[ANN] BitcoinLocator

[BitcoinLocator]

Clicking on pins often takes a long time to load.
After loading, most pins have two nested vertical scroll bars, and I need to scroll down the inner one to see the horizontal scroll bar.
You misspelled "losing" in "avoid loosing the entire transaction amount" on http://www.bitcoinlocator.com/exchange.htm

There is a problem in javascript where the contents of the pin info window are actually loaded faster then the the spinner graphic, and so the spinner overwrites the contents.  We are working on that problem right now, however we deployed a version that puts a slight delay in so that it should happen in the correct order.  We'll try to get this tightened up.  

We also made the window bigger by default to help with the scrollbar issue.

Thanks for the spelling fix, and thanks for all your notes!

[BitcoinLocator]

Nice!  A mobile app to boot would be nice too.

Thanks! Mobile app coming soon.  We're working on it now.

[Trader Steve]

very cool!

[LightRider]

This is a great service for www.Ubitex.org users to advertise on! Thanks!

[Mike Hearn]

We require a username and some remote authorization providers don't give one.  We just deployed a change so that if a username is available it will show up in the dialogue.

Maybe a username could be made optional, or the same as your email address? For this type of app it's best to keep signup steps absolutely minimal. For instance, is the reCAPTCHA necessary if signing in with a Google account? Those accounts already solved a CAPTCHA when the account was created.

We also made links last for 6 weeks now.  This is just for the beta.  We'd love to get input as to the best length of time.  On the one hand you don't want to have to update it too often, on the other we don't what a bunch of pins on the map for people who've moved on, or aren't using the service anymore.

Maybe email people reminders with a link in it? Or, consider an integration with Google Latitude so I can friend your site, share my current city, and then it's always updated.

[BitcoinLocator]

Maybe a username could be made optional, or the same as your email address? For this type of app it's best to keep signup steps absolutely minimal. For instance, is the reCAPTCHA necessary if signing in with a Google account? Those accounts already solved a CAPTCHA when the account was created.

I agree we want it to be as easy as possible.  I think removing the captcha for remote authentication is a good idea, we'll look into doing that.  I think there is a way to game it with a self hosted openID server, but we'll see if we can't figure out the right way to implement it.

We want to keep usernames, because it reduces spam accounts, and it provides a way for users to address each other anonymously (features coming soon).

Maybe email people reminders with a link in it? Or, consider an integration with Google Latitude so I can friend your site, share my current city, and then it's always updated.

We'll look into Google Latitude.  Emailing people near expiration sound like a good idea.  Email isn't required though, so we still need to find a good average time.

Thanks for the input!

[old_engineer]

I think I found a bug.  If you update a listing, but don't touch the "near" address, it automatically changes the address to the geolocated address.  Site looks good otherwise!

I'm glad you're trying to keep dead listings from accumulating.  As far as listing time goes, how about you let the user decide when making the listing?  You could default to 14 days (7 days is too short for a default), but allow users to choose anywhere between 3 days and 60 days?

[HostFat]

I think that bitcoin.org must find some ways to help people connecting themself.

So a "clone" ( a better one ) of this service should be put on bitcoin.org / weusebitcoin.com ( or both )
It should be on the git repository and then the entire community can help improving it.

[bccasino]

this apps looks very promising!

here my feedback to help you improve:

- logging in with twitter account does not seems to works.
- the captcha won't display in the browser because it does not use SSL, my browser block content if it suppose to be SSL encrypted but isn't (only secure content is displayed)

I'll be happy to test it again once you sorted this out.

[Anonymous]

Very nice design, but I don't think bitcoin needs to move in the physical direction. We need to keep developing more online systems, because, people in bitcoin mostly have the mindset that tells them that this does not keep their anonymity, so they will not participate.

[Steve]

There have been several similar services that have launched, but to my knowledge, none have been very widely adopted.  I've found this service and others lacking in a few respects.  Here's what I think such a service needs to be widely used:

1. it must protect anonymity…ideally it would have an email forwarding service…if there is someone near you that you would like to trade with, you should be able to send that person a message and if they are interested, they can reply back…the forwarded email must not reveal the sender's real email address…it should be possible to reply back using the service (to protect the email addresses in both directions)…then give guidelines about safely communicating with prospective trading partners

2. exact locations should not be recorded (it should not use browser location services…shouldn't even ask to)…instead, users will just provide a city or postal code to provide their approximate location

3. some guidelines and recommendations about conducting physical exchanges should be given on the site…for example, don't invite a stranger to meet you at your home; for smaller transactions, meet up at a coffee shop or similar; for larger transactions, meet at a secured facility (ironically, bank branches are good for this); and just to be extra precautions, leave at separate times so you're not followed, etc

4. allow people to state details about the transactions they'll consider…for example: buying or selling or both...your upper limit on the amount or value of the coins exchanged…the methods of payment you'll accept or offer (cash only, cashiers check, money order, precious metals, etc)…your buying or selling price expressed as a percentage relative to some market value (i.e. buying at 3% below national best bid, selling at 5% above national best offer…or relative to the 24hr VWAP across all exchanges, etc)

As bitcoin starts to become more widely used, a service like this will be valuable and in person exchanges much more common.  I think with a few improvements such as this, bitcoinlocator (or a similar service) could really become an important tool in the bitcoin economy.

[BadBear]

This is pretty cool, but I value my privacy too much.

[PrintCoins]

There is already a wiki page that does this:

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/In_Person_Traders

and people can put in whatever information they like.

Also, this is a list of physical merchants that accept bitcoin:

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Real_world_shops

Personally I think the wiki model works best.

[hihog11]

new bitcoin exchange in Northern Scotland
just use e-mail