Bitcoin press hits, notable sources

[herzmeister]

most definitely. I like the "smart bank" idea a lot, too. Did anyone catch the name of the "new german bank that was accounced"? "feda bank" or "feder bank", I can't find it.

It's Fidor Bank AG.

[julz]

Money Donated To Occupy Wall Street Brings Much Needed Supplies And Tension

Lila Shapiro
2011-10-24

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/24/occupy-wall-street-money-donated-tension_n_1029377.html

"Should all the money be converted to an alternative currency like Bitcoin?"

discussion threads:  
"Occupy Wall St. Debating whether convert funds over to Bitcoin"  
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=50291.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=50276.0

[Bigpiggy01]

http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/10/cash-or-credit

The economist is referring people to bitcoin piece in the "The New Yorker" and their own previous stories in connection with the Euro hubub.

[barbarousrelic]

http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/10/macs-targeted-by-new-bitcoin-mining-trojan-devilrobber.php?ref=fpb

Talking Points Memo has an article on a Mac trojan that steals Bitcoins.

[Alphonso Bedoya]

Illicit Bitcoin miners steal resources from infected Macs

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/10/31/mac_os_x_bitcoin_mining_trojan/

[cbeast]

http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2011/nov/01/student-startup-storms-cyberspace/

“Payments are about to change dramatically,” Feigelson said of the trend to use online currency. “That means I’ll probably be in the Bitcoin business for a while.”

[Mageant]

WND Exclusive OCCUPY THIS!
Next target of protesters: U.S. dollar?
Group seeks global currency to replace each nation's financial system

Read more: Next target of protesters: U.S. dollar?

"... The currency project seeks to utilize several conceptual organizations already in existence that are attempting to create an alternative currency, including something called BitCoin, an experimental "digital currency ... that enables instant payments to anyone, anywhere in the world." ..."

http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=362293#ixzz1cTdFqYcf

[MoonShadow]

WND Exclusive OCCUPY THIS!
Next target of protesters: U.S. dollar?
Group seeks global currency to replace each nation's financial system

Read more: Next target of protesters: U.S. dollar?

"... The currency project seeks to utilize several conceptual organizations already in existence that are attempting to create an alternative currency, including something called BitCoin, an experimental "digital currency ... that enables instant payments to anyone, anywhere in the world." ..."

http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=362293#ixzz1cTdFqYcf

Although they mention Bitcoin, what they want is a unified fiat currency system like a super Euro or "Amero".  I don't know that this is good publicity.

[Mageant]

WND Exclusive OCCUPY THIS!
Next target of protesters: U.S. dollar?
Group seeks global currency to replace each nation's financial system

Read more: Next target of protesters: U.S. dollar?

"... The currency project seeks to utilize several conceptual organizations already in existence that are attempting to create an alternative currency, including something called BitCoin, an experimental "digital currency ... that enables instant payments to anyone, anywhere in the world." ..."

http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=362293#ixzz1cTdFqYcf

Although they mention Bitcoin, what they want is a unified fiat currency system like a super Euro or "Amero".  I don't know that this is good publicity.

A unified currency system is per se not bad. The real issue is whether it is voluntary or by force. As long as it is voluntary I have no problem with it.

[MoonShadow]

WND Exclusive OCCUPY THIS!
Next target of protesters: U.S. dollar?
Group seeks global currency to replace each nation's financial system

Read more: Next target of protesters: U.S. dollar?

"... The currency project seeks to utilize several conceptual organizations already in existence that are attempting to create an alternative currency, including something called BitCoin, an experimental "digital currency ... that enables instant payments to anyone, anywhere in the world." ..."

http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=362293#ixzz1cTdFqYcf

Although they mention Bitcoin, what they want is a unified fiat currency system like a super Euro or "Amero".  I don't know that this is good publicity.

A unified currency system is per se not bad. The real issue is whether it is voluntary or by force. As long as it is voluntary I have no problem with it.

If it's unified, it is by default, not voluntary.  Even Bitcoin wouldn't be voluntary anymore if the nations of the Earth all decided to abolish their own currencies and use it as legal tender.  I don't think that would actually be worse than the current conditions, but it wouldn't be a choice if the choice is between Bitcoin and nothing at all.

[netrin]

The last guy that took a real stab at a unified currency got thrown in jail on invalidated rape charges and lost the French election. Others usually just part with sovereignty or life.

[casascius]

I just did a Skype interview with a CBS affiliate in Arizona.  If I recall correctly, they said they expect to air their piece a week from Thursday (which would be Nov 10).  Questions I was asked centered on two themes: one, the security of Bitcoin and what I thought about the hackings and thefts, and two, why Bitcoin, what Bitcoin is "good for" besides illegal things, why exactly I was interested in Bitcoin, like whether I was against government, etc.

