@MidnightLightning the tutorials on ethereum.org are based on using EthereumWallet hence my (first) attempt going down that route. I will try the other solutions you suggest.
@phalexo: my OS is Windows 7.
Jumping the subject a bit, what are the current encryption capabilities within smart contracts? I.e. could a voter send a token containing an encrypted envelope with a vote/choice that only the contract can open, so that 1) the voter can only vote once and there is a record that the voter has voted, as a transaction 2) all the votes are unencrypted only when the tallying occurs and individual votes cannot be reconnected with the voter.
Also, I'm guessing the previous question might be more appropriate in another ethereum-related room? "research" perhaps?
So, that "count" is the number of blocks it imported? And what's the difference between block headers and block receipts? I.e.:
INFO [08-29|23:23:51] Imported new block headers count=0 elapsed=3.000ms number=4217564 hash=c81854…80d25f ignored=192
INFO [08-29|23:23:52] Imported new block headers count=41 elapsed=51.002ms number=4217632 hash=22428d…077237 ignored=27
INFO [08-29|23:23:59] Imported new block receipts count=22 elapsed=35.002ms number=4217394 hash=53a58b…4d6d18 ignored=0