Yes, I will use escrow, and US only please.

eBay listing -> http://www.ebay.com/itm/251311299642?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
For sale are two BFL Jalapeno ASIC units in hand and ready for immediate shipping. I received these two units 2 weeks ago, and they have been running 11 days and 22 hours days straight with no hiccups or problems at ~5 Ghz each. Also, the units have not been modified in any way. This auction does not include the original double box so a substitute will be made. Included in the auction is shipment by USPS Next Day with Signature and Insurance at no additional cost to you.

Shipment will include:
- 2x BFL Jalapeno units
- 2x AC adapters
- 2x USB cables

ALL SALES FINAL

Some additional information for those that are curious here:
- Mining on Eclipse and you can see my username, "Raralith_BFL" in the miner data
- I never intended to sell these units but I just found out my wife is pregnant so I'd rather have the money on hand now than mine and/or wait for coins values to increase
- I am located in Los Angeles so I am willing to meet face to face and cash transaction if you can't wait for shipping
- Feel free to PM if you have any questions

I've got 8 credits for 0.6 BTC

I'm trying to connect to Deepbit through BFGMiner and it isn't working. Is the below information correct? I'm trying to run these on BFL Jalapenos.

bfgminer -o http://deepbit.net:8337 -u [USERNAME] -p [PASSWORD]

The username is my email address so XXXX@GMail.com

Here's the thread that got me started which has all the details. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1455014

TL;DR version:
MVNO stands for "Mobile Virtual Network Operator." Straight Talk is a MVNO for both AT&T and T-Mobile so they use their respective towers (based on your location) instead of setting up their own towers, buy spectrum, go through the FCC, etc... AT&T sells voice and data at bulk/wholesale rates to Straight Talk which than retails prepaid service to their customers. It's cheap because 1) Straight Talk buys at the bulk/wholesale rate so they get a much better price (think a family plan with 100,000 add on's vs. 100,000 individual plans), 2) they have much smaller customer support staff and hours, and 3) they don't subsidize phones. Pretty much every carrier has MVNO's, some are priced better than others, and there are "tiers" of service. AT&T is more than happy to do this because they are making money from MVNO's, they get a cut from their customers (essentially I am still paying "royalties" at AT&T per say), and they charge MVNO's "fees" that are in the 5-6 figure range.

My wife and I left AT&T with our $130 contract, 2 iPhones on the grandfathered unlimited data plan, and text for her to a pair of $45 unlimited Straight Talk plans. We save $40/month * 24 months = 960 which is a fraction better than the subsidized savings of $860. The added benefit though is that we can sell our unlocked phones anytime we want and buy a new one without a prorated $350 ETF, and an iPhone 4S is worth more 1 year than it is 2 years so I can easily sell my "old" phone and use it as a down payment for a new phone. Overall, it's pretty damn sweet and I am very happy.

Self regulation has just a sordid of history as everything else we've discussed. Without government regulation, there will always be people that say 7% WPR, and there will always be people more than willing to send an anonymous person with "solid forum reputation" their money. While the FCC doesn't have a 100% track record, a lot of these schemes done here are no where on the same level of sophistication as Madoff or Sanford, and would have never, ever pass the smell test. This whole idea of "getting the weak hands out," "the strong survive," and "we'll take care of it ourselves" is simply not good for business. I've read countless people say that what pirateat40 did was good for the BitCoin economy. No, it wasn't. Anytime someone gives up on BitCoins means that person is not going to accept or demand payment in BitCoin, one less person that will spread the word of how useful it is, one less consumer willing to spend with this currency. This is a numbers game, a sad state of mobocracy, but it is what it is; we can be the smartest people in the world with the best idea ever but if no one wants to play with us, we are doomed.

Honestly, at this point, there's not much we can do but hope for the best. We set our path, placed our bets based off of what we thought, and tossed the dice some time ago. However the dice may land, let's just hope we bet right.

Oh, I completely agree, it's two sides of the same coin; one ends with us killing each other, the other ends with a bigger entity killing us but either way, it's not a happy ending. What I saying though is that we shouldn't be allergic to any regulation, that rules put in place sometimes can be beneficial. A good example is the simple traffic light where a red light means we stop and a green light means we go. We give up the power to drive however we want, maniacally or safely, for the greater of society. Finding a good balance of regulation is important, but BitCoin lacks this safety net so the only choice we have is to hope to whatever deity we pray to that we stay on track and never fall in the first place. My post was simply for those cheerleaders waving their 100% deregulation pom poms that the grass is not always greener on the other side.

