Hi. Stumbled across bitcoin this week. I'm amazed. I've been reading these forums, and fooling around with some software. I don't want to speculate or hoard, I want to see bitcoin flourish thru broad acceptance. I'm not an anarchist but this is pretty legit.
Well, I can't believe it, but 500 posts ago I was just discovering bitcoin. This is the first online forum I've ever invested any time in at all, and it's been a great experience. In fact, I only planned on asking a few questions here, and the name "honest bob" was a joke from the start. The first thing I noticed here was the scammery. Turns out, this forum is the most useful place for a newbie to buy bitcoins.
Bitcoin largely inspired me to choose computer science as my career; the technology is just that amazing--to think that 1s and 0s can revolutionize the way we think about money is mindblowing. Before I found out about bitcoin, I wasn't really into computers at all.
Looking back at my old posts, I am reminded of how patient the senior members here have been with all of my silly questions and half-baked ideas. I do feel I have a pretty solid grasp of Bitcoin now.
Because of bitcoin, I have learned/learned about:
-SHA, RSA, MD5, etc.
-PGP
-Tor
-VPNs and VPSs
-Austrian economics (meh)
-Linux (I made the full switch!)
-Networking
-the word "fungibility"
-IRC
-Poker
-That gambling is not wise after all
-day trading (meh)
-arbitrage
-and some other stuff
To you newbies, don't let a few rotten apples ruin an otherwise very helpful, supportive, and friendly community. Don't get discouraged! The learning curve is steep right now, but it will be worth it in the long run. Don't trust anybody (you really can't hear that enough). When you do get scammed, don't give up on bitcoin.
Thanks to all of you,
Or at least most of you,
Honest Bob.