Regarding security, I basically told them that the first run of Bitcoin required people to keep their coins on their computer or a website, both of which are unsafe and that theft was bound to happen.  He asked if I was worried that my bitcoins would get stolen, I said no, I have never been a victim, because I keep them on paper.  I held up a bitaddress.org paper wallet, told them bitcoins are just numbers and that if you keep the numbers on a piece of paper, they aren't going to get hacked.

Regarding what Bitcoin is good for, I acknowledged that illegal things happen with Bitcoin (just like cash) and that Bitcoin may not exactly be a more convenient way to pay for groceries, but that there are a lot of use cases that just haven't caught on - like remittances to Mexico and payments for goods from China - compared it to PayPal and noted that some people just philosophically don't like someone saying who they can and can't pay, they just want to send money from point A to B without a lot of questions, and that Bitcoin will survive as long as there's a demand for that.

He asked if I was anti-government, noted that others are reluctant to reveal their identity, and I basically said nope, I'm not doing anything illegal, nothing to hide, I'm just a fan of the technology and believe the government could adopt it for their own uses once they understood it.  That we have a constitution of checks and balances, and that bitcoin is just another check and balance available to the people on their government.  That I'm a geek - other people go to bars for fun - I get off on this kind of stuff.  Told him that if the government knocked on my door, they'd find me cooperative, that it's an open source project they have just as much right as anybody else to understand, and that they probably would have a better idea of what they want to do next if they knew more about how bitcoin worked.

[Bigpiggy01]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/the-real-wall-street-occupation-is-online/2010/12/20/gIQAFKANfM_blog.html

This is not a pure bitcoin piece but it points a lot of peeps in the right direction 

[payb.tc]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/the-real-wall-street-occupation-is-online/2010/12/20/gIQAFKANfM_blog.html

This is not a pure bitcoin piece but it points a lot of peeps in the right direction 

here's the blurb:

The much-maligned Bitcoin movement to create an anonymous, decentralized, digital currency free of the oversight of the world’s central banks can be best understood as a precursor to the Occupy movement. Now that Bitcoin has demonstrated itself as a proof-of-concept and the daily stress and strain of the Euro continues to attract international headlines, there are alternative currency concepts based on Bitcoin waiting to be implemented by tech entrepreneurs.

[cbeast]

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/11/01/following-a-1000000-gain-a-slow-motion-crash.aspx

The Motley Fool follows up from a previous story.

But what about the long-term prospects? In an email, Andresen relayed that he remains upbeat on Bitcoin's future. Furthermore, he mentioned "dozens" of development-stage projects, including secure "Bitcoin wallets" for cellphones. Although he doesn't see such ventures as critical to Bitcoin's success, they could, in my view, provide a notable boost.

[MoonShadow]

http://georgedonnelly.com/libertarian/how-to-bootstrap-mutual-aid-society

Not a new article, but I havn't seen it before.  It's not about Bitcoin per se, but mentions it.

"We need a MAS model that is resilient before we start risking people’s precious funds. We’re wise to take hints from bitcoin, open source software projects, anarchism, leaderless resistance and the whole peer-to-peer concept (P2P) (egalitarianism). If funds and lists aren’t stored centrally, they can’t easily be seized. If there is no bureaucracy and no company president or board, they can’t be indicted or compromised. The key to a resilient MAS is that simple: decentralize."

[k]

http://www.t3.com/features/bitcoin-a-licence-to-print-money

A revolutionary electronic currency is shaking the global money tree. It began as a toy for geeks but is now making millions for investors – and criminals. T3 follows the virtual paper trail…

[k]

http://www.launch.is/blog/make-money-selling-weed-cocaine-and-porn-on-silk-road.html

Make Money Selling Weed, Cocaine and Porn on Silk Road

Total link-bait title, about Silk Road but mentions bitcoin.

[meanig]

http://www.americanbanker.com/btn/24_11/virtual-currencies-real-potential-1043673-1.html

Includes a small Bitcoin mention. The article is more focused on how traditional banks could offer virtual currency services.

In 18 months, depending on how the global banking/economic crisis plays out, the industry "may start to see the tip of the iceberg emerging" with banks offering virtual currency services, Newton says. "There's not going to be an overnight changing of the markets."

[julz]

Making Money the (Computationally) Hard Way

2011-11-09
Lance Fortnow

http://blog.computationalcomplexity.org/2011/11/making-money-computationally-hard-way.html

"By request I am giving a lecture about Bitcoin in my crypto class."

"Not clear to me that it could scale for wide-spread use but still quite a clever and so far working system."

 Lance Fortnow:
    Professor
    Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
    Northwestern University McCormick School of Engineering