How do you obtain bitcoins?

Bitcoin sounds interesting, but if I want to use this system I will need to get some coins, otherwise there's no way I can spend them! How can I start?

You can use an online exchange such as the following for US dollars:

• Mt. Gox
• CampBX

As well as many others for dollars, and other currencies.

You can also use tools such as bitcoinlocator.com to find people near you who will trade cash for bitcoins, or advertise that you are buying bitcoins. Or find anyone in IRC channels or Bitcoin Forum.

Alternatively, you can buy from Bitinstant.com instantly, but it is more expensive than Mt. Gox or similar exchanges.

However, I believe by far the best way to get bitcoins is to provide goods and services for bitcoin. This stimulates the bitcoin economy and makes the bitcoins you receive more valuable.

Mining bitcoins is very technical, and not for many people. Unless you already have the hardware and technical skill to set it up I would not recommend mining as a way to get bitcoins.

Pushpool + Bitcoind returns HTTP request failed 500

Error:

[2013-11-17 10:17:35] json_rpc_call failed, retry after 30 seconds  
[2013-11-17 10:18:09] JSON-RPC call failed: {  
   "code": -2,  
   "message": "upstream RPC error"  
}  
[2013-11-17 10:18:09] json_rpc_call failed, retry after 30 seconds  

Pushpool server log:

root@xxxxxxxx:/usr/local/sbin# ./pushpoold --debug=2 --stderr --  foreground --config=/usr/local/sbin/server.json  
 JSON protocol request:  
{"method": "getwork", "params": [], "id":1}  

About to connect() to 127.0.0.1 port 8332 (#0)  
   Trying 127.0.0.1... * TCP_NODELAY set  
 connected  
 Connected to 127.0.0.1 (127.0.0.1) port 8332 (#0)  
 Server auth using Basic with user 'username'  
 POST / HTTP/1.1  
Authorization: Basic dXNlcm5hbWV2YXN5YTpwYXNzd29yZHZhc3lhMTQ=  
Host: 127.0.0.1:8332  
Accept: */*  
Accept-Encoding: deflate, gzip  
Content-type: application/json  
Content-Length: 45  

 The requested URL returned error: 500  
 Closing connection #0  
[2013-11-17 11:16:20.142159] HTTP request failed: The requested URL returned error: 500 

Just wait the bitcoind sync with the bitcoin network (9GB actually), and after you can use it.

du -ksh ~/.bitcoin/ will give the size.

$100,000 in Bitcoins in first 7 days

Here we go: $100,000 CAD in first seven days of operation a A new Bitcoin ATM in Vancouver.

Approximately 80% of the machine's business has been people buying Bitcoins, and other 20%  - people who wanted to sell their Bitcoins for cash.
The Vancouver ATM  charges a transaction fee between 3-5%.

First Bitcoin ATM

Now, you can buy bitcoins or sell bitcoins for Canadian dollars in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Three young entrepreneurs have opened an ATM in Vancouver (Canada) and it's first real ATM in the world.
Customers use a private key - like a bank PIN number to access their online account of bitcoins on the ATM. They withdraw cash equivalents from their bitcoins, or deposit cash bills. The machine transfers the money on the internet via the Canadian VirtEx exchange.
People were excited in the real world as well. The machine had 81 transactions worth CND$10,000 on its first day (which is $9,500 US or 48 BTC), and $30,000 on its second day.

Roughly 30% of the ATM's users have been first-time Bitcoin buyers. Brand new users can create a Bitcoin account in about 4 minutes by scanning their palm, their identification card, and allowing a camera to scan their face in order to match the image on their ID. After the account is created, users will only need their palm for future access to the Bitcoin ATM.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoiAewo5K7s