There was a time when writers and philosophers thought of the industrial revolution as a beacon of hope for society. Eradicating poverty and oppression. Alvin Toffer writes about how a invisible wedge separates society in the transition from primitive to 'civilized' industrialised economy. I think we need to redefine what this word is about. Inspiring when thinking about crypto currencies, could this be part of the new Third Wave. Bitcoin is an invisible wedge of hope.
Sunday 24 July 2016
Saturday 23 July 2016
When the Ancient Gems Were Found - A Bitcoin Analogy
After reading a Coinbase article, as many bitcoiners are drawn to do once in a while, I became inspired to write a kid friendly story to describe bitcoin. One where the essential function and structure of bitcoin is described in a basic form without mention of any modern technology. Something to fill in time at all of these two-year-old's birthday parties we seem to be invited to these days. A mystical legend.
In a land long ago the people of the land lived in many different villages around a big, tall mountain. The people would mainly stay in their own villages because it was easier that way. Some years some of the villagers would have a bad crop and go hungry whilst at the same time others would have more food than they could eat. People got jealous and there were many problems.
One day when searching for an answer to the troubles of the land, one of the villagers, Satoshi Nakamoto, climbed to the top of the mountain. He could see all the villages all around. At the very top of the mountain he found what he thought was a very special gem. It was very geometric and mathematical, not like any Gem that had ever been seen in the land. Satoshi sat on top of the mountain and thought about how this could help the people.
Satoshi saw his own reflection in the gem. This worried him. The people might get jealous of him or his village and this precious discovery if he kept it to himself and this would defeat the purpose. He wanted the solution to work for all the villages. He climbed slowly down the mountain with the biggest gem he could carry. He took the gem to another village where nobody knew his face and left it, wrapped in a note, on a path leading to the mountain. Then he went back up the mountain to get some more gems and mark the trail.
The villagers in the unknown village found the package and they got excited. A few of them took the path up the mountain to get some more. When they came back with Gems, more people saw it was real and did the same. It was a very steep and narrow path. Towards the top of the mountain it was not like a path at all, more like a ladder of stone, only one person could go up and down at a time.
Over time many villagers had the gems and they were trading with all the other villages. People from all the villages were climbing the mountain to get gems and the track got worn down. Holds of stone were polished by hand and feet, some broke off and it got more nd more difficult to climb. People could not carry as many gems down the mountain as they could at first. Only the best and most dedicated climbers could get more gems. they became very valuable. A piece of gem which you could once trade for a pizza from a friend could now buy a house.
Over time people started to race up the mountain. People got angry about it and many people still did not know about the gems, about how they held their history and about how they could be easily split. They knew little of the detailed history of the gems for all to see. They only recognised their value to trade. When they first discovered them they looked into the gems and the first thing they noticed was that some of the earlier villagers had big stashes of gems, collected in the days when climbing the mountain for new gems was not so risky or difficult. They envied the luck of the early villagers.
The majority of villagers called for a grand meeting, an appeal to change the mountain to make it more open for all. They wanted to have the same opportunity that the original villagers had. The first gem climbers did not agree, "before the mountain" they said, "your village was very rich whilst our village was hungry". Still the original villagers understood the struggle and wanted to help. They knew of the example of Satoshi's anonymous gift they had once found lying on the path.
The original villagers had become wealthy in their discovery, but the discovery was long ago now. They spent and gave away their spare gems to those who did the most good. They hid gems in exciting places. They felt good in the acts. In giving up their stash, they showed faith in themselves, that new opportunities would come and that they would be able to spot them. They were happy that the legacy of their generosity and their freedom from greed would be forever reflected in the history of the gems. For all to see, just like the first acts of Satoshi.
In a land long ago the people of the land lived in many different villages around a big, tall mountain. The people would mainly stay in their own villages because it was easier that way. Some years some of the villagers would have a bad crop and go hungry whilst at the same time others would have more food than they could eat. People got jealous and there were many problems.
One day when searching for an answer to the troubles of the land, one of the villagers, Satoshi Nakamoto, climbed to the top of the mountain. He could see all the villages all around. At the very top of the mountain he found what he thought was a very special gem. It was very geometric and mathematical, not like any Gem that had ever been seen in the land. Satoshi sat on top of the mountain and thought about how this could help the people.
The gem could be broken into smaller pieces easily and then moulded back together. if you looked into the gem closely, you could magically see its history and where it came from. The shiny reflections in the stone's translucent surfaces told the story of the stone's sharded history going back to when he first broke it from the tip of the mountain. After many days and nights of meditation and communication with gods and wizards, Satoshi decided the best use for the gem would simply be to trade with it. People all over the land would want it and it was hard to get, but the mountain was right in the middle of all the villages, it would be fair for all.
