But, honestly, trying to gate crash an Army base and then getting into a shooting match with the guards ... well, that's a special kind of stupid.

Having visited the NSA facility myself many years ago, it is incredibly stupid. The military guards at the NSA are extremely alert, extremely competent, and very well armed. They will not hesitate to point a gun in your direction, or open fire if you fail to immediately comply with their orders.

They are not your typical security guards or your typical police. They are a level above that, and you do not want to mess with them.

Well, this is why you should keep your own bitcoin wallet. Bitcoin theft isn't a problem with bitcoin itself. It's a problem with where you're keeping your bitcoins.

No, BTC theft is indeed a problem with BTC itself. Evolution operated a BTC escrow service between its buyers and sellers. Unless the buyer and seller trust each other implicitly, escrow is essential for large remote transactions to ensure that no one gets ripped off, because (as we all know) BTC transactions are irreversible.

What Evolution did was empty out its escrow accounts and run off with the BTC from all the pending transactions. There is now essentially zero likelihood of them being punished, or the BTC being recovered.

And there you have the problem with BTC in a nutshell. Whether you use an exchange to transfer BTC to fiat, or use an escrow service to hold it pending a transaction, who do you trust to do the job? Particularly in an unregulated, pseudo-anonymous economic model where theft and graft go unpunished on a regular basis?

BTC has jumped the shark and is now moving into the long-term "let's keep fleecing the newbies" phase, just as you see with gold and silver "investment" companies. As long as there are suckers willing to exchange good money for BTC, there will be a very long line of criminals ready and willing to take it from them.

Now all the Winklevoss twins need to do is find is a reason for the average American consumer to buy BTC and use them, instead of using credit cards and debit cards that are protected from fraud and loss by federal law. Bitcoin may be a great deal for businesses, but it is a terrible deal for consumers, and without people on both sides of the economic equation it is slowly dying (witness the long slow decline in price, and the fact that a few hundred thousand people at most possess all the BTC in circulation).

That's the crux of the problem, and the one that no one has figured out yet, beyond yelling "Those evil bankers and politicians are robbing you with fiat money!" Right, so I'll pay my percentage to the twins, instead of my local bank? That's like choosing to be eaten by jackals instead of wolves.

Speaking of those who hold bitcoins I heard on NPR this morning that there are only about 250,000 people in the world who hold bitcoins. That's not enough people for me to take it seriously.

Bitcoin proponents may disagree with that number, but for the sake of argument let's assume that 10X as many people (2.5 million) hold BTC. That would mean 0.0357% of the world's population holds about 13.7 million BTC (all that have been mined so far). Since only 21 million BTC can ever be mined, then those 0.0357% possess 65.2% of all the BTC that ever will exist. With those numbers, the speculative hoarding frenzy surrounding Bitcoin is easy to understand.

Given also that many Bitcoin "believers" preach that BTC will one day become the dominant world currency, then what we have is a potential wealth gap that makes the wealth gap in the U.S. look positively socialist in comparison.

That, to me, is what makes Bitcoin so downright bizarre. A bunch of people have convinced themselves that all fiat currencies will collapse one day, making them rich beyond the dreams of avarice, since no one will think of using any cryptocurrency except BTC, because ... well, just because. And then they will own the world.

Bit Coins are actually more real then the US Dollar. Sure we get a paper or coin note stating that this represents so much. But at least bit coin is connected to something in limited supply thus needs to be shared.

I've never understood the logic behind statements like this. There are an infinite possible number of cryptocurrencies. A cryptocurrency is nothing but a mathematical algorithm being run on a lot of computers. By its very nature, it can't be in limited supply. Saying that Bitcoin is valuable because it's scare is like saying that digital music or digital video must be valuable because they're scarce.

Any one, at any time, can create his own blockchain and create a Bitcoin clone. After that, all he need to do is persuade other people to adopt his blockchain, and a new standard has been created, with the originator becoming "wealthy". In fact, I suspect that this idea may suddenly occur to the operators of one of the big idled mining centers over the next few months.

And before anyone says, "But Bitcoin was first!", let me reply, "Friendster and MySpace".

I thought powered by RF was impossible and a scam?
http://mobile.slashdot.org/sto...

Slashdot basically killed that company outright with nothing more than the argument that the technology was impossible. Search the thread for my screen name and watch me get shouted down for suggesting it actually is possible and even provide links to ICs you could use.

And now here we have a story that's touting it as a legitimate device?

I've no idea if iFind was actually a scam or not. They clearly went bust just days after the Slashdot story. But this kind of smacks of hypocrisy. Why was that a scam and this is not?

If you had actually bothered to watch the video, or read the transcript, you'd know that EnOcean is not using RF harvesting to power any of their devices. They are using mechanical, solar, and thermoelectric energy harvesting techniques to power ultra-low power sensors, and to generate RF signals to control other powered appliances (e.g. desk lamps). They are using clever engineering, but they are not making any claims that violate the laws of physics.

iFind was a scam. There was no way that a device that size could harvest, store, and utilize RF energy at the levels claimed by them. Not to mention that the so-called "inventor", supposedly with multiple advanced degrees in engineering and medicine, had absolutely no presence or history on the web.

