technology

Bitcoin Not Bombs

"In the beginning I pretty much only used it to buy baklava. Now I’m buying gold and silver bullion with Bitcoin, and accepting it as payment for the various things that I sell. So, I have a pretty good sense of how the system works and I’m just starting to really get the economic ramifications of a digital peer-to-peer currency. I theoretically understand the impact it could have politically, at least domestically, but I’m just starting to get the first inkling of what the international political ramifications of Bitcoin might be. This rabbit hole begins with US sanctions against Iran." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin Not Bombs

Bitcoin Not Bombs

"In the beginning I pretty much only used it to buy baklava. Now I’m buying gold and silver bullion with Bitcoin, and accepting it as payment for the various things that I sell. So, I have a pretty good sense of how the system works and I’m just starting to really get the economic ramifications of a digital peer-to-peer currency. I theoretically understand the impact it could have politically, at least domestically, but I’m just starting to get the first inkling of what the international political ramifications of Bitcoin might be. This rabbit hole begins with US sanctions against Iran." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin Not Bombs

Behind Google’s mission to map the world

"Eight years ago, Google bought a cool little graphics business called Keyhole, which had been working on 3D maps. Along with the acquisition came Brian McClendon, aka 'Bam', a tall and serious Kansan who in a previous incarnation had supplied high-end graphics software that Hollywood used in films including Jurassic Park and Terminator 2. It turned out to be a very smart move. Today McClendon is Google’s Mr Maps – presiding over one of the fastest-growing areas in the search giant’s business, one that has recently left arch-rival Apple red-faced and threatens to make Google the most powerful company in mapping the world has ever seen." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBehind Google’s mission to map the world

Bitcoin going mainstream? Exchange approved to operate as a bank

"Bitcoin Central, a Bitcoin exchange that is popular in the eurozone, says it has secured approval from regulators to operate as a bank under French law. Users will be able to deposit funds in either euros or bitcoins, and to easily convert between the two. Euro-denominated funds will be insured by the Garantie des dépôts, the French equivalent to the US FDIC. The accounts will also be integrated with the French banking system, so users can have their paychecks automatically deposited into their accounts and converted to bitcoins." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin going mainstream? Exchange approved to operate as a bank

Dollar-Less Iranians Discover Virtual Currency

"Under sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies, dollars are hard to come by in Iran. The rial fell from 20,160 against the greenback on the street market in August to 36,500 rials to the dollar in October. It’s settled, for now, around 27,000. The central bank’s fixed official rate is 12,260. Yet there’s one currency in Iran that has kept its value and can be used to purchase goods from abroad: bitcoins, the online-only currency." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDollar-Less Iranians Discover Virtual Currency

Merry Christmas: Congress Could Vote for an Online Sales Tax before the End of the Year

"With less than five weeks to go in the year, supporters are concentrating most of their efforts on the Senate, where a measure giving states greater latitude to collect sales taxes from online purchases has a powerful backer in Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), says Politico. Both the Senate and House proposals would allow states to collect sales taxes from internet retailers located in other states, an approach that also has been backed by prominent GOP governors, such as Cato favorite Chris Christie." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMerry Christmas: Congress Could Vote for an Online Sales Tax before the End of the Year

Google takes action to support open Internet

"The conference, organized by the UN’s International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) has reignited a fierce debate over who should control the Web. Google has remained unequivocal in its stance that the closed-door meeting a power grab aimed at ending public control of the Internet and strangling free speech. Google, which has consistently taken a self-regulatory approach to the Internet, called the Dubai conference the'wrong place' to make decisions on the future of the Internet." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGoogle takes action to support open Internet

China Will Build the Tallest Building In the World in Just 90 Days

"According to its engineers, this will be the tallest skyscraper in the world by the end of March of 2013. Its name is Sky City, and its 2,749 feet (838 meters) distributed in 220 floors will grow in just 90 days in Changsha city, by the Xiangjiang river. Ninety days! The skyscraper will be built in just 90 days at the unbelievable rate of five floors per day. They will be able to achieve this impossibly fast construction rate by using a prefabricated modular technology developed by Broad Sustainable Building, a company that has built 20 tall structures in China so far, including the that 30-story hotel." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina Will Build the Tallest Building In the World in Just 90 Days

Senate bill rewrite lets feds read your e-mail without warrants

"Leahy's rewritten bill would allow more than 22 agencies -- including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission -- to access Americans' e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant. It also would give the FBI and Homeland Security more authority, in some circumstances, to gain full access to Internet accounts without notifying either the owner or a judge. CNET obtained a draft of the proposed amendments from one of the people involved in the negotiations with Leahy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSenate bill rewrite lets feds read your e-mail without warrants

Oklahoma Doctors vs. Obamacare

"Three years ago, Dr. Keith Smith, co-founder and managing partner of the Surgery Center of Oklahoma, took an initiative that would only be considered radical in the health care industry: He posted online a list of prices for 112 common surgical procedures. The Surgery Center's consumer-driven model could become increasingly common as Americans look for alternatives to the traditional health care market—an unintended consequence of Obamacare. Patients may have no choice but to look outside the traditional health care industry in the face of higher costs and reduced access to doctors and hospitals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOklahoma Doctors vs. Obamacare