Issue seems to be already resolved. I got
somewhat more deposit than I paid.

So, systematic exploits are not possible,
but things simply need to become much more reliable.

- Joise

P.S.

I think that trust isn't really built on maintaining
the image of being flawless, but on a combination
of good intentions and the ability to met them.

So, thumbs up for Intersango, I think this is an
extremely valuable service!

Issue seems to be already is resolved (deposit got added twice by accident).

So, systematic exploits were not possible at all.

- Joise

P.S.

I think that trust isn't really built on maintaining
the image of being flawless, but on a combination
of good intentions and the ability to met them.

So, thumbs up for Intersango, I like much what they do!

I have observed some potential issue with Intersango.

I cannot exclude that it is some error on my side
(I didn't sleep enough last night 'cause I was fiddling
with the German version of "Securing your wallet",
coincidentally). Or simply some accidental slip
as the service is still young.

However, just for the case that the issue is
real and more than accident, perhaps you should halt
trading for a moment, and wait until Genjix confirms that
everything is OK and safe. I already sent him the details.

Thanks.

- Joise

(cross-posted from "Trading discussion", please excuse.)

I have observed some issue with intersango.

I cannot exclude that it is some error on my side
(I didn't sleep enough last night 'cause I was fiddling
with the German version of "Securing your wallet",
coincidentally). Or simply an accidental slip
as the service is still young.


However, just for the case that the issue is
real and more than accident, you should halt trading,
and wait until Genjix confirms that everything is
OK and safe.

Thanks.

- Joise

There's an interesting article which dwells on the interactions between
gold price and the price of oil, as well as on the consequences
that the oil resources are finite and production is likely to peak in these
days - if they didn't peak already.

As it turns out, oil price and gold price are linked in several
ways: For example a high oil price could trigger inflation,
which will lead to a preference for gold. A very high oil
price would also weaken the US economy, which could lead
to a process that oil-producing countries could prefer
some other payment than the dollar.

Then, there is a very interesting remark that astonished
me. To cite:

"The answer to that question begins with the historical desire of Arab producers to receive gold in exchange for their oil. This dates back to 1933 when King Ibn Saud demanded payment in gold for the original oil concession in Saudi Arabia. In addition, Islamic law forbids the use of a promise of payment, such as the US dollar, as a medium of exchange. There is growing dissention among religious fundamentalists in Saudi Arabia regarding the exchange of oil for US dollars."

The full text is here:

http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/barisheff042205.html


[To be true, I believe but I am not completely sure that this
is the original source - there are numerous references and
unattributed copies of this text on the web.]


What is stunning for me is that fiat money in general and the dollar
in particular is seen as a payment _promise_. I bet that Bitcoin is
probably more seen as an asset that may have value or not; but
it does not depend on the goodwill or ability or trustworthiness
of the person paying with it, only on a diligent check on the
side of the receiver.

Its quite fascinating - and I don't say that ironically at all -
that bitcoin seems to be able to gain support from wildly
different partys. I am not a religious person but I think that
at least in THIS aspect islamic law might have very good
reasons which people from completely different political ends
might share.

I am writing this at the late evening of a day where a
collapse of the european currency became thinkable.
If this becomes reality, then it could be attributed to
a large part to the way how power is able to shift
perception of realities into outright denial, how a suffucient
amount of money turns a dedicated medium of exchange
into a literal Ponzi scheme.

I remind also that seemingly _each_ of the last important wars
has led governments to tinker with the value of
money. In Germany, it was the abolishment of
the Goldmark for war bounds during, and the payment of
reparations with money printing presses after
world war I. World war II was financed by a technique
which was called "silent war financing" (geräuschlose
Kriegsfinanzierung) - basically, banks were forced
to sign war bounds because people had no interest in them.
In the US, the end of the dollar's gold backing was not
by mere coincidence during the vietnam war. I think
about the economical consequences of the Iraq/Afghanistan
wars everyone has his own picture.

It's certainly a truly naive and innocent wish but
it would be too beautiful if bitcoin could contribute
to a world with fewer wars....

