Free Republic

This is the first of a two-part series on the boom in Bitcoin computing infrastructure, and what it means for the data center industry. Emmanuel Abiodun once mined for Bitcoins on a desktop computer in his home. He’s now running 160 powerful computers in server space in Iceland, where the machines are cheap to power and cool. Later this year, Abiodun expects to have an empire of 4,000 bitcoin mining rigs spread across two continents, eventually filling nearly 5 megawatts of data center space.

Just how big a financial opportunity is Bitcoin? Recently, Wall Street has been starting to ask that very question, paying more and more attention to the upstart alternative currency. The first analysis by a registered broker dealer which attempted to value bitcoin’s worth was published on 1 December by Wedbush Securities. While Los Angeles-based Wedbush is a respected securities firm, it doesn’t count itself among the first-tier of investment banks, or the ‘bulge bracket’ as its known on Wall Street. The Wedbush research report contained some novel analysis and perspective, but it was also ‘light’ in that it weighed in...

Three cities in Canada are set to have bitcoin ATMs installed in the coming weeks, making the country the top ATM location in the world. New ATMs will be installed in the Canadian capital city Ottawa as well as Montreal and financial hub Toronto. The ATM operators are announcing their plans to install machines across the country even as Canada’s central bank issued a statement yesterday declaring bitcoin is not recognised as legal tender there.

You can’t get much more mainstream than professional American sports. In that sense, Thursday’s news that the Sacramento Kings basketball team will let its fans use bitcoin to purchase tickets, jerseys, hot dogs and anything else from its selection of products may go down as a key moment in the digital currency’s coming of age.

Bitcoin, the virtual currency that so far has attracted more hype than actual usage, took another step into the mainstream on Thursday as the Sacramento Kings basketball team said it would start accepting it for purchases. The King’s new lead owner, Vivek Ranadivé, who made a fortune in the tech industry as founder and CEO of software firm TIBCO (TIBX), is working to revive interest in one of the NBA’s historically less popular franchises. The NBA last year denied a bid to move the team to Seattle.

Bitcoin ATMs are coming to the city. Josh Harvey, co-founder of Lamassu, showed off the first bitcoin dispenser at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show and has found quite a bit of interest for the $5,000 machines. The machine, designed and manufactured in Portugal, looks like a typical deli ATM — but functions more like a vending machine. You put in US dollars and receive bitcoins back on your phone.

Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU) declined for the second day in a row on Friday. The fall may be related to concerns about possible competition from Bitcoin, a topic that was discussed in StreetInsider.com's Pulse Picks Newsletter Wednesday and later touched on by analyst Mark Palmer of BTIG. Palmer commented on Bitcoin-related worry on Thursday, just a day after initiating Western Union at Buy.

Online retail giant Overstock.com has moved forward its plan to take bitcoin payments. The company began taking the digital currency on its site this morning. About $10,000 worth of bitcoins from about 100 customers has reportedly already been spent since Overstock made the announcement just a couple of hours ago.

If you could get in a time travel machine and head back to the beginning of the year, you would best do so with Bitcoin on the brain. We took a look at how the major tech stocks performed this year in comparison with digital currencies, and for comparison’s sake, threw in gold and the best of the staples, cocoa (thanks to chocolate eaters in Asia). You wouldn’t have gone wrong with any of the tech stocks, but Bitcoin was far and away the best investment to make this year, even having fallen from its $1200 peak to its current...

There are a handful of companies you don’t want to mess with, and one of them is Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). The tech giant has serious clout these days, and its support or endorsement could mean the world for struggling startups and new technology. Unfortunately for many, though, Apple doesn’t exactly give out its approval liberally, and in fact, it has no problem handing out the opposite. Developers behind Bitcoin, the digital currency, learned that lesson the hard way recently as they faced several rejections from Apple, and questioned why the Cupertino, California-based company seemed to have it out for them.

This is how things work in a free market! Love me some Zappa! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWXUatVuxQg

BENGHAZI—The head of Libya's new national congress has blamed al Qaeda-linked militants for planning Tuesday's deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, raising further questions about the motive behind the mayhem that killed four Americans.

A conversation between Iranian ground and Marine Air!

The author of a recently announced insider account of the raid that killed Usama bin Laden has been identified to Fox News as a 36-year-old former Navy SEAL Team 6 member from Alaska who also played a role in the high-profile rescue of an American captain kidnapped by Somali pirates. The book, "No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden," is set to hit shelves on Sept 11. It is penned under the pseudonym "Mark Owen," according to the publisher, but multiple sources told Fox News his name is in fact Matt Bissonnette, 36,...

The vid speaks for itself. Talk amongst each other!

A United Nations investigator probing discrimination against Native Americans has called on the US government to return some of the land stolen from Indian tribes as a step toward combatting continuing and systemic racial discrimination. James Anaya, the UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, said no member of the US Congress would meet him as he investigated the part played by the government in the considerable difficulties faced by Indian tribes.

After the Giants victory over Green Bay there was a celebration in the post game locker room. Coach Tom Coughlin calls his team in and takes a knee and the Giants follow suit. Someone in the Giant organization saw fit to edit out the prayer and the video cuts to the team raising from their knees. I guess the Giants front office wouldn't want people and/ or children to get the wrong idea and think the Giants give thanks and praise for protection and victory. /Src. I am a lifelong Giant fan, I can't put into words how disappointed I...

Herman Cain you magnificent bastard!!! Another 2 million in donations on the way to the Cain campaign! Gloria Allred and a Chicagoland Bimbo !!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Feel free to talk amongst yourselves!

I am watching the President's Day Special on the Military Channel. Its about Ronald Reagan, a giant on the world stage. I almost weep thinking about the America I love, Ronald Reagan's vision of America. I think of the world as it is now and our President shrinks to insignificance from consequential events, tragic. God save our nation!

MODEL Naomi Campbell's testimony in the war crimes trial of a Liberian dictator was sensationally ripped apart today. Campbell last week told how she had some "dirty looking stones" unexpectedly delivered to her room after a dinner hosted by Nelson Mandela in 1997.