And Slashdot didn't "kill" iFind. Kickstarter killed it, after performing a little due diligence and realizing that something was fishy with WeTag. But if Slashdot helped pushed Kickstarter into checking into the background of WeTag's principals, then so much the better.

Energy harvesting from ambient RF does work, but to capture significant amounts of energy requires lots of area (e.g. an antenna or large pickup coil), or to have RF energy beamed directly at the device. At no time does EnOcean claim to be using RF harvesting to power their devices; they are only using ultra-low power RF radio bursts for short-range communication.

You are not liable, any more liable than you are with cash, getting your bitcoin back will be at least as difficult as getting your cash back would be. You will have to file some kind civil claim and convince a judge or possibly jury the other party did not honor their part the transaction contract and you require some kind of redress.

Which, of course, is why people carry credit cards, because it lets them dispute the charge without going to the effort of filing a lawsuit to get redress.

Well yea, that is the trade off, I could easily carry a USB stick or whatever with the equivalent value of $250K in btc and go buy a house or something. Its inconvenient to walk around with that much cash. Still sever minutes is much faster than the several days a check would require to clear.

It's inconvenient and dangerous to walk around with that much cash, which is why we have a banking system. My bank electronically transfers the money to the seller's bank after I sign the paperwork, in the presence of an attorney and licensed agents. It gives me peace of mind, it prevents me from being ripped off, and once I sign, I walk out of the office and I'm done. So exactly what advantage does BTC provide to such a transaction, when it's exactly like carrying a big bundle of cash?

And I won't even get into the insanity of taking out a home loan in a deflationary economy. You really think that everyone is going to pay for homes and cars in full, without loans?

You'd better get used to it. Between the changes with chip-and-pin and ideas like CurrentC, the powers that be are pretty determined to strip those protections away from you anyway.

No one is going to force me to use CurrentC, and chip-and-PIN is intended to reduce credit card fraud, not make me to eat any loss if my account is compromised. On the other hand, I know that a BTC transaction would absolutely force me to eat the loss, because that's exactly how the system is designed to behave.

You're just dancing around the inconvenient fact that consumers have no incentive to use BTC over credit cards. It's a market for speculators and early adopters who are fervently hoping that someone else will buy their BTC and pump up the price, but no rational consumer (at least in the U.S. or Europe) has any incentive to do so.

The entire notion of bitcoin has always seemed a little sketchy to me.

Not just sketchy, but pointless (at least to the average consumer).

What sane person would use a debit card that mandates irreversible transactions if you are cheated by a merchant, makes you liable for all fraudulent use of the card, and takes several minutes for a purchase to be validated? Because that's basically what Bitcoin is. It's like stepping 50 years into the past, into a world without consumer protection laws.

If you were an early adopter of BTC, obviously you have a huge incentive to push for wider adoption, as this lets you turn your CPU-mined BTC into free money. But if you are someone who has never touched BTC in your life, you have no incentive to buy them now, and none to use them. It doesn't matter how many merchants accept BTC, because the average shopper would be insane to use them.

Regardless of what happens to the exchanges, BTC has hit a brick wall in adoption. Read about the experiences of merchants in Florida who signed up to accept BTC prior to the Bitcoin Bowl. Several of them stopped accepting BTC when it became apparent that no one was spending them.

The two new ads promote Bitcoin and BitPay as a secure alternative to traditional credit-card transactions.

Yes, BTC is exactly that for a business, but exactly what incentive does a consumer have to use it?

Right now, if I want to buy something with U.S. dollars, I pull out my credit card or my cell phone, and I buy it. The transaction is completed in a matter of seconds (no waiting for verification via a blockchain), and if I use Apple Pay or Google Wallet, it is extremely secure.

On top of that, if I am cheated by the merchant, I can contact the credit card company and dispute the charges. Furthermore, even if my credit card is somehow compromised, I am only liable for $50 maximum by law, without having to go to court or sue anyone.

What does BTC do for me? First, I have to buy BTC, and then spend it quickly before the value changes. Second, if the merchant cheats me, too bad. BTC gives him all the power - transactions are irreversible. Third, if my BTC wallet is compromised, I can kiss my BTC goodbye. All of the consumer protections that I enjoy with credit cards are gone. So exactly what do I get out of the deal?

For the average consumer, Bitcoin is a solution in search of a problem. BTC may be a great way to buy contraband, or to send money to someone in a 3rd world country, but that is hardly something the average person bothers with on a regular basis.

Bitcoin is a niche product, and will remain so, despite every effort by BTC evangelists to persuade consumers to give them real money in exchange for their cryptocoins. Someone give me a reason to use BTC on a regular basis that doesn't involve some idealistic "screw the establishment, fiat currency is evil" rationalization. As a consumer, I don't see the point.

