Can some one please try and explain how all this works

[val1]

I need help understanding how this thing works. Am I able to buy bitcoins out right and if so where do I get them. Someone please explain mining to me. How is it done?

[foxcartier]

http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=7269.0

This is a great resources, used it when I first started. And if I could figure it out, you certainly can.

[TGE]

http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=7269.0

This is a great resources, used it when I first started. And if I could figure it out, you certainly can.

First thing I read. Just caught wind of all this 24-25 hours ago

[JellyfishRancher]

You can buy coins by transferring money to an exchange and trading your currency for BTC. Mining will require serious computer power in order to be at all economically worthwhile. Unless you really know what you're doing, it's probably not worth it at this point.

[yk]

I found also https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Main_Page very helpful.
The basic idea is, that transactions of Bitcoins are stored in such a way that it is impossible to forge a Bitcoin or a transaction. With this they have the essential properties of money, except that they are not universally accepted. But this can be solved with time.

[Crystal Excursion]

I need help understanding how this thing works. Am I able to buy bitcoins out right and if so where do I get them. Someone please explain mining to me. How is it done?

Hello and welcome to a strange new world in the Concept of Money. I watched bitcoins for several months before getting my feet wet, since December. If you choose to purchase bitcoins, bitcoinExchange offers several methods to acquire them. http://www.bitcoinexchange.cc/transaction.html If you choose to use their service please mention me "crystalexcursion@gmail" in the "How did you hear about us" box on the order form.

[BombaUcigasa]

I need help understanding how this thing works. Am I able to buy bitcoins out right and if so where do I get them. Someone please explain mining to me. How is it done?

FEED ME LIKE A LITTLE BOY, GIVE ME BIG BOY ANSWERS WHEN I DEMAND THEM DAMMIT!!! I WON'T FUDGING BOTHER TO READ A SINGLE PAGE OF TEXT ABOUT THE PROJECT, FROM THE ORIGINAL PROJECT PAGE, WIKI, FORUMS, WHATEVER, AND I WILL ALSO BLAME YOU LATER FOR ANYTHING I DON'T LIKE THAT'S HAPPENING TO ME, BECAUSE I'M THAT KIND OF GUY!!!!

[DowntownHarvey]

Hey no need to troll.  We are all newbies at some point!

[DannyHamilton]

I need help understanding how this thing works.

Great.  What have you read and learned so far, and what do you still need help understanding.

The basics:

A wallet program generally allows you to see what bitcoins have been sent to you, and to create transactions to send to others.

"Miners" do the work of securing and confirming transactions. They are rewarded with transaction fees and a block reward for this work.

Transactions are relayed throughout the network within seconds.  They become very difficult (impossible) to reverse/cancel as they gain confirmations.  Confirmations occur about every 10 minutes on average.

Am I able to buy bitcoins out right

Sure.  It's a currency.  You can provide a product or service and receive bitcoins as payment.  You can exchange your local currency for bitcoins (buy them outright).  You can beg and hope that someone will donate them to you out of the kindness of their heart. You can scam and steal them.  Just like any other currency.

and if so where do I get them.

https://localbitcoins.com/
https://mtgox.com/
https://campbx.com/
https://coinbase.com/
https://www.bitinstant.com/

You can also look at the Currency Exchange Sub-Forum here at bitcointalk.org:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=53.0

And, you can check out the #bitcoin-otc IRC channel.

I'm sure there are more places as well.  These are just some of the more popular ones in the United States.

Someone please explain mining to me. How is it done?

You run a mining program that attempts to find a SHA-256 hash of a block header that satisfies the current difficulty.  If you have equipment that can generate a significantly large amount of SHA-256 hashes per second, you can solo mine and get the full block reward for every block you solve.  If you don't have as much hashing power, you can join a mining pool and contribute your hashing power to the pool to increase the odds of the pool solving the next block.  The pool will then share a portion of the block reward with each contributor.

In general, unless you have access to cheap electricity and/or specialized mining equipment, it tends to be more profitable to acquire bitcoins via other means.

[pb321go]

As an absolute newbie, I took a look at http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=7269.0 and found it very useful. I'm intending just to use mtgox and btc-e and not get a separate wallet. Is that a reasonable way of planning to buy/sell/cash in (for USD) Bitcoins?