[ANN] BTC Monitor

[Alex Zee]

I wrote a simple program to display BitCoin price in the system tray:



The price is determined by Mt.Gox.

Download: http://qbizy.com/btcmon/
Donate:    1btcm18qxuqY7MgicZ1bmfZRVqGiDekax

[Otoh]

fantastic - just what I'd requested in my previous thread:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=16589.msg215755#msg215755

look forward to downloading it once a high post count early member or 2 has vetted it for trojans etc as I don't know how to, no offense - it's Bitcoins after all

many thanks & I will donate for this too

& also you should totally sell this to the exchanges to have downloadable like Kitco's Kcast
http://applications.kitco.com/supportcenter/taskbar/index.html

[Alex Zee]

To all those people who are concerned that this might be a walet.dat stealing virus:

no offense, but if you don't know how to secure your wallet, what are you doing using BitCoin in the first place?

[Otoh]

To all those people who are concerned that this might be a walet.dat stealing virus:

no offense, but if you don't know how to secure your wallet, what are you doing using BitCoin in the first place?

personally I don't wish to use my time to arrange that atm, bootable uboxo (sp yes I know) or whatever on pen drive & am in any case waiting for a new Mac comp that I've just ordered to have a totally clean system to start getting in to that from, my present Windows one is over 10 years old & was second hand, I have a lot of Btc & $ with Mt.Gox with their Yubi key & Lastpass pro with Yubi key - that's perfectly secure enough & less hassel for a non tech newbie like me atm

edit to add: I do know how to do it or at least have all the info available to do so that I've researched over the last 3 months, I just choose to use Mt.Gox atm & not download anything from Bitcoin forums or sites that hasn't been vetted first, others may just be intested in monitering the Btc price before starting with Bitcoins but like still to know that what's downloaded is kosher before doing so

[Alex Zee]

You don't have to do it to get reasonable security - Windows is pretty secure if you patch it regularly.

Just don't work under Administrator account, like you wouldn't work under root on *nix.

Make sure only one user account is able to access the Bitcoin folder and that's the account the Bitcoin client runs under.

I am sure there must be some topics here covering it...

[Otoh]

You don't have to do it to get reasonable security - Windows is pretty secure if you patch it regularly.

Just don't work under Administrator account, like you wouldn't work under root on *nix.

Make sure only one user account is able to access the Bitcoin folder and that's the account the Bitcoin client runs under.

I am sure there must be some topics here covering it...

As I said this comp was second hand over 10 years ago, it came with Windows but that could have been a pirate copy, it also seems to have some weird progs on it that I don't trust & can't see how to remove, you are assuming more knowledge than I have - I've never even heard of *nix & anyway my new (& first) Mac is ordered - I'll start Bitcoin client & wallet then, It's well within my risk tollerance to use Mt.Gox as my wallet atm & much safer than keeping a wallet on my present comp

[Alex Zee]

If you don't have a wallet on you computer, which also has "some weird progs on it that I don't trust", why are you afraid to run this?
One more untrusted program won't change anything.

[Otoh]

If you don't have a wallet on you computer, which also has "some weird progs on it that I don't trust", why are you afraid to run this?
One more untrusted program won't change anything.

whatever is on it has been there from pre Bitcoin days, this is specifically Btc linked & while I'm sure it is fine or you'd be called out fast, I'm just following best practice here

[cypherdoc]

If you don't have a wallet on you computer, which also has "some weird progs on it that I don't trust", why are you afraid to run this?
One more untrusted program won't change anything.

why haven't you made the code open source?

[cypherdoc]

If you don't have a wallet on you computer, which also has "some weird progs on it that I don't trust", why are you afraid to run this?
One more untrusted program won't change anything.

whatever is on it has been there from pre Bitcoin days, this is specifically Btc linked & while I'm sure it is fine or you'd be called out fast, I'm just following best practice here

you're doing the right thing Otoh.  wait...