But what do you think about this? Many people
have pointed out that bitcoin seems to have
compatibility with the Hawala System (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala).
Might it be compatible to some important aspects of arabic culture?
My personal feeling is yes.


- Joise

P.S.

Another text on the topic of dollar-oil-gold and the expected
peak of oil production:

http://www.monacorarecoins.com/rare-coin-news/article/the-us-dollar-oil-gold-relationship/

That's as wrong as saying that in a free market system, there can't be famine.

What's dangerous with energy in general and oil reserves in particular is that the time needed to adapt may be MUCH shorter than the life span of such things as houses, cars, motorways and so on. We are pretty much bounded to a fossile-driven economy with a base that could largely disappear within a decade.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_Oil

http://europe.theoildrum.com/


That's true also. We had an energy price spike in 2009. At the same time there was a collapse of the american mortgage market. This can surely attributed to the fact that the whole american economy is debt-driven.

But there is another fact: The higher prices for gasoline becomes, the less money have people to spend for paying mortgage and other goods. The further away the houses are from workplaces, the more pronounced is this effect.

Actually, prices for houses fell much more for the ones far away from the urban centres. One can surely say that the spike in energy prices has contributed to the financial crisis.

There's another point: Oil production requires immense amounts of capital and is bound to cheap credit.
Oil production did not rise in the last five years, in spite of rising global demand.

You can think of the current industrial system as a kind of organism. It lives from cheap oil, but it is also required to sustain oil production. It may be capable to adapt, but not quickly.

If you take a lion and the choke its common carotid artery, you don't get a lion adapted to less oxygen in the blood. You get a dead lion, assumed you survive the fight.

Yeah. What happened was that some offer had been deleted. The person offering reverted the deletion in a bit heavy-handed way and with this all additions of the 5 days before.
I've inserted these entries again on July 2th, therefore the number jumped up again.

Anyway, if that growth rate of number of entries is related to real trade (a big if), and it could be sustained for a year or two, this would become a remarkable market place.


But what kind of items are sold successfully? I made a page with photographs for my friend (she creates awesome images) but so far, nobody has bought for bitcoin. And I'd say this can be a really excellent way to sell things like photographs and music.

OTOH, there needs to be a point of intersection of people who are 1) technically savy, 2) have good and interesting offers, and people which 3) are technically savy as well and 4) have the money to afford these things. Selling art for income isn't easy.

Could you collect some hints for merchants, artists and creative people? What are your experiences?

Oh, perhaps I should add a note about the price.

Small prints with size of 45 x 30 centimeters are 89 USD now.
Large ones with 105 x 70 centimeters 271 USD.

(For artistic photographs of this quality, this is still too
cheap, so you can expect the price to rise, for the matter).

-- Joise

The young photographer Anja Putensen offers high-quality prints of artistic landscape images:

http://cerezal.selfip.net/Prints4Sale/

The pictures show quiet, almost enchanted landscapes which reflect inner and outer worlds in an emphatic way.

Anja Putensen studied, among others, with Peter Bialobrzeski and Wolfgang Zurborn at "Hochschule der Künste" in Bremen and with Eva Bertram at Berlin "Neue Schule für Fotografie".

The prints offered are large-format, high-quality reproductions on Aluminium-Dibond material. This composite material combines brilliance, low weight and stiffness and is excellently suited for a frameless presentation. The pictures will play a role as an eye-catcher in larger, quietly designed rooms or as an gift with a very special value.

If required, I can confirm offers by digital signatures. -- Joise

Die Hamburger Fotografin Anja Putensen bietet auf Ihrer Seite hochwertige Prints von künstlerischen Fotografien an:

http://cerezal.selfip.net/Prints4Sale/index.html

Die Fotos zeigen stille, verzaubert wirkende Landschaften, die Innenwelten und Außenwelten einfühlsam reflektieren.

Anja Putensen studierte Fotografie u.a. als Studentin von Peter Bialobrzeski und Wolfgang Zurborn an der Hochschule der Künste in Bremen und als Studentin von Eva Bertram an der Neuen Schule für Fotografie in Berlin.

