I've already accepted that I won't ever get any of those coins back, and at this point I consider Gox at least as responsible for that as everyone who was involved in bitcoinica.

Anyone know if anyone ever got any bitcoins/USD from the bitcoinica fiasco?  I had 150BTC in bitcoinica, but unfortunately missed the deadline earlier this year to submit my claim.  Ooops.  Just curious if any bitcoin/usd ever materialized for anyone, or if they remain "locked up" in Gox.

Buy a computer, keep it disconnected from any and all networks, wipe the hard disk and install a fresh OS, install Armory in offline mode, and send any bitcoins you buy to the addresses you generate on your offline computer.  You'll want to encrypt your Armory wallets on the offline computer and make paper backups.  If you want more help with this, PM me and I'll walk you through it. 

Offline Armory is by far the easiest and most robust way to secure bitcoins.

What's been assumed is that either (1) DPR gave authorities access to those bitcoins, or (2) he failed to properly secure them by either not encrypting the private keys at all or by using weak passwords.

My scheme is as follows.  I have a couple of whole disk encrypted bootable USB keys with live installations of Windows 8 Enterprise.  Those USB sticks have offline Armory and, of course, all the private keys are password protected with very strong passwords.

In addition to that, I have paper backups of all my wallets, and those backups are in fire proof safes in 3 different locations. 

Sometimes I think back to early 2011 and how I stored my bitcoins just to freak me the fuck out.  There was a time when all of my bitcoins where on MtGox and I didn't even have 2FA.

I feel for the folks at MtGox.  Of course, my sympathy isn't sufficient to motivate me to keep any USD or BTC there.

You don't necessarily need a separate laptop.  I've outlined it around here before, but you can create a bootable Windows 8 USB drive from the freely available Windows 8 Enterprise trial.  When you setup the OS, just don't connect to any networks, and then once the OS is setup, go in and disable/uninstall all network drivers. 

You can encrypt the whole USB, encrypt your user folder, and encrypt your Armory wallet (triple encryption).  You could get even fancier with Trucrypt, if you want.  This has the advantage of an offline wallet that can be plugged into just about any machine and booted into.  Just make sure to disconnect any wired network connections before you plug it into a computer.  Wifi isn't a problem because, as previously mentioned, you'll have disabled/uninstalled any Wifi drivers upon first boot and shouldn't have ever allowed the OS access to a network.  Plus you can image the USB and make lots of backups.  It's a much more flexible alternative to a dedicated offline computer.

Sounds fun.  I'll be there.

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I'll just say that I'm happy with the decisions I've made this year.

cypher!  I've sure missed you guys.  I'm still gonna keep out of the spec forum, but, yeah, I think I'll be hanging around here a little more.  I needed a break, and had a very busy summer.

By order of the Grand Priesthood of Satoshi I hereby call and ordain Richard Brown to the order of High Priest of Cryptocurrency Public Relations.

In all seriousness, Richard, that was probably the most eloquent interview I've seen on bitcoin and cryptocurrency.  It was a delight to listen to somebody with as deep a technical background as yourself speak so simply, and it was refreshing to hear you call attention to the novel and innovative features of cryptocurrenty beyond (obvious) economic/currency implications.  Thanks for being a part of the community, and please keep it up!

Thanks for the heads up.  I'll take a few minutes and fill it out.

My storage solution is an offline Armory installation on a Windows To Go installation on a thumb drive using the Windows 8 Enterprise trial downloaded directly from Microsoft.  This is the easiest and most secure install-and-go method I've found.  What's convenient about this method is that the Windows To Go USB thumb drive is bootable on any system and can be setup with whole drive encryption.  In addition to whole drive encryption Armory wallets should also be encrypted.  From that system I print paper backups of the keys I generate with Armory and print them with an old offline printer.  Also, on first boot of the Windows To Go installation I uninstall all network drivers to ensure that it never connects to a network.

If you have thousands of USD worth of bitcoin, you need to do something like this.  Keys should be generated on freshly installed, and offline OS.  You should make physical backups.  You should encrypt any digital backups.  You should never keep more than an amount your willing to lose in an online wallet or an exchange.

OP, I'm truly sorry for your loss and wish you the best of luck with recovery.

Edit: I know it's popular to bag on bitcoins on Windows, but if you setup the OS correctly, can reasonably trust the source ISO, and keep the installation from ever connecting to a network, theft is very unlikely.  I formerly used an offline live Ubuntu installation for this system, but tried it out with Windows To Go as a proof of concept for my friends who don't want to mess with Linux and dependency issues.  I think offline Windows To Go brings offline, encrypted storage closer to the experience of less tech savvy people, though it still takes some technical know how.

I can't help thinking that we're seeing the early stages to the setup of what may go down as one of the most significant cases of Streisand effect ever, with global economic consequences.  If you guys thought the past 4 years were really interesting...

I don't think that calculation you did is the daily operating cost.

Wish I could have gone.  Next year, hopefully.  I just got crazy busy with work over the past few weeks.  Bleh.  Would have been nice to shake hands with Smoothie.

It can't be the beginning of the beginning, because, haven't you heard, it's the beginning of the end...

I'm gonna keep my eye on you.

Haha, idea!  Quick, everyone pick an address from the blockchain whose private key you do or don't own and post it in your sig.  Confuse OP.  

1PL8Xy3gb3GAuBCBjdMUoge67em6R7FXeL  <------ me?