A week or so ago one of the Wired editors swung by my desk and dropped off a 5GH/s Butterfly Bitcoin Miner, leaned close to my ear, and gently whispered a question: would you like to be a kazillionaire?All I had to do was plug this little machine in and wait until I could sail away on a flying yacht.My mind was already spending the money I was about to make, but on the one in a billion chance things didn’t work out I wanted to use as little of my own “USA money” (note sarcastic quote marks, the only REAL money is BTC people!)That meant open source and whatever hardware I happened to have lying around.Fortunately, I remembered the Asus Aspire Revo I had collecting dust from when I had tried to set up an XBMC machine long, long ago.After the XBMC debacle I had installed Ubuntu 11.04 (natty) on Asus box so I could play with a CouchDB server, then promptly forgot all about it.Time to bring it back to life and make me rich!Just so we’re clear, Ubuntu 11.04 was released 28 APR 2011, and stopped being supported 28 OCT 2012.

But I didn’t care – I am a glutton for punishment, and I had been drinking heavily – so I played “dependency merry-go-round” and mercilessly hacked the /etc/modules file to try to force load a usbserial device.bitcoin atm two wayI drank and cried and got nothing working.bitcoin fork 2015And then it hit me: Upgrade.1 bitcoin equal to usdOnce I went to Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric), everything was smooth sailing (though 11.10 stops being supported by Ubuntu today, 9 MAY 2013!)ethereum show balanceHere are my steps to get this box working (normal caveats – your mileage may vary, know what you’re doing, and don’t log in as root and drink unless you’re feeling all “The Deer Hunter” lucky about it).asic bitcoin store

First, get thee to a mining consortium – we had Eclipse Mining Consortium recommended to us by Butterfly.It worked like a champ.Once you have an account, navigate to the My Workers tab, and select the Manage Workers button.bitcoin is greedAdd a new worker or rename your current worker to something you like.ethereum decentralized exchangeThe password doesn’t matter, you won’t be using it.bitcoin surge reasonWrite the worker name down and turn your attention to the Linux box.register litecoin walletStart running some commands: >> sudo apt-get install autoconf automake libtool pkg-config libcurl4-gnutls-dev libjansson-dev libncurses5-dev libudev-dev git >> cd [ whatever-directory-you-want-to-install-the-miner ] >> /luke-jr/bfgminer >> cd bfgminer >> ./autogen.sh >> ./configure --enable-bitforce --disable-opencl >> make -j3 4.

If all goes according to plan (why wouldn’t it?!)you’ll have a working bfgminer in that directory.Plug the BFL unit into the computer (I swear to God I actually forgot this step at one point) 6.It’ll ask you for a url, worker name, and password: :3333 worker/username: that worker name you wrote down in step 2 password: go to town, it's not really used 7.Check your “Current Speed” on the Eclipse MC dashboard, it should be going up.If so you’re gtg, and you may begin fantasizing about your fabulous wealth.I always like to write some Next Steps for myself, even though I don’t usually follow through.It gives me a warm feeling inside.There are ways to mine anonymously (called Anonymous PPS mining) with EMC and have it drop Bitcoins right to a wallet (less a 5% administration fee), as well as setting up a Dwolla account to get paid in USD (pfff!)I haven’t done those things.I also have this machine plugged into a Kill-a-Watt I had bought when I thought I was going to do the Tweet-A-Watt project (unfinished because I accidentally crushed the XBee under a keg) – it would be cool to tweet the power usage of the BFL box + BTC mined + BTC->USD conversion, maybe mash the data to see how much money you actually make, all things considered.

