What skill sets should non-professional BTC-ers try to acquire?

[OROBTC]

...

I have made no secret here that I am not a pro at anything re BTC.  I had to learn most of what I know (and think I know) myself, although I did get some help along the way from people by email (also PeterR here at bitcointalk).

I may have more time in 2016 to learn some technology, but all of this is hard for me.  I did very poorly in my computer programming in college decades ago.  My only real quantitative skills are SQL and statistics.  

So, I am curious to learn what some of you think would be good skills to start learning (basic level!).  Here is a short list of possibilities that I am looking at:

• Encryption and computer encryption, this would probably include learning about hashing functions (and YES, I already understand that encryption is very math-heavy and difficult for other reasons).  PGP would be a good example of something of interest, maybe an approachable elliptical curve program (if such exists).
• TOR and related technologies, I certainly feel concerned about .gov snooping as much as the next guy...
• Is there such a thing as Bitcoin courses?  I would like to learn more about how BTC works.
• I am always curious to learn more about BTC mixing.

Are there good books on some or all of the above?

Any suggestions, or additions, are appreciated, as well as comments re suitability for those 95% of us who are not technologically adept.  

Thanks, and Happy New Year to all here!

[HabBear]

There are some free courses you can take from very reputable Universities:

Coursera offers FREE courses on Bitcoin from Princeton University: https://www.coursera.org/course/bitcointech

Learning about TOR might be interesting but if the bitcoin economy has to use TOR to access it the market will die. There may be something that lives on in the dark net but nothing that would keep mainstream interest, and that mainstream interest is what's needed to make this Project work long term. Also, if TOR allows anonymity in what you're doing on your computer, the computer most definitely can show that one is using or accessing TOR...which with other suspicion is enough to keep the Government on you.

[NorrisK]

Regarding the government snooping, TOR is quite slow for your everyday use. You may want to consider a high speed VPN instead.

If you pick one that does not log anything from its costumers (including real IP, DNS, websites visited, etc), you are already very difficult to find.

[lahm-44]

While you are in the bitcoin economy/community its really good to spend most of the ti,e to understand how its works and about what programmes are used i mean what programming languages have been used. i am in this from 2010 and have mostly spend my time for web develpoment skills because i belive if i know web work then i can go for real programming codes like c and java.since now i am able to gatter enough knowledge about html,css,javascript,php(sql too),jquery,ajax,bootstrap and little bit of some others too and now i have started with the java . i will advice you to learn c and k\java then learn about networking with bitcoin that will surely help you al lot

[koshgel]

There are some free courses you can take from very reputable Universities:

Coursera offers FREE courses on Bitcoin from Princeton University: https://www.coursera.org/course/bitcointech

Learning about TOR might be interesting but if the bitcoin economy has to use TOR to access it the market will die. There may be something that lives on in the dark net but nothing that would keep mainstream interest, and that mainstream interest is what's needed to make this Project work long term. Also, if TOR allows anonymity in what you're doing on your computer, the computer most definitely can show that one is using or accessing TOR...which with other suspicion is enough to keep the Government on you.

Have you taken the course yourself? Seems very interesting but only a waitlist is available at the moment. Don't see any future sessions.

[Kprawn]

Regarding the government snooping, TOR is quite slow for your everyday use. You may want to consider a high speed VPN instead.

If you pick one that does not log anything from its costumers (including real IP, DNS, websites visited, etc), you are already very difficult to find.

If you find one, let me know.... I see all VPN's as honey traps from personal experience, so I am not a true believer in them to provide anonymity at all. The tools being used for

snooping is more powerful than what most people could counter in any way. Well back to the topic at hand... Here is a article posted in 2014, where they listed some of the best

colleges offering Bitcoin courses. Go to http://www.coindesk.com/top-us-colleges-begin-offering-bitcoin-courses/   ...Hope it helps.

[yoona]

...

I have made no secret here that I am not a pro at anything re BTC.  I had to learn most of what I know (and think I know) myself, although I did get some help along the way from people by email (also PeterR here at bitcointalk).

I may have more time in 2016 to learn some technology, but all of this is hard for me.  I did very poorly in my computer programming in college decades ago.  My only real quantitative skills are SQL and statistics.  

So, I am curious to learn what some of you think would be good skills to start learning (basic level!).  Here is a short list of possibilities that I am looking at:

• Encryption and computer encryption, this would probably include learning about hashing functions (and YES, I already understand that encryption is very math-heavy and difficult for other reasons).  PGP would be a good example of something of interest, maybe an approachable elliptical curve program (if such exists).
• TOR and related technologies, I certainly feel concerned about .gov snooping as much as the next guy...
• Is there such a thing as Bitcoin courses?  I would like to learn more about how BTC works.
• I am always curious to learn more about BTC mixing.

Are there good books on some or all of the above?

Any suggestions, or additions, are appreciated, as well as comments re suitability for those 95% of us who are not technologically adept.  

