Modernizing the Shire Society Forum for 2017

Shire Society Forum

Join other Shire Society members inside and outside the Shire on the Forums.

Before the behemoth that is Facebook, there were forums. On these forums, people in communities were able to communicate about various things, and with the right amount of moderation, it worked well. Then Facebook came along and sucked up all the people and gave them terrible forums called “groups” where the only moderation tool is to delete discussion threads.

With forums, moderators can move threads between the forum’s subforums, meaning off-topic posts could be moved to more appropriate places in the overall forum. This cannot be done on facebook. There, one group is not connected with another group. An off-topic post will either be allowed to clutter the group, or it will be destroyed. There is no move option. That’s only one reason why Facebook groups suck, but it’s a major one.

Early on, there were two main forums in the NH liberty movement, the NH Underground and the Free State Project forums. Eventually, we launched the Free Keene Forum which eventually became the Shire Society Forum a couple of years after the signing of the Shire Society Declaration in 2010.

All three forums still exist, but have nowhere near the popularity they once had. Many new people to the movement don’t even know they exist.

Shire Society Bumper Sticker

Have you signed the Shire Society Declaration yet?

In order to stay as relevant as possible and compete as much as possible with the evil Facebook, last year the Shire Society Forum was upgraded to a more “modern” forum software, “Vanilla Forum”. It was better than the old software, “SMF”, in some ways, but lacking in others. Now, the Shire Society Forum is modernizing further for 2017 with the switch to the “Discourse” forum software.

So far my experience with Discourse has been very good. It’s snappy – posts appear instantly without having to reload an entire webpage. It’s got a modern feel and allows logins via a bunch of major accounts, including Google, Yahoo, GitHub, Facebook, and Twitter, and sharing of posts via Facebook and Twitter.

The Shire Society Forum has, despite its decline in popularity, still attracted new users over the years. Each month, there are new potential movers to the Shire who arrive and post an introduction, which is a requirement in order to enter the forum. Would you be willing to come welcome them? The forum has subforums for all the regions and major cities in New Hampshire and we’d welcome your input.

Please give the new Shire Society Forum a try. I hope you like it. Death to Facebook!

Keene-Focused Introduction to Bitcoin Video to Air on Cheshire TV

Not only will Keene area inhabitants be hearing about Bitcoin on the radio waves via Shire Bitcoin’s new ad campaign, but they’ll also be learning more about Bitcoin on cable television. Viewers of Cheshire TV, the area’s public access channel, will at times encounter this under-six-minute introduction to Bitcoin video, which includes video versions of the audio promos airing on radio.

If you’re a bitcoiner who’d like to contribute to this ad run, please send bitcoin to 137bAdkwoqzVMoR6WUR6Qn9vqvuG991wFH

Welcome to our newest Seacoast blogger, Steven Zeiler!

Steven Zeiler - Large

Steven Zeiler, Portsmouth Bitcoin Evangelist

Free Keene continue to add activists as bloggers from across the state. Now another Seacoast doer and media personality, Steven Zeiler is onboard as our newest blogger! Here’s his bio from the Bloggers page:

Steven Zeiler is a successful software entrepreneur and avid bitcoin user and evangelist dedicated to spreading everyday bitcoin use throughout his community. He was a pioneering engineer building open financial technology with Ripple financial software firm in Silicon Valley and now runs a software business in Portsmouth, New Hampshire dedicated to saving accountants at CPA firms more time to spend with their friends and loved ones. Steven moved to New Hampshire in 2016. You can engage with Steven every Thursday night on the Flaming Freedom, the most glamorous liberty-oriented show in the solar system.

Bitcoin Discussion on Manchester Morning Talk Radio with WFEA’s Jared Goodell

This Summer, Keene native Jared Goodell launched a morning show on Manchester talker WFEA 1370 AM & 99.9 FM. Friday morning I was honored to have my first chance to appear as a guest on his program. Jared wanted to discuss the decentralized future of money and had some good questions about Bitcoin. The interview turned out to be a good short intro discussion for people new to Bitcoin. Feel free to share, as always:

Awesome New Documentary: “101 Reasons Liberty Lives in New Hampshire”

It’s out! “101 Reasons Liberty Lives in New Hampshire“, the brand-new documentary produced by Free State Project participants is now available in full on Youtube.

This one-hour documentary is packed with 101 persuasive reasons why New Hampshire is the best destination for liberty-loving people. In addition to focusing on lots of reasons why New Hampshire is already a great, more-free place to live, it also showcases some of the successes of the Free State Project‘s early movers thus far. It’s an amazing film and kudos goes to executive producer Vince Perfetto and especially producer and editor Beau Davis for making it happen. This movie is going to be the key to pushing the Free State Project to 20,000 signers and triggering the official move – please share it as widely as you can!

New Thrift Store Hosts Region’s First Bitcoin Vending Machine

Happy Customer Pays With Bitcoin @ 101 Deals

Happy Customer Pays With Bitcoin (the Bitcoin Vending Machine is to his left)

Many in the Keene area have read the Sentinel article about local businesses that are accepting bitcoin. Others may have heard about it from word of mouth or other media.  Bitcoin is becoming a worldwide phenomenon, and the word is getting out.  However it can seem confusing at-a-distance. What is this internet money and how do you get some?

The easiest way is in-person, from either another human, or in this case, a Bitcoin Vending Machine (BVM).

101 Deals Thrift Store just opened its doors on Monday at 661 Marlboro St. (NH RT-101) in Keene and on their first day of business, the Skyhook BVM was present, offering to sell bitcoin to anyone with a bitcoin wallet (usually on their smartphone).

If you don’t have a bitcoin wallet yet, there are a couple of very popular ones you can download for your favorite phone operating system: Blockchain or Mycelium. Once you have your wallet installed, drop into 101 Deals (seven-days-a-week!) with some cash and try out the Bitcoin Vending Machine.

101 Deals Proprietors

101 Deals’ Proprietors James Cleaveland and Jay Freeville

You can keep your bitcoin, or when the transaction is confirmed in the Bitcoin network, you can use some of it to buy something you want in the store, since 101 Deals accepts bitcoin for purchases, just as do several other local businesses including Corner News, The Farm Concessions, Moda Suo Hair Salon, Carroll Garden Center in Marlboro, and Stone Farm in Fitzwilliam!

The 101 Deals BVM is the only one in the region, according to CoinATMRadar.com.  What an exciting development for the future of decentralized money in the Monadnock region!  To learn more about Bitcoin, visit WeUseCoins.com or drop in to meet the local bitcoin community on the Keene Bitcoin Network facebook group.