A Bitcoin Primer | Bitcointalksearch.org

mckoss

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Quote from: cypherdoc on January 02, 2012, 04:06:51 PM

Quote from: ?? on ??

Quote from: mckoss on January 02, 2012, 01:12:01 PM

Quote from: cypherdoc on January 01, 2012, 11:42:16 PM

Quote from: mckoss on December 30, 2011, 03:21:59 AM

Quote from: cypherdoc on December 30, 2011, 02:24:14 AM

i stopped reading after the 2nd paragraph in which you mention "digital drugs" preferentially over other more useful products to be bought with Bitcoin. why does everyone have to always first mention this usage?

"In April 2011, Forbes Magazine’s Andy Greenberg wrote an article describing the qualities of Bitcoin: it cannot be forged or double-spent, controlled or inflated by any government; it is not impeded by international boundaries, and some digital drug-dealers have started accepting it."

even Greenberg in the article cited mentions other uses before talking about drugs. in the paragraph immediately preceding the mention of drugs he says this:

"About $30,000 worth of Bitcoins change hands every day in electronic transactions, spent on Web-hosting, electronics, dog sweaters and alpaca socks."

Good point. Is this better?

Quote

fair enough. thanks for putting forth the effort to make this document.
In April 2011, Forbes Magazine’s Andy Greenberg wrote an article describing the qualities of Bitcoin: it cannot be forged or double-spent, controlled or inflated by any government, it is not impeded by international boundaries, and has a geek-friendly economy of $30,000 per day~~, and some digital drug-dealers have started accepting it.~~

I don't want to hide the fact that some people are using Bitcoin for illegal purchases. It was a major component of Greenberg's story. I don't think it needs to be the dominant point, but I don't think it should be excised completely.

fair enough. thanks for putting this together.

My pleasure - and thanks for the input!

cypherdoc

legendary

Activity: 1764

Merit: 1002

Quote from: ?? on ??

Quote from: mckoss on January 02, 2012, 01:12:01 PM

Quote from: cypherdoc on January 01, 2012, 11:42:16 PM

Quote from: mckoss on December 30, 2011, 03:21:59 AM

Quote from: cypherdoc on December 30, 2011, 02:24:14 AM

i stopped reading after the 2nd paragraph in which you mention "digital drugs" preferentially over other more useful products to be bought with Bitcoin. why does everyone have to always first mention this usage?

"In April 2011, Forbes Magazine’s Andy Greenberg wrote an article describing the qualities of Bitcoin: it cannot be forged or double-spent, controlled or inflated by any government; it is not impeded by international boundaries, and some digital drug-dealers have started accepting it."

even Greenberg in the article cited mentions other uses before talking about drugs. in the paragraph immediately preceding the mention of drugs he says this:

"About $30,000 worth of Bitcoins change hands every day in electronic transactions, spent on Web-hosting, electronics, dog sweaters and alpaca socks."

Good point. Is this better?

Quote

fair enough. thanks for putting forth the effort to make this document.
In April 2011, Forbes Magazine’s Andy Greenberg wrote an article describing the qualities of Bitcoin: it cannot be forged or double-spent, controlled or inflated by any government, it is not impeded by international boundaries, and has a geek-friendly economy of $30,000 per day~~, and some digital drug-dealers have started accepting it.~~

I don't want to hide the fact that some people are using Bitcoin for illegal purchases. It was a major component of Greenberg's story. I don't think it needs to be the dominant point, but I don't think it should be excised completely.

fair enough. thanks for putting this together.

mckoss

newbie

Activity: 52

Merit: 0

Quote from: cypherdoc on January 01, 2012, 11:42:16 PM

Quote from: mckoss on December 30, 2011, 03:21:59 AM

Quote from: cypherdoc on December 30, 2011, 02:24:14 AM

i stopped reading after the 2nd paragraph in which you mention "digital drugs" preferentially over other more useful products to be bought with Bitcoin. why does everyone have to always first mention this usage?

"In April 2011, Forbes Magazine’s Andy Greenberg wrote an article describing the qualities of Bitcoin: it cannot be forged or double-spent, controlled or inflated by any government; it is not impeded by international boundaries, and some digital drug-dealers have started accepting it."

even Greenberg in the article cited mentions other uses before talking about drugs. in the paragraph immediately preceding the mention of drugs he says this:

"About $30,000 worth of Bitcoins change hands every day in electronic transactions, spent on Web-hosting, electronics, dog sweaters and alpaca socks."