[Alex Zee]

why haven't you made the code open source?

a) I don't believe that demanding the source code for every program is the solution for the wallet.dat problem.

It's like piling all your gold in your living room and then sitting on the front porch, asking every person that passes by to see their passport.
While the real thief is probably unloading your gold from the back door.
Get a safe and secure your living room instead.

b) If I spend more than 3 days of my time on something I expect some kind of return for it before I give it away for free.

[cypherdoc]

why haven't you made the code open source?

a) I don't believe that demanding the source code for every program is the solution for the wallet.dat problem.

It's like piling all your gold in your living room and then sitting on the front porch, asking every person that passes by for their passport.
While the real thief is probably unloading your gold from the back door.
Get a safe and secure your living room instead.

b) If I spend more than 3 days of my time on something I expect some kind of return for it before I give it away for free.

your logic is false.  most here couldn't just read your code and implement it unlike they could walk away with your gold.  they rely on a select few here who can read it to vet the code for malware.  and the coders who review it aren't likely to steal it either since the few who could won't b/c they understand open source ethics.

[Otoh]

If you don't have a wallet on you computer, which also has "some weird progs on it that I don't trust", why are you afraid to run this?
One more untrusted program won't change anything.

whatever is on it has been there from pre Bitcoin days, this is specifically Btc linked & while I'm sure it is fine or you'd be called out fast, I'm just following best practice here

you're doing the right thing Otoh.  wait...

thanks doc, just because I may or may not have the sniffles or a cat flea or 2 doesn't mean I stop wearing a condom

[Alex Zee]

Well, with bitcoin price moving so drastically, I think I'll revive this old project of mine.

So here's version 1.1:

http://qbizy.com/btcmon/btc_ monitor.zip
Moderator note: Please be on the alert when downloading and running an unverified executable.

I've added support for 3-digit prices, because at the time this program was written $100 for one bitcoin seemed kind of ridiculous  

[BTC Books]

Well, with bitcoin price moving so drastically, I think I'll revive this old project of mine.

So here's version 1.1:

http://qbizy.com/btcmon/btc_monitor.zip

I've added support for 3-digit prices, because at the time this program was written $100 for one bitcoin seemed kind of ridiculous 

 

I'm sure cypherdoc will be along any time now, to ask if the code is open source.

Me, I don't use Windows, ever.  But if I did I'd be just as careful as Otoh and doc...

[Alex Zee]

Aren't wallets encrypted nowadays?

Anyway, I stand by my opinion that if any program you install on your computer is able to easily snatch your wallet, you probably shouldn't be using bitcoin

[BTC Books]

Aren't wallets encrypted nowadays?

Keyloggers.

Anyway, I stand by my opinion that if any program you install on your computer is able to easily snatch your wallet, you probably shouldn't be using bitcoin

The set of people who are capable of easily securing their computers against such mischief is an infinitesimally tiny cohort of computer users.  And if the goal of bitcoin is wide-spread adoption (which it is, as far as I'm concerned), then you must be mistaken.

[Alex Zee]

The set of people who are capable of easily securing their computers against such mischief is an infinitesimally tiny cohort of computer users.

So you think the number of users who would be able to recompile it from source is significantly higher?

[BTC Books]

The set of people who are capable of easily securing their computers against such mischief is an infinitesimally tiny cohort of computer users.

So you think the number of users who would be able to recompile it from source is significantly higher?

No.

I think cypherdoc expressed it perfectly @ #12:

your logic is false.  most here couldn't just read your code and implement it unlike they could walk away with your gold.  they rely on a select few here who can read it to vet the code for malware.  and the coders who review it aren't likely to steal it either since the few who could won't b/c they understand open source ethics.

[Alex Zee]

Simply reviewing source code doesn't solve anything.

If somebody feels extra paranoid, they can always disassemble the exe file - it's only 13 Kb and half of it is data.
Your hypothetical "select few" would have no problems doing it.

Anyway, I see that at least 2 other people are already using it, so I was right to update it and make it useful for others, not just myself.

So my work is done here