NumberSix

Bitcoin is a payment infrastructure as well as a currency. There are approximately 42,800,000 GH/s of physical computing power in the Bitcoin network. There is utility in being able to accept payment worldwide (crypto currencies are only way to send worldwide due to other services being restricted by law). Even if you don't want Bitcoin you can convert it instantly after receiving it with a service. There are several businesses like Western Union and Visa which provide similar services that may be (at least partially) replaced with Bitcoin. These services are valued by the market and are part of Bitcoins value.I agree with Surda about network effects. An example is the US dollar. A large part of what gives the dollar value is its use as the global reserve currency. I don't see network effects in houses and there was a housing bubble. If I have a house and new houses are built in my area, in excess of demand, they will drive down the market price of my house. Dragonfish, Pepsi is a liquid beverage not a liquid commodity. I don't understand your point.

Article: IRS Bitcoin Guidance To Chill Its Use http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/03/26/irs-bitcoin-guidance-to-chill-its-use/“Having to report a capital gain or loss on each purchase using bitcoin will have a chilling effect on bitcoin reaching its goal to be a widely used digital currency. Who wants to spend 30 minutes or more figuring out their capital gain or loss for a simple $3 cup of coffee? And who wants to risk getting audited by the IRS over bitcoin tax reporting to boot?”

There is no such thing as intrinsic value; value is a subjective concept and only exits in your mind. I think a better term would be utility. With gold jewelry, it is not only pretty, it has also become a way to show off your wealth (a very tacky way). One reason I bought Bitcoin is as a speculative investment. A more import reason, for me, is I am scared that the dollar will crash, and my savings will be wiped out. A problem with gold is I don't think I would be let through a national border carrying a large amount of gold. The fact a country uses a currency does not prove anything; all countries use fiat and I think we all agree fiat is a poor money choice. I found a great paper on this topic:Economics of Bitcoin: is Bitcoin an alternative to fiat currencies and gold?By Peter Surdahttp://dev.economicsofbitcoin.com/mastersthesis/“This paper presents an economic analysis of Bitcoin from a libertarian point of view. The theoretical part analyses the applicability of the Austrian School of Economics at Bitcoin. Of particular interest are the evolution of money, competition among media of exchange, and the concept of money supply. The empirical part analyses the following variables: price, price volatility, liquidity, visibility and velocity. I come to the conclusion that theoretically, Bitcoin can be closer to the Austrian ideal of money than either fiat money or gold, and it is possible that it will evolve into that position. The results of the empirical analysis are consistent with Bitcoin being a medium of exchange.”

Children are pushed into athletic careers by parents and coaches, before they are mature enough to make an informed decision, before they get to college. The values taught in team sports (winning at any cost, tribalism, valuing skill and ability over character) are horrible, and have no place in the education of youth. College athletes are getting a raw deal, but I doubt a union will solve the problem.

A house being built in one day circa 1953

In the US houses are mass produced using balloon frame construction. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framing_%28construction%29It is cheap and fast, but not very durable. All concrete houses would be more expensive for labor and materials. If the target market is poor people, they would be very price sensitive and not willing to pay a lot extra over the wood frame price.

But where is your proof? Without proof, I take religion as seriously as the tooth fairy. And there is never any proof. The various ancient gods are just as ridiculous as the current popular ones.

Bitcoin: An Experiment in Anarchism Michael Goldstein of the Satoshi Nakamoto Institute explores the crypto-anarchist and Cypherpunk roots of Bitcoin and analyzes the crypto-currency from an anarchist perspective.Recorded at the Texas Bitcoin Conference on March 6, 2014 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPY-5SR-jPQ26 min

Typical FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) of main stream media.

I would try pay per click ads on websites that are visited by AnCaps. Also, if the shirts are print on demand you should have more designs to increase the chance of making a sale. I agree with Kaki about Stones logo being bad idea.

