That's actually pretty cool. I might start doing some bit coin mining. If
for nothing else free humble bundles.
On Sunday, June 23, 2013, Jeff Coleman wrote:
> Pretty much, though I'd add entrepreneurship, contract law, and online
> gambling to that list (and assume "cryptography" has a very broad
> interpretation). That, and--$5 worth of gold isn't any fun to play with.
> Between mobile apps, Bitcoin-speaking bots, Bitcoin QR codes, and all
> that, $5 worth of bitcoins is pretty fun to experiment with. In San Jose
> earlier this year I fed a US bill into a Bitcoin ATM and heard the
> cha-ching of my phone receiving bitcoins before I had finished pressing
> "confirm". I was *definitely *living in the future!
>
>
> On Sun, Jun 23, 2013 at 9:20 PM, Adam Thompson
> <athom...@athompso.net<javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', 'athom...@athompso.net');>
> > wrote:
>
>> So from a macroeconomic standpoint, at the 10,000-foot level, Bitcoin is
>> kind of like gold...
>> It requires effort and resources to obtain directly (and like real
>> mining, anyone can try but to get significant amounts you need significant
>> resources).
>> Its supply is therefore limited.
>> Ordinary people don't use it as a transaction medium on a daily basis.
>> It has stored value, which fluctuates in terms of local currency.
>>
>> Obviously, there are vast differences in the mechanics:
>> Bitcoin uses a cryptographic representation (itself, effectively!)
>> whereas gold is notionally exchanged and only rarely physically moved.
>> Bitcoin is theoretically an inexhaustible resource, whereas gold by
>> definition had physical limits.
>>
>> It seems to me that for now, we could think of it as "digital gold" and
>> go on with our lives... Unless we're interested in monetary systems,
>> economics, VLSI design or cryptography, at least.
>>
>> So far so good, as an approximation?
>>
>> -Adam
>>
>>
>>
>> Jeff Coleman <jeffc...@gmail.com <javascript:_e({}, 'cvml',
>> 'jeffc...@gmail.com');>> wrote:
>>
>> Unless you have one of a few narrow use cases, you shouldn't care about
>> bitcoins themselves yet. It's kind of more like the invention of the
>> computer, which took a while to be relevant in daily life but was obviously
>> a massive technical breakthrough to people who could see the future
>> implications. Bitcoin is the first successful implementation of
>> cryptography as money. It's Money Over IP. And that's a big deal,
>> or....it will be. Especially when the currency itself can enforce complex
>> agreements <https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Contracts> without the
>> intervention of a human authority. That lets us start replacing lawyers
>> with programmers, which can only be a good thing :)
>>
>> TCP was invented in 1974, but it took us 15 years to get the Web, and
>> similarly I think it will take a while to make cryptographic money relevant
>> in daily life. But if you're a geek, it's way more fun to work on TCP in
>> 1974 than in 2004. Specifically, Bitcoin has become a surprisingly
>> effective store of value, but it's got a long way to go as a medium of
>> exchange and it's virtually worthless as a unit of account. Personally I
>> think we'll see derivative units built on top of Bitcoin that behave more
>> like Canadian or U.S. dollars, and then the space will really explode. But
>> for now I find even the narrow use cases interesting--its use as a payment
>> method to prevent chargeback fraud; as an intrusion detection system that
>> pays attackers to reveal themselves; as a basis for provably fair or
>> provably secure business models; as a shared store of value that costs
>> nothing to ship; as a platform for unique programming
>> projects<http://www.reddit.com/r/bitcointip> involving
>> money; and so on. There's a ton of innovation happening in this space, and
>> Bitcoin won't be going away any time soon. It's really just a question of
>> *which* steps will eventually take it mainstream. And if you're a
>> technical guy or an entrepreneur who gets into Bitcoin now, you'll be able
>> to experiment with all this stuff yourself. To me Bitcoin is DIY money,
>> and in my experience DIY'ers kick butt at innovating.
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Jun 23, 2013 at 5:38 PM, Jim MacKenzie
>> <protoj...@gmail.com<javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', 'protoj...@gmail.com');>
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> Does this mean your able to answer the full question "How do bit coins
>>> work, and why should I care about them?" It seems everyone is able to
>>> answer part one, no one can give a decent answer to the 2nd half
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sunday, June 23, 2013, Jeff Coleman wrote:
>>>
>>>> lol. Their approach is more to invite people to present at conferences.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Sun, Jun 23, 2013 at 3:48 PM, Theo Baschak
>>>> <theod...@ciscodude.net>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> So how many dark tinted window vans are parked on your block now? :-)
>>>>> Any wifi's named "NSASURVEILLANCEVAN" pop up recently?
>>>>> Any with fake pants on the side with real zip-down surveillance slots?
>>>>>
>>>>> Theo
>>>>>
>>>>> On 2013-06-23, at 3:19 PM, Jeff Coleman <jeffc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> > Yup, it's me :)
>>>>> >
>>>>>
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