Silk Road forums

Discussion => Newbie discussion => Topic started by: dedhead69 on February 02, 2013, 07:44 pm

Title: super ultimate newb
Post by: dedhead69 on February 02, 2013, 07:44 pm
Hi everyone, so im very new at this and all this terminology is driving me crazy since i am not familiar with it, plus i have a lot of homework and school crap to do.. majoring in engineering sucks!  I would like to start purchasing goods but I dont even know where to start.  I saw a thread about installing Liberte to USB, I tried it and it was asking me for Liberte's passcode, i managed to continue without the passcode but once I got Liberte up and running the thread says to click on Midori after establishing an internet connection, but that option for me was not available.
So, I basically want to know if i can just get bitcoins and purchase without using Liberte?

 Also do all purchases have to be used with bitcoins? I heard of some people making transactions through banks and just communicating through email.  Thanks for the replies!
Title: Re: super ultimate newb
Post by: maple on February 02, 2013, 08:19 pm
All you need to buy BTC is a client, some cash, and bitinstant. You can do a cash deposit with moneygram and get the bitcoins sent directly to any address you want. You do not need to install Liberte, or Tails, or anything other than a bitcoin client.

I would suggest that you do some reading about bitcoin itself first at bitcoin.org, to learn about how everything works.

And yes, every purchase on SR MUST be done with BTC to preserve anonymity. Some vendors do have emails so that they can continue business if SR goes down, but NEVER EVER do business outside of SR escrow. It is simply not worth the risk, both financially and legally. Doing stuff through banks and clearnet email providers is a good way to get caught.

If you really want to use email though, search up Tor Mail on TorDir and use that.

You will also want to learn PGP encryption, I believe there is a sticky on this board specifically for the purpose of teaching new people how to use encryption.

If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me and I will answer them to the best of my ability!

Good luck, and welcome to The Road!
Title: Re: super ultimate newb
Post by: dedhead69 on February 02, 2013, 08:30 pm
So i need to learn about PGP encryption before purchasing my bitcoins?  Will the encryptions be everything i need in order to save myself and be anonymous? 

Thank you so much for your help, I feel like i want to just bang my head since this is so much to take in all at once
Title: Re: super ultimate newb
Post by: dedhead69 on February 02, 2013, 08:38 pm
what does "PM me" mean?
Title: Re: super ultimate newb
Post by: maple on February 02, 2013, 08:43 pm
You do not need PGP to buy bitcoins, but if you are going to make a purchase on SR, learning how to encrypt your personal information is definitely a good idea.

To buy bitcoins from bitinstant:

Go to https://www.bitinstant.com/
I personally prefer cash deposit, but you can choose whatever method of payment you want, they have guides on the site.
Choose where you want it delivered to, I just get it sent to a personal address and from there move it to SR.
Fill out all the info and proceed from there!

The great thing about buying BTC is that it is not illegal, so its totally stress free. But definitely check out bitcoin.org, before you do anything with BTC you will want to learn about wallets, addresses, transactions, etc.

If you are looking at buying a specific item on SR, a useful trick is to change your display settings to show everything in USD instead of BTC, to help estimate how much cash you need to invest into it. Always add about 10 dollars for fees and such to be safe, and another 10 or so just in case of fluctuations in value.

For general help, there is the SR wiki here http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/wiki

PM me means send me a private message. There should be a message bubble under my name, click that and you will be able to send me a message, kind of like an internal email.
Title: Re: super ultimate newb
Post by: farmer1 on February 02, 2013, 09:43 pm
Awesome to have you here dedhead69! Looks like you have been given some good advice.

It may seem complicated at first but the freedom to do business away from the watchful eye of the gov is worth it.
Title: Re: super ultimate newb
Post by: dedhead69 on February 03, 2013, 01:20 am
Thank you farmer1!  i have been given a lot of information by maple.  Its a lot to take in considering im not a computer person and im currently in school.  I have a lot of determination to learn all of this stuff, but I seem to be stuck with the encrypting.  I wish I could spend day in and day out trying to figure this stuff out but i have so much hw piling up and exams start soon, I go to a very tough school.  But despite that, Im hoping to start buying soon, just the encryption then on to learning about bitcoins.

By the way, I am so sorry maple for not thanking you previously.  I do cherish anyone's advise that is willing to help me.  That was rude of me, so thank you again! 
Title: Re: super ultimate newb
Post by: vousetici on February 03, 2013, 05:37 am
I've made a few purchases and never used PGP. As far as I can tell everything you send over SR (delivery address, message) is encrypted regardless. In the case of your delivery address, as soon as the item is 'in transit' your address is deleted permanently. I don't think it's the same for messages though.

Theoretically, if your vendor was busted before your package was sent, your address could be retrievable by LE. Giving your address via PGP means only the vendor who has your key can know the address.

It depends how far you're going down the road. A few purchases for personal use and I wouldn't worry too much. If you want to become a high flying buyer or seller then PGP would be essential.
Title: Re: super ultimate newb
Post by: maple on February 03, 2013, 04:48 pm
dehead69:
Do not worry about it, it is what I am here for!

vousetici:
That is all true. It does make PGP seem rather redundant doesn't it? However, the idea behind it is that if communications are ever compromised in any way and attacker STILL would not be able to get to your information because of your personal keys.

In the whole time that I have been here there has only been one major attack on The Road, but if it was not for the awesomeness of DPR and his team it could have been worse. As it was the attackers managed to disable the selection of postage options and begin messing with images. If they had gained access to the keys used by SR encryption, then anyone who had not been using PGP to encrypt their info could have had a very unpleasant visit from their local PD.

There is not really a constant need for it, but it is a very good habit to get into, just in case. The only reason we even knew the attackers were there is because they began messing with visible things such as the item images. If they had not begun doing that, it is possible they could have penetrated further. The good thing is that the only point at which they could nail buyers is where the buyers send vendors their addresses, which is where PGP comes in!

Plus, it gives a +10 cool nerd buff whenever you say "I know PGP" and can back it up.