Update: Bitcoins are now trading between $14 -15 USD each. Last month the crypto-currency was tested when 2 large thefts/attacks of bitcoin wallets occurred. The thief attempted to unload them at the largest exchange, MtGox, which caused the site to go offline for awhile. All appears back to normal now. Bitcoin is growing in popularity & receives regular press. A good site to stay on top of it all is: http://bitcoinwatch.com

MINING
I did setup a bitcoin mining rig but had to summon all my powers of geek to do it. It's running Ubuntu linux operating system and pic shows the ATI Radeon HD 5970 graphics card (GPU) removed. That's the key component. It hashes at about 700Mh/s, enough to initially net me about 1 bitcoin per day (mining in a pool with other miners), but mining difficulty (resets every 2 weeks) has risen to where I now mine about 1/2 a bitcoin per day.

I've sold several items in return for bitcoin and purchased a bunch with it too, even web services. http://data.memorydealers.com/Pictur..._BILLBOARD.jpg