What else am I supposed to do?

The same thing my generation did: ignore the self-styled "experts" who tell you you're doing it all wrong, and trust your own best judgment instead.

The world is chock full of wonderful theories about child-rearing and education that might provide better outcomes if we all had infinite time, infinite patience, and infinite resources to try them out. But we don't, so we do the best we can with what we have. That is particularly true when you are a parent of a young child.

This reminds me of the current fuss over "flipped classrooms". Yes, it seems like an interesting idea, and it might provide better outcomes, but it requires several outstanding teaching assistants who understand the concepts well enough to provide one-on-one instruction during class time.

In the real world most of my teaching assistants don't understand the material any better than my students. So unless my employer can figure out how to clone me, I'm going to stick with what works, rather than lose sleep over what is impractical to even attempt.

Everyone that says they have a box that makes energy from nothing, I say, phase match your box to the line current from the local utility, roll your meter backwards, and cash the ensuing checks. Then talk to me.

This, a thousand times over. Having a "free energy" machine, if it existed, would be like owning a machine that printed money.

Rossi claims he has constructed 1 MW reactors. Assuming this was true, and assuming Rossi could sell that power for just $0.10 USD per kW-hr, then he has a machine that effectively generates income at the rate of $100 / hour. Use half of that income for operating costs and personal expenses, and Rossi makes a net profit of $36,000 a month if the machine runs 24/7.

In a year Rossi has $432,000. Long before then, he would be able to build a second generator, doubling his income. Assuming one generator could "double" itself every six months, in five years he has a profit of $18.4M USD each month. In less than a decade, he is the wealthiest man on the planet.

So why isn't Rossi doing that, instead of trying to get investors to write checks? Because he can't, of course. Like all frauds and pseudoscientists, he is utterly incapable of actually doing anything useful with his so-called "invention".

Bonkers like Newegg, and Dish Network? Both of which accept bit coin.

No, they accept USD, or whatever fiat currency they specify, with a transaction processor like Bitpay converting BTC to fiat on the spot.

Lots of companies "accept" BTC that way, but they're really getting paid in some national currency. It is rather disingenuous of people to claim otherwise.

And yes, a company would be bonkers to accept, and keep, anything as volatile as BTC.

For example, if you want to disconnect.
Comcast: Thanks for calling in... long nonsense fill speech later... How can I help you?
You: I would like to disconnect my service effective immediately, if you waste my time and/or do anything other than disconnect me immediately, I will request a supervisor, I will accept nothing less than a supervisor, I will not allow you to put me on hold, and I will make this call miserable for the both of us until my service has been satisfactorily disconnected.
*at this point 90% of agents will just do it and take the hit on their stats to not deal with you, but if they wont, read on*
Comcast: I'm sorry to hear that sir, but I will have to transfer you to our disconnect department...
You: *cut them off* Please get your supervisor, do not put me on hold. Thank you.
Comcast: But my supervisor can't...
You:You're wasting both of our time, call your supervisor over, I'd like to speak to them immediately. Inform them that if THEY can't disconnect my service, I'll be asking for their manager as well. This will continue until my service is disconnected, I will not be put on hold.

This is way too much effort, unless you happen to enjoy yanking some chains over the phone.

Here's how you quit Comcast:

(1) Disconnect every piece of Comcast equipment in your home.
(2) Load it in a box, and put the box in your car.
(3) Drive to the nearest Comcast customer center.
(4) Dump the box on the counter and tell the rep: "I wish to terminate my service immediately."

No one will argue with you. You have completely bypassed Comcast's customer retention process by doing this. Pay the amount due on your bill, get a receipt with a complete list of the equipment you've turned in, then go home.

I cancelled my Comcast cable service last week. Walked into the office, handed them my equipment and told them I wanted to cancel my account. The person behind the counter checked in the equipment, had me sign a form indicating I had returned all the equipment and pay the prorated amount I owed.

I was in and out in just over a minute. I waited in line significantly longer than that.

You're not an outlier, but you did do exactly the right thing. You cancelled in person, instead of over the phone.

The people you call on the phone are highly incentivized to keep you as a customer. The ones working behind the counter are not.

If you want to quit ANY cable service, then disconnect all the equipment, load it in your car, take it down to their local office, and tell them that you wish to drop their service immediately. No one will argue with you; at that point you have bypassed their normal customer retention script.

Barring a total miracle like Rossi's unicorn reactor it seems we've already passed the point of no return.

If there are any miracles to be had, I can assure you they won't be coming from a pseudoscientific scam artist like Rossi.

It's not like we don't have the technology to tackle AGW. We know how to build nuclear power plants right now, and we also know how to deal with the waste. All we lack is the political will to do it. We don't need "miracles" from snake-oil salesmen like Rossi.