Monthly Archives: September 2013

Precious Metals True To Form As Markets Wake To Reality

"As for PMs, the funds and other 'smart money' as well as retail investors took the news from the Fed to mean the USD will depreciate against hard assets of all kinds. PM gains of 10-15% were widespread within ninety minutes though most faded toward the close. September 16 nearly all issues gave back significant portions of their gains as the metals indicated that their roller-coaster nature had not gone away. With those postulates in mind, it is useful to look at some of the better companies in the sector to see how they fared the day after the QE go sign flashed. Price action is important in considering what horses you will ride." Continue reading →

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Monetary Authority of Singapore warns on ‘unregulated’ bitcoin

"The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is cautioning consumers against bitcoin trading even as a few merchants in Singapore have started accepting the digital currency as payment for physical goods. Invented in 2009, bitcoin is the world's most well-known digital currency. It is not issued or managed by a single company or monetary authority. Bitcoins can be bought through online exchanges that convert real money into the virtual currency. Due to its anonymous nature, bitcoin trading was declared illegal in Thailand in July over money laundering concerns. An MAS spokesman told The Straits Times that consumers should be wary of such trading." Continue reading →

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For Virtual Prospectors, Life in the Bitcoin Mines Gets Real

"Aubrey McIntosh has taken up mining in his spare time, and he's finding it hard and hot—even if it's prospecting for a virtual currency and a computer is doing all of the work. Mr. McIntosh, a semiretired chemistry professor in Morris, Minn., is among the growing ranks of enthusiasts who use powerful computers to 'mine,' in insider parlance, 'bitcoins,' an unregulated digital currency. Mr. McIntosh keeps his specialized computer, which he said cost about $1,500 and is custom-built to find bitcoins, near the chimney flue in his basement to try to get rid of all the heat it generates." Continue reading →

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Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

"The internet provides the extra money he needs to buy a meal each and every day. Since setting up a bitcoin wallet about three or four months ago, he has earned somewhere between four or five bitcoins — about $500 to $630 today — through YouTube videos, Bitcoin Tapper, and the occasional donation. And when he does odd jobs for people around Pensacola — here in the physical world — he still gets paid in bitcoin, just because it’s easier and safer. He doesn’t have to worry as much about getting robbed. Jesse Angle isn’t your average homeless person. But he shows that bitcoin is changing the world in more ways than you might imagine." Continue reading →

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Swiss socialist politician asks government to create report on bitcoin

"Jean Cristophe Schwaab of the Swiss Socialist Party said he is concerned about the potential of bitcoin. 'At the moment, I have no idea, but a Swiss journalist recently bought drugs from Silk Road using bitcoins, so I think the state needs to make an intervention,' he added. The 34-year-old said bitcoin came to his attention because he has a strong interest in internet policy, data protection and new online trends. He has also come across bitcoin in his work as a unionist for bankers – he is on the executive board of the Swiss Bank Employees’ Association. He said the only people in Switzerland who know about bitcoin are 'geeks, criminals and special police units'." Continue reading →

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Canadian Mint ready to test its own digital money project

"MintChip is 'the future of money,' according to the Mint’s promotional video, which goes on to present it as a digital version that would be legal tender, just like physical dollars and cents. You would hold it on a smartphone or other electronic device, just like a wallet. And according to the Mint’s Mr. Brûlé, the money could be used just as easily whether you’re shopping at a conventional bricks-and-mortar retailer, on-line or at your neighbour’s garage sale, though your neighbour would of course need a properly equipped smartphone. Mr. Brûlé sees it as part of the leading edge of a tsunami in mobile technology that is now washing over our society." Continue reading →

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Gliph Raises $200,000 To Expand Secure Messaging And Bitcoin Features

"Gliph began in early 2012 as an encrypted messaging app, focused on securing communications across iPhone, Android and web users, protecting all messages with SSL and/or AES-256 encryption. The service also offers the ability to reveal only as much personal information as desired with communication partners, using symbols – or ‘artifacts’, as the company calls them – as the primary personal identifiers. More recently, Gliph has added a number of bitcoin functions to seamlessly transact in the digital currency. Users can link existing wallets from a number of popular options including BIPS, Blockchain.info, or Coinbase." Continue reading →

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Google, Facebook and Yahoo push 21 nations for surveillance data

"The Global Network Initiative, which includes Google, Facebook, Yahoo and Microsoft, asked the countries to 'report on the requests they make for electronic communications surveillance and to make it legally possible for companies to report regularly to the public on the government requests that they receive from law enforcement as well as national security authorities.' Letters were sent to senior government officials responsible for foreign affairs, justice, and security, with copies to data protection authorities, the group said. Copies were sent to representatives at the United Nations offices in Geneva, in advance of discussions on human rights and communications surveillance." Continue reading →

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Read more about the article Journalism professor says he hopes for murder of NRA members’ children

Journalism professor says he hopes for murder of NRA members’ children

"A journalism professor at the University of Kansas (KU) turned to Twitter on Monday to suggest he would like to see the murder of children of National Rifle Association (NRA) members at the hands of a deranged gunman. A journalism professor has defended tweets he sent out which called for the death of NRA employees children. '#NavyYardShooting The blood is on the hands of the #NRA,' tweeted David Guth, who is an associate professor of Journalism at the university’s William Allen White School of Journalism. 'Next time, let it be YOUR sons and daughters, he continued. “Shame on you. May God damn you.'" Continue reading →

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