Good point. Is this better?

Quote

In April 2011, Forbes Magazine’s Andy Greenberg wrote an article describing the qualities of Bitcoin: it cannot be forged or double-spent, controlled or inflated by any government, it is not impeded by international boundaries, and has a geek-friendly economy of $30,000 per day~~, and some digital drug-dealers have started accepting it.~~

I don't want to hide the fact that some people are using Bitcoin for illegal purchases. It was a major component of Greenberg's story. I don't think it needs to be the dominant point, but I don't think it should be excised completely.

cypherdoc

legendary

Activity: 1764

Merit: 1002

Quote from: mckoss on December 30, 2011, 03:21:59 AM

Quote from: cypherdoc on December 30, 2011, 02:24:14 AM

i stopped reading after the 2nd paragraph in which you mention "digital drugs" preferentially over other more useful products to be bought with Bitcoin. why does everyone have to always first mention this usage?

"In April 2011, Forbes Magazine’s Andy Greenberg wrote an article describing the qualities of Bitcoin: it cannot be forged or double-spent, controlled or inflated by any government; it is not impeded by international boundaries, and some digital drug-dealers have started accepting it."

even Greenberg in the article cited mentions other uses before talking about drugs. in the paragraph immediately preceding the mention of drugs he says this:

"About $30,000 worth of Bitcoins change hands every day in electronic transactions, spent on Web-hosting, electronics, dog sweaters and alpaca socks."

Good point. Is this better?

Quote

In April 2011, Forbes Magazine’s Andy Greenberg wrote an article describing the qualities of Bitcoin: it cannot be forged or double-spent, controlled or inflated by any government, it is not impeded by international boundaries, and has a geek-friendly economy of $30,000 per day~~, and some digital drug-dealers have started accepting it.~~

mckoss

newbie

Activity: 52

Merit: 0

I've uploaded a new Bitcoin Primer PDF - based on @Clark's design, but now more compatible with different devices and smaller (using standard PDF fonts).

mckoss

newbie

Activity: 52

Merit: 0

Quote from: cypherdoc on December 30, 2011, 02:24:14 AM

i stopped reading after the 2nd paragraph in which you mention "digital drugs" preferentially over other more useful products to be bought with Bitcoin. why does everyone have to always first mention this usage?

"In April 2011, Forbes Magazine’s Andy Greenberg wrote an article describing the qualities of Bitcoin: it cannot be forged or double-spent, controlled or inflated by any government; it is not impeded by international boundaries, and some digital drug-dealers have started accepting it."

even Greenberg in the article cited mentions other uses before talking about drugs. in the paragraph immediately preceding the mention of drugs he says this:

"About $30,000 worth of Bitcoins change hands every day in electronic transactions, spent on Web-hosting, electronics, dog sweaters and alpaca socks."

Good point. Is this better?

Quote

In April 2011, Forbes Magazine’s Andy Greenberg wrote an article describing the qualities of Bitcoin: it cannot be forged or double-spent, controlled or inflated by any government, it is not impeded by international boundaries, has a geek-friendly economy of $30,000 per day, and some digital drug-dealers have started accepting it.

cypherdoc

legendary

Activity: 1764

Merit: 1002

i stopped reading after the 2nd paragraph in which you mention "digital drugs" preferentially over other more useful products to be bought with Bitcoin. why does everyone have to always first mention this usage?

"In April 2011, Forbes Magazine’s Andy Greenberg wrote an article describing the qualities of Bitcoin: it cannot be forged or double-spent, controlled or inflated by any government; it is not impeded by international boundaries, and some digital drug-dealers have started accepting it."

even Greenberg in the article cited mentions other uses before talking about drugs. in the paragraph immediately preceding the mention of drugs he says this:

"About $30,000 worth of Bitcoins change hands every day in electronic transactions, spent on Web-hosting, electronics, dog sweaters and alpaca socks."

mckoss

newbie

Activity: 52

Merit: 0

Quote from: Red Emerald on December 29, 2011, 07:45:53 PM

Quote from: mckoss on December 29, 2011, 07:34:14 PM

I've migrated the source of this document from Google Docs to be a Markdown-formatted file AND moved the master source file to GitHub. If you have any further corrections, you can edit it yourself and send me a pull request!

Thanks again for all the input!

Great work. Using git for something like this is really neat.

Thanks. You might also like to see this version:

http://wiki.pageforest.com/#a-bitcoin-primer

You can edit online and see changes in real-time, and save your own version on the Pageforest Wiki site. I used this to edit the original when I was transforming it to Markdown so I could see formatting changes in real-time.