Thanks, and Happy New Year to all here!

if you are thinking of using and adopting gold should have a skill? if you agree with it, then adopt bitcoin should also have a good skill, one of which is a basic knowledge of the internet and bitcoin transactions, you can continue to learn to understand it.

[equator]

Regarding the government snooping, TOR is quite slow for your everyday use. You may want to consider a high speed VPN instead.

If you pick one that does not log anything from its costumers (including real IP, DNS, websites visited, etc), you are already very difficult to find.

If you find one, let me know.... I see all VPN's as honey traps from personal experience, so I am not a true believer in them to provide anonymity at all. The tools being used for

snooping is more powerful than what most people could counter in any way. Well back to the topic at hand... Here is a article posted in 2014, where they listed some of the best

colleges offering Bitcoin courses. Go to http://www.coindesk.com/top-us-colleges-begin-offering-bitcoin-courses/   ...Hope it helps.

it is quite happy to know that so many users are interested in Bitcoin and its technology, and even top colleges are offering the bitcoin courses. but some countrys like i am living in india where still their is no clear picture about Bitcoin and its leagality.

their users and even the bitcoin community who are in the process of making clear picture of bitcoin in india.

[OROBTC]

...

Thank you all for your suggestions.  

I will wait on possibly some more, and then see what is out there vs. how much time it would take.  It looks like BTC may very well take off (price and usage), if so, it will likely be time well spent picking one or more topics to learn more about.

Is there an easy to use (and, hopefully, free) site offering PGP?  15 - 18 years ago I used Phil Zimmerman's PGP site (but I had no friends interested -- few of my friends know much about computers or have my interests), it was easy to use, but apparently he now charges for it.

*   *   *

(And I will be watching the whole Human Resources thing that just popped up here, WHY would they be seeking so much help.....?)

[tyz]

This is what i am currently looking for. Do you have some suggestions about high speed and non-logging VPN-providers which allow to pay in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies?

Regarding the government snooping, TOR is quite slow for your everyday use. You may want to consider a high speed VPN instead.

If you pick one that does not log anything from its costumers (including real IP, DNS, websites visited, etc), you are already very difficult to find.

[maku]

Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general is new area of expertise. There are not many skilled people you can call 'gurus' of bitcoin.  
Some of them you can find on this forum, some are posting their guidelines on the internet. As bitcoin is present only in digital form I guess you can find every information you need on the internet.
There are no bitcoin 'courses' as far as I know only bitcoin conferences and community.

I will share some great white paper I found, great knowledge you can find within: http://public.dhe.ibm.com/common/ssi/ecm/gb/en/gbe03620usen/GBE03620USEN.PDF

[enhu]

not sure if there are lots to learn about btc unless you wanted to do an industrial bitcoin mining company to which you may need to learn hashes, scripts, Splitting and Sharing Keys and etc.

But consider web development course if you were to make a career in btc and create an eCommerce site with bitcoin option and learn internet marketing/SEO skills.
or maybe a gambling site as well.

[franky1]

...

Thank you all for your suggestions.  

I will wait on possibly some more, and then see what is out there vs. how much time it would take.  It looks like BTC may very well take off (price and usage), if so, it will likely be time well spent picking one or more topics to learn more about.

Is there an easy to use (and, hopefully, free) site offering PGP?  15 - 18 years ago I used Phil Zimmerman's PGP site (but I had no friends interested -- few of my friends know much about computers or have my interests), it was easy to use, but apparently he now charges for it.

*   *   *

(And I will be watching the whole Human Resources thing that just popped up here, WHY would they be seeking so much help.....?)

if you want PGP just for identification..
you could always just create a bitcoin address and give people the public key.. then when you sign messages they will know its really you

[lorylore]

i also think the same way, i am thinking what skill sets should i get. of course one of the best skill is how to 100% secure ur wallet and how to retrieve it. to be honest, after reading for so long, i am still very blur about it n the amount of work is really crazy as well. do anyone really follow these advices?

[OROBTC]

...

Thank you all for your suggestions.  

I will wait on possibly some more, and then see what is out there vs. how much time it would take.  It looks like BTC may very well take off (price and usage), if so, it will likely be time well spent picking one or more topics to learn more about.

Is there an easy to use (and, hopefully, free) site offering PGP?  15 - 18 years ago I used Phil Zimmerman's PGP site (but I had no friends interested -- few of my friends know much about computers or have my interests), it was easy to use, but apparently he now charges for it.

*   *   *

(And I will be watching the whole Human Resources thing that just popped up here, WHY would they be seeking so much help.....?)

if you want PGP just for identification..
you could always just create a bitcoin address and give people the public key.. then when you sign messages they will know its really you

franky1

That's an interesting little suggestion, thanks.  Alas, few of my friends and email correspondents are into BTC, I just kind of got here on my own.  I guess I could give everyone a blockchain.info wallet (or tell them I will give them $5 in BTC if they start one) to implement your idea.

