Bitcoin press hits, notable sources

[netrin]

Wipe your phone, laptop, and any electronic device or storage medium (including USB keys) so if they ask to have a look you can comply, but they won't get anything. Store your stuff in the cloud encrypted and get it after you arrive.

That's an excellent idea. I was planning to ensure that everything was encrypted on the disks, but yours is a much more elegant solution. Thank you.

Don't mention bitcoins.

Did that get you IN TO the room? Or just make matters worse/more confusing?

In 2004 I was carrying a childrens' book (it was small, hard covered and convenient for carrying tickets) whose title translates to "The mole who wanted to know who shat on his head". A passenger in the next line noticed and commented on it. We had a friendly conversation. Minutes later, the passport agent became very suspicious as if I were holding bomb manuals. I was initially in light spirits but quickly saw this situation was going too far. I wasn't pulled to a back room, but I was questioned heavily.

I'm not surprised that the English/American version of the book has such a flaccid title:

[Nefario]

Wipe your phone, laptop, and any electronic device or storage medium (including USB keys) so if they ask to have a look you can comply, but they won't get anything. Store your stuff in the cloud encrypted and get it after you arrive.

That's an excellent idea. I was planning to ensure that everything was encrypted on the disks, but yours is a much more elegant solution. Thank you.

Don't mention bitcoins.

Did that get you IN TO the room? Or just make matters worse/more confusing?

In 2004 I was carrying a childrens' book (it was small, hard covered and convenient for carrying tickets) whose title translates to "The mole who wanted to know who shat on his head". A passenger in the next line noticed and commented on it. We had a friendly conversation. Minutes later, the passport agent became very suspicious as if I were holding bomb manuals. I was initially in light spirits but quickly saw this situation was going too far. I wasn't pulled to a back room, but I was questioned heavily.

I'm not surprised that the English/American version of the book has such a flaccid title:

I must get that book for my SON! FOR SCIENCE!

On the airport thing, I was flagged for having very little cash, talking about bitcoin made it worse.

[fabianhjr]

http://www.siliconprairienews.com/2011/07/as-bitcoin-exchanges-drop-dwolla-milne-says-company-stays-focused
TradeHill and Dwolla

[molecular]

What would the customs do if my notebook had drive encrypted and I refuse to decrypt it?

Probably take it from you, never to be seen again. If they REALLY want whats on it then they might get a court order for your to decrypt it, and failing to do so would result in you being held in contempt of court and imprisoned until you give it to them. Now this is pretty much what has happened to one poor fellow and it's the first time it's gone this far AFAIK, so that case might set the precedent if it gets to the top courts of the land.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Libertarian/comments/i8l6b/truecrypt_user_held_in_contempt_of_court_for_not/

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2693599

But that's only if they REALLY want it.

If you have data they might REALLY want, you could use deniable encryption, e.g like this:

One example of deniable encryption is a cryptographic filesystem that employs a concept of abstract "layers", where each layer would be decrypted with a different encryption key. Additionally, special "chaff layers" are filled with random data in order to have plausible deniability of the existence of real layers and their encryption keys. The user will store decoy files on one or more layers while denying the existence of others, claiming that the rest of space is taken up by chaff layers.

[netrin]

One example of deniable encryption is a cryptographic filesystem that employs a concept of abstract "layers", where each layer would be decrypted with a different encryption key. Additionally, special "chaff layers" are filled with random data in order to have plausible deniability of the existence of real layers and their encryption keys. The user will store decoy files on one or more layers while denying the existence of others, claiming that the rest of space is taken up by chaff layers.

If I allocate 10 MB to an encrypted file/partition, then fill one layer with 5 MB with sensitive data, what keeps me from accidentally overwriting the sensitive layer with a second layer of porn? Does one layer know the inodes of the other, while the second layer does not?

[Chris Acheson]

If I allocate 10 MB to an encrypted file/partition, then fill one layer with 5 MB with sensitive data, what keeps me from accidentally overwriting the sensitive layer with a second layer of porn? Does one layer know the inodes of the other, while the second layer does not?

For normal usage, you enter the passphrases for both the visible and hidden layers, so that the system knows not to overwrite the hidden layer.  When the visible layer is accessed without providing a passphrase for the hidden layer, there is a danger of overwriting it.

[MoonShadow]

http://www.bottomviolation.com/bitcoin-cannot-fail/

[riceberry]

nice article +1

[julz]

Recently I've noticed a few Chinese articles popping up in my searches for bitcoin articles.
I've used google translate to check out some of them..  so far they've been fairly short and basic rehashes of other news.