Now I just need to find a way to convert to LaTex or similar, to apply the style sheet used by Clark's formatted version to create a two-column printable PDF.

Red Emerald

hero member

Activity: 742

Merit: 500

Quote from: mckoss on December 29, 2011, 07:34:14 PM

I've migrated the source of this document from Google Docs to be a Markdown-formatted file AND moved the master source file to GitHub. If you have any further corrections, you can edit it yourself and send me a pull request!

Thanks again for all the input!

Great work. Using git for something like this is really neat.

mckoss

newbie

Activity: 52

Merit: 0

I've migrated the source of this document from Google Docs to be a Markdown-formatted file AND moved the master source file to GitHub. If you have any further corrections, you can edit it yourself and send me a pull request!

Thanks again for all the input!

mckoss

newbie

Activity: 52

Merit: 0

Quote from: DeathAndTaxes on December 29, 2011, 05:47:49 PM

I get a 404 error trying to use pdf link at the top.

I would remove the "non-classified" aspect of the encryption description. As you point out the US govt authorizes the algorithms for use in protecting classified documents. The "non-classified" part is wordy without conveying any information. It uses two of the strongest encryption algorithms. There may be classified algorithms which are stronger (I doubt it as security through obscurity is not security) but unless you have information that the algorithms are far less secure than classified ones the extra words provide no information.

Good points. Fixed the 404, BTW - I was updating the links to Clark's excellently formatted version. But I restored the updated plain-formatting PDF as well.

Thanks!

DeathAndTaxes

donator

Activity: 1218

Merit: 1079

Gerald Davis

I get a 404 error trying to use pdf link at the top.

I would remove the "non-classified" aspect of the encryption description. As you point out the US govt authorizes the algorithms for use in protecting classified documents. The "non-classified" part is wordy without conveying any information. It uses two of the strongest encryption algorithms. There may be classified algorithms which are stronger (I doubt it as security through obscurity is not security) but unless you have information that the algorithms are far less secure than classified ones the extra words provide no information.

BrightAnarchist

donator

Activity: 853

Merit: 1000

This is great! I especially like the section about "The Manipulator", personally I have never believed in him/her Wink

But this is probably the best rundown of the important properties, as well as pitfalls, of Bitcoin that I've seen.

bitcoinbetas

sr. member

Activity: 240

Merit: 250

Quote from: Clark on December 29, 2011, 03:05:25 AM

I've created a prettier version of the PDF (and corrected some typos).

I emailed a copy to CoinLab (so they can post), and you can also download the PDF here.

The quality of this document should not be diminished by the styling of the PDF offered for download, especially when the text looks great on the CoinLab site.

Thanks for doing this. I was hoping to have a prettier version to hand out to people. Thanks!

farfiman

legendary

Activity: 1449

Merit: 1001

Just one comment on the PDF..

Maybe you shouldn't enter that a btc is around 4$ but maybe a more vague term....( on the rise maybe)
You don't want to have to edit the pdf whenever the price moves.

mckoss

newbie

Activity: 52

Merit: 0

Quote from: bitcoinbetas on December 28, 2011, 11:18:50 PM

really,really good job Grin

Thanks! Glad you like it.

mckoss

newbie

Activity: 52

Merit: 0

Quote from: Clark on December 29, 2011, 03:05:25 AM

I've created a prettier version of the PDF (and corrected some typos).

Wow, thanks for doing this. Looks much better than our original (just using Google Docs to create the PDF).

Red Emerald

hero member

Activity: 742

Merit: 500

I've just skimmed it so far, and sent to my friend to read.

I did notice that you make mention of PFLOPS. Bitcoin uses 0 FLOPS. All FLOP measurements are estimates.

Quote

The total computational power of the Bitcoin network is over 100 PetaFLOPs/s

should be something more like

Quote

The total computational power of the Bitcoin network is equivalent to over 100 PetaFLOPs/s

Clark

hero member

Activity: 548

Merit: 502

So much code.

I've created a prettier version of the PDF (and corrected some typos).

I emailed a copy to CoinLab (so they can post), and you can also download the PDF here.

The quality of this document should not be diminished by the styling of the PDF offered for download, especially when the text looks great on the CoinLab site.

bitcoinbetas

sr. member

Activity: 240

Merit: 250

really,really good job Grin

Topic: A Bitcoin Primer (Read 3265 times)