(not saying this is what is/should happen)

It's not quite impossible.  They can start with the assumption that all passwords are week, then when you submit your password for the first time, it can do the hash to see if is the right password, + also check the strength of the password at that time (since you just gave them the plain text password).

If it was a strong password they could unlock the account, if is was week, keep it locked and redirect the user to a claim site.

Inflation is good for holders of debt, but it also tends to (in small amounts), help make sure that the economy is vibrant - since if the money you hold today will be worth less in time, there's an incentive to spend it.  Deflation give the reverse incentive.

Now whether either of these situations is better is a different question - and my guess is that Satoshi feels that the problems with inflation are greater than those with deflation, and that's why it's that way.   It's a philosophical decision - that's all.

I think that it's likely we'll see some more of a drop, but it could likely come back up in time - what it's going to take is a better economy outside of simply trading bitcoins for money.  If/when we see more sites taking them for more 'normal' purposes, there will be more of an incentive to spend them.   What's the final value going to be - don't know.  But that's not something that we'll know for a long time - even if it goes through a long down period.

That would be nice - it feels like the bitparking pool might be getting a little bit too concentrated.  Always nice to see the hash power get spread around a little bit.

I've mined some, as well as purchased a little bit.   Bitcoin intrigues me technically, I have no idea whether or not anything will come of it long term, but it's something that I don't want to have regrets later down the road about.

I think it's almost gaurenteed that the forums will get some spam - even if it's just so we newbies can get enough posts so that we can post on the main boards