The villagers in the unknown village found the package and they got excited. A few of them took the path up the mountain to get some more. When they came back with Gems, more people saw it was real and did the same. It was a very steep and narrow path. Towards the top of the mountain it was not like a path at all, more like a ladder of stone, only one person could go up and down at a time.
Over time many villagers had the gems and they were trading with all the other villages. People from all the villages were climbing the mountain to get gems and the track got worn down. Holds of stone were polished by hand and feet, some broke off and it got more nd more difficult to climb. People could not carry as many gems down the mountain as they could at first. Only the best and most dedicated climbers could get more gems. they became very valuable. A piece of gem which you could once trade for a pizza from a friend could now buy a house.
Over time people started to race up the mountain. People got angry about it and many people still did not know about the gems, about how they held their history and about how they could be easily split. They knew little of the detailed history of the gems for all to see. They only recognised their value to trade. When they first discovered them they looked into the gems and the first thing they noticed was that some of the earlier villagers had big stashes of gems, collected in the days when climbing the mountain for new gems was not so risky or difficult. They envied the luck of the early villagers.
The majority of villagers called for a grand meeting, an appeal to change the mountain to make it more open for all. They wanted to have the same opportunity that the original villagers had. The first gem climbers did not agree, "before the mountain" they said, "your village was very rich whilst our village was hungry". Still the original villagers understood the struggle and wanted to help. They knew of the example of Satoshi's anonymous gift they had once found lying on the path.
The original villagers had become wealthy in their discovery, but the discovery was long ago now. They spent and gave away their spare gems to those who did the most good. They hid gems in exciting places. They felt good in the acts. In giving up their stash, they showed faith in themselves, that new opportunities would come and that they would be able to spot them. They were happy that the legacy of their generosity and their freedom from greed would be forever reflected in the history of the gems. For all to see, just like the first acts of Satoshi.
Saturday 16 July 2016
My Open Bazaar Store
Time to sell stuff on Open Bazaar and retire. This is the killer app we have been waiting for. E-bay, trademe, amazon kiss my ass. Open Bazaar is here. Download bazaar Hound to browse and shop on your phone or the real app here. It easy and stylish. Look what i did in ten minutes! and the prices are so good. It's free!
Here's my store, I do air poluttion control:
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Here's my store, I do air poluttion control:
f612c49c608b95b01e8443ddca74a0cf3275a948
Friday 15 July 2016
Happy Bitcoin Halving Everyone!
Now is a time great time to get excited about bitcoin. Rumors about how the price would go down after the halving have been pretty much defunct. This psychological idea, based on the notion that traders had built the price up in anticipation is over and now the simple math can take over and the price is bound to rise.
Bitcoin miners will get half as many bitcoins for mining as they used to. It happens every 210,000 transaction blocks and it's a milestone for the network. The last time it happened, around 4 years ago, the price went up exponentially. Supply of new coins is reduced.
Whilst the Wall Street Journal does an article title "bitcoin miners get another pay cut" the reality of this is not as you might judge from this sentiment. The pay cut, is to a network which is in fact overblown. With more power than any other computer network by a factor of over one thousand fold. People don't need to feel regret for pulling back on this resource it is in-fact a conservation measure. Reducing the network incentive can also actually be a positive force of decentralisation. It can help little miners, the home miners, have long since given up on mining bitcoin, by shifting the balance in their favor. This can happen because of new efficient chip technologies are becoming available to the masses and existing miners are disrupted. Large miners with the current set ups will be stuck with their current equipment and may have to move from bitcoin into different crypto-currencies. In this way the bitcoin halving could also lead to a boom for other SHA256 crypto currencies. More decentralisation again.
Coins sharing the same mining algorithm as bitcoin tend not to be quite up to the standards of Litecoin and others that we are used to. It is a motley top 10, Zetacoin (ZET), Digitalcoin-SHA-256 (DGC), Mazacoin (MZC), Digitalcoin-SHA-256 (DGC), Terracoin (TRC), Titcoin (TIT), UniversalCurrency (UNIT), Curecoin (CURE), Freicoin (FRC), NeosCoin (NEOS), There are many more, I found 21 in total. They do have potential but it has been difficult to develop in this area due to risk of manipulation from powerful and unloyal bitcoin miners. They all have values that are a fraction of that of a bitcoin. If they are to gain a loyal mining base one of these coins now stand to become the second most powerful computer network in existence and along with it a significant currency.