Last thing – the EMC API is a little weak, but I didn’t really explore the bfgminer API too deeply, might be some interesting stuff to do around there.PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has published a report which claims that digital currencies, namely bitcoin, are already driving digital innovation across several industries.The report, titled 'Digital Disruptor: How Bitcoin is Driving Digital Innovation in Entertainment, Media and Communications' was published by the multinational professional services firm earlier this week and its conclusions are largely positive.The PwC report is the latest in a series of consumer intelligence reports, and it explores the impact of bitcoin on entertainment, media and communications (EMC) companies.It is based on the 3 – 4 million online mentions bitcoin had in 2013, alongside an online consumer survey commissioned by the company.The report opens by outlining the risks and benefits for companies and consumers alike.Benefits for businesses include low transaction fees, daily cash outs, no payment reversals and the availability of merchant tools; while consumers also stand to gain from low fees and pseudo-anonymity.

According to the document, consumers can also benefit from fluctuations in value, and the fact that financial institutions don't control digital currencies.The list of risks for businesses is somewhat longer: volatility means they have to use dynamic pricing, and network security is an issue.Additionally, bitcoin is not legal tender in some countries, there is no central entity backing it and processing times can be slow.Consumers have to struggle with the complexities of buying bitcoins, cashing them out and using digital wallets.Since there are no payment reversals, they also face more risks than merchants in any disputes that may arise, it claims.The report also found that bitcoin is a media phenomenon.The currency had 3.4 million online mentions in 2013, the equivalent of all General Motors’ brands combined.Bitcoin was the subject of 11,200 traditional media stories in 2013, and in November alone it was featured in more than 14,100 online stories.The report stated: "Bitcoin is not only a brand, it’s a digital ecosystem whose decentralized architecture makes it ideal for entrepreneurship.

History shows that when that happens, disruption follows.With more than 1,000 brick-and-mortar businesses and 10,000-plus merchants accepting bitcoin, its early influence is taking root."The report also concluded that early adopters enjoy a public relations and marketing advantage.Being noted as a bitcoin innovator can lead to favourable press and social media mentions."In 2014, social gaming company Zynga added bitcoin to its most popular games and garnered thousands of media mentions," PwC notes.The report outlines a number of down-to-earth uses for bitcoin which are far from new, but it also makes a good case for monetization.Thanks to extremely low fees, bitcoin is much more than an interesting alternative to existing digital payment services.Unlike cumbersome payment systems, bitcoin can be effectively employed as a microtransaction platform, and this is where PwC sees potential.Cryptocurrency can be used to monetize all sorts of content, from blog posts to multimillion dollar films.

PwC notes that the time is ripe for bitcoin-monetized content, in addition to traditionally distributed content which can be paid for in bitcoin: "Bitcoin presents an opportunity for filmmakers, musicians, artists, authors, and other content creators to more easily sell their work directly to fans worldwide, bypassing a byzantine maze of country-based currencies, payment networks, gateways and distribution platforms.Given its no-chargeback model, bitcoin makes global direct selling more attractive as a hedge against credit card fraud."Paywalls also get a mention as the "logical first choice" for bitcoin deployment.Using microtransactions it is possible to devise intricate paywall systems that would allow users to purchase the content they need without a costly subscription fee."Transaction fees have hindered deployment for anything sold for less than $1.In lieu of daily or monthly subscriptions, bitcoin may make it possible to charge pennies, or nickels, for a la carte content," the report points out.

Curated content is a growing trend, and the driving force behind many wildly popular mobile apps.Yet, bitcoin microtransactions could take it to the next level, by allowing content creators to monetize their work on just about any platform.The report also discusses downloads as an interesting niche for bitcoin.Digital distribution is already killing off retail sales.Video games, music and video content have already gone online and some small video gaming companies are already experimenting with bitcoin payments.Another interesting benefit could be the use of bitcoin micropayments for in-app purchases.This would be relatively easy to incorporate into existing games and new games could be devised around bitcoin themes.Virtual goods in RPG games or chips in poker games could easily be cashed out, or purchased.Of course, the report brings up Zynga, stating that bitcoin could improve profitability due to lower transaction costs for in-app purchases.Casino gaming is another industry that may embrace bitcoin sooner rather than later.