Quote from: rvmelkonian on April 08, 2013, 12:21:18 AM

One of the best things about the Bitcoin is that it gives all the responsibility over to the individual, for better or worse, the most secure way to store your bitcoins is NOT using online wallets

I like the individual responsibility, but ultimately the security boils down to the software used. While I agree in principle that "online wallets" should not be inherently trusted, there is trust built over time for anything that doesn't get violated on a regular basis. We want to feel secure, and we want to believe in unicornfairies, but in reality the only security we have is when we ourselves simply stop worrying so much about who to trust and worry more about why we should or shouldn't trust them.

Lots of people trust me who have no reason to, simply for the fact that I'm clergy. But ask the children who have been molested how much they trust a clergy person, and you'll see a lot of reasons why not to do it. But ultimately, the chances of this happening are low (most people become clergy for the sake of helping others, rather than for any kind of power trip, generally speaking), and so trust is issued, whether or not it's wise to do so.

I think some of the advice given here is good as general guidelines. But the unconfirmed amount can show in your wallet very quickly, and it doesn't honestly take that long to confirm. If we treat BTC as an investment currency instead of a day-to-day transaction currency (something that businesses can use with other businesses and with investors, etc., instead of something we should spend at the store to buy groceries), then the power of it makes a lot more sense in that context.

You build trust by making transactions. You don't start with it.