Perhaps making Bitcoin illegal will be the best thing for it. The Mexican drug cartels have a problem laundering their huge amounts of cash. Bitcoin seems like a perfect fit. If the Cartels use Bitcoin to store their wealth it will take a large amount of BTC off the market and its value will increase due to less supply available to meet demand. Cartels are organized, wealthy, well armed, and used to operating out of governments reach. If the cartels use Bitcoin and the Mexican government tries to crack down on Bitcoin; I think the government officials would die in a violent and painful manner. While the average pig wouldn't think twice about pulling you over and giving you the Rodney King treatment, they wouldn't go any wear near a drug cartel, because the drug dealers are armed and dangerous. So this might make it fairly safe for the average Mexican to use.

Right now there are groups in the west that are able to raise and educate their children however they choose with no intervention from state. For example: the Amish, Irish Travellers, and Gypsies. It hasn't caused the downfall of western civilization. In the US parents are free to brain wash their children to their black hearts content.

The real question is which is worse: a madman with a grenade or a madman controling an army.

8) I'm not familiar with the area, so this is speculation... It is unlikely that those suburbs would have been developed without the government subsidizing transportation or building highways. In other words a business person would not have built housing there in the first place without prior government interference. Or another possibility is that due to lack of transport options, housing prices would be cheaper and buying a car would be a viable option. Also, local business might be willing to donate to a bus run by charity. So, the government “helps” by providing transportation where there isn't a sufficient demand to support a business and then the community becomes dependent.

True, but no shortage of fools in USA :-(

This is an old article but it gives you an idea of how many people voluntarily pay taxes. Amazon Tax: California Residents To Start Paying Sales Tax "California residents are supposed to calculate their obligation and send it directly to the state. But fewer than 1 percent do, according to the Franchise Tax Board." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/13/amazon-tax-california-res_n_1882441.html

I don't have any experience with iPhone, but try lynda.com classes, their other classes are good and only $30 a month. http://www.lynda.com/Objective-C-tutorials/Objective-C-Essential-Training/143328-2.html http://www.lynda.com/iOS-SDK-tutorials/Up-Running-iOS-SDK/147018-2.html Also, I think you have to own a Mac and buy the iPhone SDK

It's an OK essay, not terrible, not outstanding. You always use a simple sentence structure, I recommend mixing things up to make it less monotonous. You use the passive voice too much. Some changes: Indiana Jones is my favorite film character. As a child, I watched his adventures almost every day. Imitating him and pretending a leather shoestring was my whip, since my parents wouldn't let me have a real whip. Today, I still watch the films. The movies instilled in me a love of history. But now, every time I watch one, a desire overcomes me, a desire for adventure.

Look on the bright side, you're young enough to start over and hopefully you've gained some wisdom. "When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It!"-- Yogi Berra

http://www.uopeople.org/ University of the People (UoPeople) is the world's first non-profit, tuition- free, accredited online university dedicated to opening the gates to higher education for all individuals otherwise constrained. All that is asked is for students to pay a one-time application processing fee ($50) and subsequent modest examination processing fees ($100) levied per course. There are no other fees whatsoever. At this time, due to US regulatory requirements, University of the People is unable to accept applications for admission from applicants residing in the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. In February 2014 UoPeople received accreditation from the Distance and Education Training Council, a U.S. Department of Education authorized accrediting agency.

Great topic. Right now there isn't much adoption of Bitcoin, so if all use went to illicit goods, the market capitalization might not go down. The black market is huge, if Bitcoin became currency of choice for illicit goods, it may be larger market than current legal use. Bitcoin being illegal is certainly not a problem for scoring my heroine fix. In terms of outlawing it, how effective could a government be? The main problem now is exchanging Bitcoin for fiat. A government can shut down exchanges and stop websites from accepting Bitcoins. But what else can they do? Outside of developed world most governments are pretty weak, so Bitcoin might be safe in those places. I've read about viruses that convert computers into mining slaves, so I guess mining can't be stopped. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-01-08/yahoo-virus-converts-millions-computers-bitcoin-mining-slaves

Typically unpaid fines would become a lien on the real estate and the government gets the money when you sell real estate because the government administrates real estate sales. And if fines are high enough they sieze real estate and auction it.

The statistics seem meaningless given the choice is between schools in a given location, not aggregate of the whole US.

The ironic thing is criminals will figure out how to evade the device.

Yes, you have to be diplomatic. The easyest way to get rid of a client is to raise the price you charge them. This site is full of bad client examples http://clientsfromhell.net/