While off topic, I do want to point out that this isn't always the case. You are right, you get a $660 iPhone (tax included) for $230 (activation fee included) but you now have a 2 year contract. If you are on a single account, you almost likely paid well over the difference in two years by not buying the phone outright and going the prepaid route. Here is the breakdown:

Prepaid route - I use Straight Talk which is an at&t MVNO, unlimited talk and text, 2GB data (it says unlimited but you get heavily throttled at 2GB).
Buy phone $660
Monthly prepaid $45 * 24 months = $1,080
Total "prepaid" paid in 2 years = $1,740
If you use a lot less minutes, T-Mobile has a $30 monthly plan so you only pay $720 for phone service or $1,380 for 2 years.

Contract route - I'm using at&t and choosing the cheapest plan of 450 minutes ($59.99), no text, $30 3GB data plan
Buy subsidized phone $230
Monthly contract payment $90 * 24 months = $2,160
Total "contract" paid in 2 years  = $2,390
That's $650 more over the course of your contract, and that includes no text messaging which would add $480 to the contract. You also would have to pay a hefty ETF if you wanted to end your contract early. This is why I dropped the at&t contract game because I am saving more money now than having at&t "help me out" prior to this. As for what you are giving up for this "savings," you do lose at&t customer support so I deal with Straight Talk instead which I haven't had problems with albeit I only called at&t 2-3 times before int he 5-7 years I used them. I still use the at&t network too, and yes, at&t gets a cut of the profit from Straight Talk so they win out too.

The only time it really works out in your favor is if you are running a family plan with 4+ phones where you can add a line for $10, or are not running smartphones and don't need data. Bottom line, if the carrier wouldn't be making more money subsidizing phones, they sure as hell would not be subsidizing phones.

To a certain degree that could be true, but the world isn't a zero sum game. The majority of the world are the weak, they are the followers that take orders from the strong, but what happens if the weak leave (or are "liberated" as you eloquently put it)? You just end up with an empty sandbox, you end up with BitCoins that no one uses nor will use. There has to be a balance, harmony, somewhere, but a "dog eat dog world" certainly doesn't promote this. Bottom line, a 100% deregulated market is the same coin as a 100% regulated market as both are so far in the extremes they are right next to each other.

I do have a financial stake, as do a vast majority of people on these forums, and I hope it doesn't go down the drain. Looking at what has happened as of late, it doesn't look too good. BitCoin is a test, something that really hasn't been done in the past, but human nature has been put to the test numerous times, and it has almost always ended quite barbarically. If it ends well, we'll all be profit, and we can show the world that we as humans can "contain our animal urges and learn restraint." If it doesn't, it just goes to show that we are just wild (albiet refined) animals and that some regulation is better than no regulation.

I hate to say this but this "unveiling of number 8" isn't always a good thing. So far in history there is a reason why the heavy hand of authority comes into play, and unsurprisingly after markets have been deregulated for a time period, and turned into a steaming pile of shit. I personally believe that human nature falls into two social categories - those that take advantage of people and those that are taken advantaged of. There will be other pirateat40's with get rich quick ponzi schemes, there will be other Matt's that make reckless bets and don't pay up, and there will be many other denizens that will be far worse than these two combined; at this point in time, it's a simple race to the bottom really.

So, what happens in a completely unregulated market? Is it all a house of cards and one blow away from oblivion because there is no trust? Do all the weak hands, and/or naive investors all leave? Will people finally wise up after being scammed (maybe numerous times) and understand that this isn't a game? You are right, we are going into an unknown, but no one really knows if this will be the end or beginning.

Bought in at $8ish, moved out of cold storage when it was at $13.80, by the time it was available I sold at $12.40. I'm probably going to jump back in on Monday or Wednesday when it hits south of $10.

I'm still long on BitCoins but why not make 30-50% more coins by taking a gamble.

volume

As I already pointed out, I'm glad the competition isn't sleeping because current FPGA's prices are absolutely outrageous. 1 to 3.5 gmash for $150 will pull correct the current FPGA price gouging.