Here's one which seems a little more in depth - describing how to mine them and comparing them to the Chinese virtual currency 'Q coin' (a centralized system run by Tencent QQ)

As you can see from the title - google translate does a sterling job of translating Chinese into... 'Chinglish'.. but that's to be expected I guess!

"Casting bit GPU graphics card you use to teach mining money earned dollars"

http://tech.hexun.com/2011-07-29/131863988.html

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Ftech.hexun.com%2F2011-07-29%2F131863988.html&act=url

I've no idea how much press bitcoin is getting in the Chinese language media overall and whether it's generally positive/negative - perhaps someone who can actually read Chinese can clue us in.

[julz]

Bullion, Bitcoin and Bucks: Will the Real “Fake” Money Please Step Forward?
July 28, 2011 by prospectingjournal

http://prospectingjournal.com/bullion-bitcoin-and-bucks-will-the-real-%E2%80%9Cfake%E2%80%9D-money-please-step-forward/

[julz]

Why Social Accountability Isnt The New Web Currency
July 28
http://tekfrenzy.com/2011/07/28/why-social-accountability-isnt-the-new-web-currency/

[julz]

Why the bitcoin is no substitute for credit cards
http://blog.instabill.com/index.php/2011/07/29/bitcoin-no-substitute-for-credit-cards

(
Instabill pimping themselves over bitcoin by pushing some tired old misinformation regarding the mtgox flash crash, as well as this FUD gem:

"Because bitcoins are computer-generated, it is possible to create counterfeit coins."

)

[julz]

Bitcoin for Beginners (like me)
July the 29th 2011
http://www.splitbrain.org/blog/2011-07/29-bitcoin_for_beginners_like_me

This is a pretty nice bitcoin intro.

[fabianhjr]

Why the bitcoin is no substitute for credit cards
http://blog.instabill.com/index.php/2011/07/29/bitcoin-no-substitute-for-credit-cards

(
Instabill pimping themselves over bitcoin by pushing some tired old misinformation regarding the mtgox flash crash, as well as this FUD gem:

"Because bitcoins are computer-generated, it is possible to create counterfeit coins."

)

Can anyone explain to me why this guys pop up? They don't even know what a file is for the flying spaghetti monster sake.

http://www.splitbrain.org/blog/2011-07/29-bitcoin_for_beginners_like_me
^ This dude instead does a quite nice job

[fabianhjr]

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110729/03142715310/reports-claim-that-pakistan-is-trying-to-ban-encryption-under-telco-law.shtml

Pakistan will possibly be unable to join the Bitcoin rallies.\

Many articles written in other languages have been a barrier to see what is going on.

Can anyone translate when they pop up?
http://www.google.com/search?channel=fs&q=bitcoin#q=bitcoin&hl=en&tbm=nws&prmd=ivnsl&source=lnt&tbs=qdr:d&sa=X&ei=9Rk0TpOqAeyFsALJhb2BCw&ved=0CAwQpwUoAg&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=5eab5f711e1c0e4e&biw=1920&bih=957

[philipp]

There was an article on Bitcoin in c't, a bi-weekly German computer magazine (sold curculation about 350K) today. At 6 A4 pages it was a rather in-depth article, and I did not notice any factual errors.

Philipp

[Dusty]

A mozilla developer, Brian Warner, does a technical introduction of bitcoin.
Video and slides.

[Schleicher]

There was an article on Bitcoin in c't, a bi-weekly German computer magazine (sold curculation about 350K) today. At 6 A4 pages it was a rather in-depth article, and I did not notice any factual errors.

Link:
http://www.heise.de/ct/inhalt/2011/17/74/

[giszmo]

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110729/03142715310/reports-claim-that-pakistan-is-trying-to-ban-encryption-under-telco-law.shtml

Pakistan will possibly be unable to join the Bitcoin rallies.\

Many articles written in other languages have been a barrier to see what is going on.

Can anyone translate when they pop up?
http://www.google.com/search?channel=fs&q=bitcoin#q=bitcoin&hl=en&tbm=nws&prmd=ivnsl&source=lnt&tbs=qdr:d&sa=X&ei=9Rk0TpOqAeyFsALJhb2BCw&ved=0CAwQpwUoAg&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=5eab5f711e1c0e4e&biw=1920&bih=957

In BitCoin there is no encryption involved. Only signatures. It may be the same field of research but there are no secrets transmitted in the blockchain so most likely those censorship laws don't apply to bitcoin.

[molecular]

There was an article on Bitcoin in c't, a bi-weekly German computer magazine (sold curculation about 350K) today. At 6 A4 pages it was a rather in-depth article, and I did not notice any factual errors.

Link:
http://www.heise.de/ct/inhalt/2011/17/74/

wow, awesome! This'll hit a lot of techies in germany. C't is quite respectable and well-read.