user14796: I have heard a lot of "buzz" about Ethereum, but apparently its 1.0 version won't be released for a while yet.
I have heard a lot of talk about "smart contracts" from people who admire Szabo, but I haven't seen many implementations.
I notice that Ripple lists "contracts" under "future" features, which seems to imply that they are not ready for use yet.
https://ripple.com/wiki/Main_Page
The one implementation I have seen is at :
http://erights.org/
Are there any other, more popular ways to implement "smart contracts" that are already in use?
Thanks

user17060: There is Orisi.org - you can read the whitepaper here Orisi.org/distributed oracles whitepaper, and run an example Timelock contract here.
The differences between distributed oracles/Orisi and Ethereum are:

Orisi works on top of Bitcoin, so there are no other currencies inbetween
oracles can reference external inputs, so you can create a contract that finalizes based on weather/currency prices, or even mechanical turk
it's available today
on the other hand, it has a different trust mechanism than Ethereum - oracles are supposed to be run by trusted independent parties. So, instead of proof of work, you have a proof of identity.

You can also read this blogpost by one of the bitcoin core devs: bit-thereum. It explains why m of n oracles might be a good solution for contracts.

14796: <p>I have heard a lot of "buzz" about Ethereum, but apparently its 1.0 version won't be released for a while yet.</p>

<p>I have heard a lot of talk about "smart contracts" from people who admire Szabo, but I haven't seen many implementations.</p>

<p>I notice that Ripple lists "contracts" under "future" features, which seems to imply that they are not ready for use yet.</p>

<p><a href="https://ripple.com/wiki/Main_Page" rel="nofollow">https://ripple.com/wiki/Main_Page</a></p>

<p>The one implementation I have seen is at :</p>

<p><a href="http://erights.org/" rel="nofollow">http://erights.org/</a></p>

<p>Are there any other, more popular ways to implement "smart contracts" that are already in use?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>
 17060: <p>There is Orisi.org - you can read the whitepaper here <a href="https://github.com/orisi/wiki/wiki/Performing-a-Timelock-transaction" rel="nofollow">Orisi.org/distributed oracles whitepaper</a>, and run an <a href="https://github.com/orisi/wiki/wiki/Performing-a-Timelock-transaction" rel="nofollow">example Timelock contract</a> here.</p>

<p>The differences between distributed oracles/Orisi and Ethereum are:</p>

<ul>
<li>Orisi works on top of Bitcoin, so there are no other currencies inbetween</li>
<li>oracles can reference external inputs, so you can create a contract that finalizes based on weather/currency prices, or even <a href="http://orisi.net/discussion/4/mturk-and-distributed-oracles-two-tiered-arbitration#latest" rel="nofollow">mechanical turk</a></li>
<li>it's available today</li>
<li>on the other hand, it has a different trust mechanism than Ethereum - oracles are supposed to be run by trusted independent parties. So, instead of proof of work, you have a proof of identity.</li>
</ul>

<p>You can also read this blogpost by one of the bitcoin core devs: <a href="http://gavintech.blogspot.com/2014/06/bit-thereum.html" rel="nofollow">bit-thereum</a>. It explains why m of n oracles might be a good solution for contracts.</p>
