Evolution is taking place before our very eyes. These forks called solidcoin/namecoin/etc are the 'random' mutations, and ultimately 'natural' selection will determine the most fit coin.

In my mind at least, the point of a currency is to make transactions as close to friction-less as possible. I really hate having to worry the cost of actually using a currency.

yea, sorry. That's what happens when you type on a touch screen 

There is a major hurricane headed up the US east coast. I'm moving my miners away from windows and covering them with a tap tarp.

True. I just feel like everything in the bitcoin world should be 'free' free bitcoin transactions, free products and services. But I guess there is not really way of going around it, the appropriate people need to be awarded one way or another.

Random thought...

Bob might be working his ass off to improve bitcoin, which in turn raises the price of bitcoin. But Joe sits back and enjoys the fruits of Bob's labor by simple holding on to a bunch of bitcoins he did almost no work to acquire.

If Bob minds his own business, then we don't really have a problem. But if Bob wants to maximize his returns for the work he puts in...

This will force bitcoin to become better. The top currency will have to earn its spot. Just because bitcoin was first, does not make it the best. Facebook was not the first social networking site by a long shot. Nor was the mining pool deepbit the first mining pool. I foresee many new blockchains starting up but only few of them will be at the top.

Bitcoin has had a good start, but at this point in time, it needs some serious organization to make the currency we all have hoped and dreamed for it to become.

We need PR, marketing, simplification, and more liquidity. And most of all, we need products and services which make good use of bitcoin, something like silkroad... just more legal.. when it comes to silkroad, bitcoin fulfilled an actual need. We have yet to see an effective micro payment system, I want to see something that works in a SINGLE click.

They are competing for our attention, the one with more eyeballs will most likely have the highest value.

Ultimately the better player will win. We can look at these competitor chains as our challengers, and we can only defeat them by becoming better ourselves.

Hmmm... What would Apple do?

Ok, how about we start by defining the word 'useful'? What is it that we need bitcoin to do that it currently can't do?

I think there should be a bitcoin standards committee. This committee would be made up of people from around the world. They would choose the 'official' bitcoin logos, icons, and designs. They could also come up with the bitcoin mission statement in order to give the bitcoin community some solid goals.

I have no doubt that bitcoin could be VERY sexy if that is something we strived for.

Yea, more coins for me! I would like to thank the bitcoin price drop for making this difficulty decrease possible! 

I download torrents on one, and I keep backup data on another. Setting up a tor node might be fun

Your LAST chance to buy in at $10!

You guys forgot to mention network security (look up the 51% attack) What is the cost of security and how do you even go about measuring it?

The forecast is cloudy, with a chance of doom.

I will be there. I'm already paid and registered. If you don't find the chance to meet some of the fellow bitcoiners exciting, then this is probably not for you.

I bet Satoshi will be there...

I'm trying to compile a list of things that people should look/ask for before trusting services which ask for personal information and or bitcoins.

What I have so far:

Reputation - How long have they been around? Have they made a meaningful contributions to the community before? (Posts on forums/reddit, wrote open source code, submitted ideas, etc.)

Publicity - Have they made a public appearance or disclosed their location? - Have they made an appearance on OnlyOneTV? Or anywhere else online? (YouTube channels, podcasts, etc.)

Professionalism - How 'professionally' do they handle themselves? How sincere are they? (Do they go out of their own way to help you?) How professional does their service look? (The more effort and attention they put into the service, the more likely they are to care about it and its users.)

*Side Note* Just because someone does not meet all the criteria does NOT make them illegitimate. Use your own judgement!

Ultimately, what determines the profitability of mining is your actual sell price. I believe that the price of bitcoin will ultimately go up and therefore I can actually choose at what price I want to sell.