As of now, price action seems pretty stable after the initial blip in bitcoin. This current relative stability is actually much like the last halving 4 years ago. the halving only lead to a huge price increase by building gradually over the following month.
If the bitcoin price doesn't do the same again then surely some altcoins will benefit from some of the extra hash power moving to them. Altcoin prices haven't yet seen any action and If they are up to it or deserving, is another question. Who would you choose out of the top ten? Digitalcoin seems to be taking the first step forward and seems quite reputable. Others like Freicoin do have some deep thinking economic concepts at hand.
This will be a very interesting space to watch. There's always a countdown here. Happy Bitcoin halving! I'm looking forward to many more halving parties to come. Will our next halving party be for an altcoin?
Bitcoin miners will get half as many bitcoins for mining as they used to. It happens every 210,000 transaction blocks and it's a milestone for the network. The last time it happened, around 4 years ago, the price went up exponentially. Supply of new coins is reduced.
Whilst the Wall Street Journal does an article title "bitcoin miners get another pay cut" the reality of this is not as you might judge from this sentiment. The pay cut, is to a network which is in fact overblown. With more power than any other computer network by a factor of over one thousand fold. People don't need to feel regret for pulling back on this resource it is in-fact a conservation measure. Reducing the network incentive can also actually be a positive force of decentralisation. It can help little miners, the home miners, have long since given up on mining bitcoin, by shifting the balance in their favor. This can happen because of new efficient chip technologies are becoming available to the masses and existing miners are disrupted. Large miners with the current set ups will be stuck with their current equipment and may have to move from bitcoin into different crypto-currencies. In this way the bitcoin halving could also lead to a boom for other SHA256 crypto currencies. More decentralisation again.
Coins sharing the same mining algorithm as bitcoin tend not to be quite up to the standards of Litecoin and others that we are used to. It is a motley top 10, Zetacoin (ZET), Digitalcoin-SHA-256 (DGC), Mazacoin (MZC), Digitalcoin-SHA-256 (DGC), Terracoin (TRC), Titcoin (TIT), UniversalCurrency (UNIT), Curecoin (CURE), Freicoin (FRC), NeosCoin (NEOS), There are many more, I found 21 in total. They do have potential but it has been difficult to develop in this area due to risk of manipulation from powerful and unloyal bitcoin miners. They all have values that are a fraction of that of a bitcoin. If they are to gain a loyal mining base one of these coins now stand to become the second most powerful computer network in existence and along with it a significant currency.
As of now, price action seems pretty stable after the initial blip in bitcoin. This current relative stability is actually much like the last halving 4 years ago. the halving only lead to a huge price increase by building gradually over the following month.
If the bitcoin price doesn't do the same again then surely some altcoins will benefit from some of the extra hash power moving to them. Altcoin prices haven't yet seen any action and If they are up to it or deserving, is another question. Who would you choose out of the top ten? Digitalcoin seems to be taking the first step forward and seems quite reputable. Others like Freicoin do have some deep thinking economic concepts at hand.
This will be a very interesting space to watch. There's always a countdown here. Happy Bitcoin halving! I'm looking forward to many more halving parties to come. Will our next halving party be for an altcoin?
Saturday 2 July 2016
75C Big Mac Standard
In 1976 a big mac cost 75c in New Zealand. Today that price is an average of $5.20. The economist did an interesting article on this which offers good insight into the value of currencies. As a crypto-currency fan I wanted to find out to find out what kind of inflation that equated to and how that compared to the official figures.
The example above equates to 5% annual compound inflation. This is quite high especially in current terms, however looking at the history of New Zealand inflation this may not be too far from the truth. There was so hectic hyper-inflation in the 80' as you can see on the government chart. But how does this compare in the USA? The Big Mac debuted at Delligatti's Uniontown, Pennsylvania restaurant in 1967, selling for 45 cents. Now a big mac costs $4.93, this also equates to a flat rate around 5% a number much further from the official rate. if we are to take the US numbers as accurate the mighty Big Mac should cost an average of $3.24 USD. This is a major difference! More than a buck fifty, a 50% increase.
In July 2010, a Big Mac cost 6125 bitcoins in New Zealand. That year bitcoin gained parity with the USD and after a series of ups and downs, a Big Mac now costs less than half of one cent in bitcoin (0.0038 btc). That is one cheap sounding burger. And people using bitcoin to buy things now tend to talk in "bits" or "Satoshis" which are the terms for fractions of bitcoin cents. It seems like monetary time travel. For bitcoiners prices are going back in the future.
McAffee: King of the North
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