I am also interested in PGP for securing email correspondence, something I was able to do all those years ago, but have not yet found a easy and free way to do that now.  


[Sidebar: 15 - 18 years ago I was able to use all of this cool software like OLAP, SPSS and PGP for free or cheap, it was all EASY!  Now I have not been able to find any of those three for cheap & easy...  Software availability is going BACKWARDS in many cases, grr...]

[saturn643]

[Sidebar: 15 - 18 years ago I was able to use all of this cool software like OLAP, SPSS and PGP for free or cheap, it was all EASY!  Now I have not been able to find any of those three for cheap & easy...  Software availability is going BACKWARDS in many cases, grr...]

For PGP you can use the GPG software

As for learning stuff about Bitcoin, you should of course start with the whitepaper. Then a good place for technical are the developer docs on Bitcoin.org.

For Tor you should start with their docs too.

[OROBTC]

...

Thank you, Saturn643, I have looked at the site for GPG's version, at that site it is not really clear for me what to do.  But, that's just me.

I will keep digging around to learn more about BTC beyond the basics I guess I already have.

*   *   *

There may be another way for me.  With the help of my son-in-law, I just bought an opened my own ".com" (actually a ".io").  There is nothing there yet, as I work to acquire the skills to put some content into it.  One of my social media contacts has filled me in with a link to be able to hook it into BITCOIN.  Details later if interested.

Also, my new website (web host) will allow not only email, but apparently ENCRYPTED email, by that same group offering GPG, and it may be dirt-simple for me to encrypt emails once I learn how.  That would be great, I would acquire one of the skills I seek pretty quickly if so.

I'll post up my website when there is something there.  This is all brand new for me, and I do realize that opening, creating and running a website means little for most of the highly competent computer people here, but it is a nice step for me.  A step into the "Knowledge Age"...

*   *   *

I also would like to thank commentators (at this thread and another) for comments about the the Darknet.  It looks like a huge part of it involves really sleazy stuff like scammers, spammers, child porn, drug sales and many other dirty activity while offering little in the way of skills acquisition or legitimate business, etc.

Maybe I will learn TOR just for my own "personal privacy jiujitsu", but unless I become convinced otherwise it looks like the Darknet ain't for me.

I enjoy working with the bitcointalk community, thank you all.  And, Happy New Year to the lot of you!

[saturn643]

...

Thank you, Saturn643, I have looked at the site for GPG's version, at that site it is not really clear for me what to do.  But, that's just me.

I will keep digging around to learn more about BTC beyond the basics I guess I already have.

If you are on linux you should be able to just install GPG through the package manager. The site I linked has the docs and man pages so you can use the command line. If you are on windows I recommend you actually use GPG4USB. It can be portable and it works well and is simple to use.

Also, my new website (web host) will allow not only email, but apparently ENCRYPTED email, by that same group offering GPG, and it may be dirt-simple for me to encrypt emails once I learn how.  That would be great, I would acquire one of the skills I seek pretty quickly if so.

The simplest way to encrypt emails with GPG/PGP is to just write the email in another text editor, encrypt that text using whatever GPG software you are using, and then copy and paste the encrypted text into the email as the message. There are of course software and extensions to make this easier but that is really the simplest thing to do.

I also would like to thank commentators (at this thread and another) for comments about the the Darknet.  It looks like a huge part of it involves really sleazy stuff like scammers, spammers, child porn, drug sales and many other dirty activity while offering little in the way of skills acquisition or legitimate business, etc.

Maybe I will learn TOR just for my own "personal privacy jiujitsu", but unless I become convinced otherwise it looks like the Darknet ain't for me.

Yup. The darknet has a lot of shady stuff there. However Tor is useful for privacy and circumventing censorship and not just for darknet stuff.

[Duomo]

Well if you are trying to gains some skill sets that non-professional BTC-ers should acquire, here are a few.
If you are bitcoiner, you need understand the basics of various subjects regarding finance, law and computer science.

1. Be aware of the numerous wallets
  - Bitcoin Core QT, MultiBit HD, Electrum, Bread Wallet, Blockchain.Info, etc.

2. Understand and Utilize Encryption of your Hard-drive and Files
 - Encrypt your Files and make backups to make sure they can be restored.
 - Be familiar with Tor, Relays, and Exit Relays.
 - PGP/GPG (Get one) There is numerous tutorials on how to set it up.
 

3. Be Familiar with Financial/Tax Laws and Legality Issues
 - You should understand the current situation of Bitcoin in your own country.
 - bitcoin is considered a various forms of assets across different areas of the world so be knowledgable.

These are a few vital subjects you should brush up on.

[Denker]

Regarding the government snooping, TOR is quite slow for your everyday use. You may want to consider a high speed VPN instead.

If you pick one that does not log anything from its costumers (including real IP, DNS, websites visited, etc), you are already very difficult to find.

Yes totally agree.
There are several good VPN providers out there who offer really a great service.
And often you can pay them with Bitcoin!

This link can be helpful to get some informations.
https://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/