Die angebotenen Prints sind großformatige hochwertige Abzüge auf Aluminium-Dibond. Das ist ein Verbundmaterial, das wegen seiner Brillianz, Leichtigkeit und Stabilität in Ausstellungen verwendet wird und für eine rahmenlose Aufhängung geeignet ist. Die Bilder eignen sich gut als Blickfang in größeren, ruhig gestalteten Räumen oder als ganz besonderes wertvolles Geschenk.

Ich kann Angebote bei Bedarf digital signieren.

People will consider this when enough others which they know have lost some money because of malware.

Getting windows really secure is far harder and more work than to boot a dedicated USB stick with a couple of nice menus.

There were other 8600 passwords from the database posted on Twitter...

Of course.


I seem to miss the point. Are you aware that anyone can generate and upload
a key with some uid like "Jeff Garzik <jgarzik@exmulti.com>" ?

I think it's a requirement to use bitcoin with non-negligible amounts of money on a computer. It doesn't work without security, including strong confidentability and integrity of data.

You have to realize that what is secure enough now for a home computer user is very probably not sufficient. You are not going to change that by fussing around.

Think about only one aspect: To make backups possible, pre-generated keys (addresses) are stored in the wallet. If you receive some amount of money, the security of that amount depends on the security of these keys since their creation until the money is moved to another address, which can take years.

Another point: If I can copy your wallet.dat, I can probably replace your entire bitcoin client as easily. I don't need to install a key logger then - I can do directly with the money whatever I want.

Or just another trick: You use your browser to look up payment addresses. Fine. I install some add-on into your browser which once in a while replaces some addresses with one of my owns. And you just wonder why your landlord throws you out.

I like the ⓑ symbol most,

 It is well recognizable, not that hard to type (Alt-24d1 or Ctrl-Shift-u 24d1 ),
it looks a bit like a coin and moreover it is quite similar to
the @, which did become a symbol of the electronic age.

The Baht symbol is also beautiful and the Baht-Cordoba combination
is well-looking and meaningful as well. However I think that
Baht alone would cause a little confusion at least in Thailand ;-)

There seem to be so many people there who are burned by using
Bitcoin on Windows...

Here is my idea what could be better:

An image which can be downloaded and installed on an USB memory
stick, just like the Ubuntu installer. But with almost no software except the
Bitcoin client. Everything hardened with SELinux and the like. No use of
swap which could leak keys. Maybe a safe browser if such a thing exists.

One copies the image to an USB stick and boots the computer with
that.  The Bitcoin client is preinstalled and looks automatically for
updates. Before first use, one is asked for another USB stick to which
everything is cloned for a backup.

It could even be sold as a ready-made stick with some amount
pre-loaded, like a pre-paid phone card, administering a
mass market. The receiving address printed on the package, of
course. Perhaps with a pay code for charging with money by a
simple bank transfer. Think in a country with a failing
currency - how would it be most accessible?

It's, of course, overkill for only buying a few post cards in a
web shop. But to store a few hundred bucks safely, this
could be just the right thing to do, and might be a commercial
success.

Any flaws in this ?

Speculation surely is one driver.

Another is, according to quantity theory:

Less volatility
-> more confidence of merchants and consumers
-> more real commerce
-> more real value moved
-> higher valuation of the unit.

And this driver is the one which is important in the long run.

That's not the point. The checksums are fine and gpg says
the signature in itself is correct. What I didn't found is how
to verify that the signature belongs indeed to Jeff.
For signatures on Linux kernel sources, for example,
there is a big web of trust to which most open source
contributors belong.

If you know Jeff personally, that's of course no problem at all.
But in general, signatures without references to such a trust web
cannot warrant that the binaries have not been replaced by
someone else. It's surely paranoid to think about that,
but for a payment system it's also the definitive worst case if
it happens one day.

Hi Jeff,

great.

One extremely dumb question - how does one verify that signature?
I can't find it in http://pgp.cs.uu.nl/, for example.