Next March I will be walking the West Coast from San Diego to Seattle. Details can be found at my blog on walkthataway.blogspot.com

If this doesn't prove that I'm crazy, nothing will.

In any case, if anyone here would like to meet up with a half-crazed, Bitcoin-happy, Heinlein enthusiast along the way, let me know.

Sure! I'll stand for a meal in Santa Cruz or thereabouts.

Are you going to be making detours to see the various California Heinlein residences? I gather they're all reasonably near the coast.

Good luck and don't kick a soccer ball in front of you as you go.

Rob

If anyone is interested, the walk has been approved for crowdfunding at www.startjoin.com/bitcoinwalk

Also, direct bitcoin donations can be sent to 194fsmkeiriJs8Nn8BndrLKdJb1v4JSPFa


To Mods: If this post is in any way against forum rules I apologize and will gladly take it down or accept your doing so.

StagXing, I live in Reno. I'm not likely to be at the coast when you come through, or I'd offer to buy you dinner. But remind us when the time is closer, and maybe my husband and I can arrange to be in the San Francisco Bay area . There's a *wonderful* little Middle Eastern restaurant in downtown Sunnyvale that we like to visit when we're there. I used to live three blocks from it. It's called "DishDash", and it's one of the best restaurants in the Bay Area -- seriously. Even if we can't be there, you should try it.

I'm familar with Bitcoin, although after dabbling a bit in it in 2011 I cashed out. At the time it was the realm of currency speculators, and I needed something reliable to allow easy payments for a small business without paying Danegeld to the credit card companies. Now I wish I'd hung onto those few hundred test bitcoins. <wry grin> Once the exchange rates settle down and the market is less full of converted collectible card swapping sites masquerading as currency exchanges, I'll probably be back.

Sakeneko, DishDash sounds wonderful. I made the mistake of looking up the menu. I am rather fond of a place here in Portland called Habibi. It has spoiled me on any other hummus for life, but I am willing for that to be challenged.

Bitcoin is interesting to watch and be part of, although I am neither a mover in it nor a big player. Whether or not it succeeds or fails is a fascinating study in transitional attitudes as technology shifts. The rumors, speculation, half-information (or no information), and downright propaganda, not to mention the doom and gloom predictions that almost always come from those whose businesses/preople that have something to lose and those who have merely dabbled looking to make a quick buck without really understanding the underlying principles or trying.

I was amused to day reading the Goldman Sachs report, which when boiled down said, "Bitcoin as a currency is bad because it isn't issued by the FedRes, but the protocol has potential because it is better and cheaper than the current system so it would be okay if banks controlled it."

Meanwhile, in spite of the 'trading card kids' fiasco, bitcoin the currency is chugging right along, and currently doing more in transactions than Western Union, and doing it far faster and cheaper. If it is taken down at all it will be taken down by propaganda from those who have something to lose.

I have been continually reminds of a Lazarus quote: 'Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done and why. Then do it.'

I don't believe in any of the psuedo-libertarian rant about how Bitcoin will destroy the banks or usher in this or that utopia, nor the 'it's only for criminals and terrorists' crowd. I am far too cynical for either.

In my experience though, when the divide between beliefs about something is so radical, the really, really interesting human behavior comes out. That's where I find my fun.

Dan, I should've let you know when I'm in town for work -- I work at Citrix in Santa Clara. I always go to DishDash, either with Joe (my husband) if he's with me or friends if he's not.

Habibis is excellent too. I'm not in Portland as often as I am the Bay Area, but I went to Reed College thirty-something-mumble-mumble years ago and still like to go there occasionally to reacquaint myself with the Reed Campus, Powell's City of Books, Otto's Delicatessen (not "deli"), Takahashi's Japanese restaurant, and my favorite Japanese garden in the world in Washington Park. Joe and I were there over the holidays a couple of years ago so that I could show him the Reed Campus. (His reaction? "Hogwarts!" I about died laughing.) We ate at Habibis one night. YUM! Still, I think DishDash might win StagXing over, if not through its excellent hummous then through its biryanis (definitely memorable) and IMHO even better it's incredible baba ganouge, kefta, and other mid-eastern specialties.

Bitcoin is an interesting experiment. I think it or something like it is probably going to become a significant, long-term player in the world of finance, and maybe more than one such system. I just wasn't in it for that -- I needed something from it that it wasn't yet quite at the point to do. If it stabilizes at something near its current value, that might change.

ROFL! I lived three blocks from downtown Sunnyvale, on Bayview Ave., for over a decade. Moved down to Los Angeles in 2006 to get married.