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An interesting video series contrasting the differences between homelessness in Tokyo and Japan VS homelessness in North America.
I find this interesting because - if you're North American - and Canadian especially - homelessness is generally a "lifestyle choice" whereas in Japan it's generally a matter of unfortunate circumstance. In Calgary, the last 10 years, street people have raised their visibility by tenfold easily, in no small part due to the lack of policing and the new custom (paralleling India) of wandering into traffic to solicit change. When I lived in Calgary my route to work took me through 3 intersections that were "owned" by beggars - professionals - the same people year after year feeding their addictions and mental illness off the well-intended donations of Good Samaritans. In Nelson it's much the same - not the traffic wandering, but there's a high visibility of migrant homelessness that move here to prey upon the goodwill of tourists and hippies. Their "homeless" status is generally a choice reflecting their refusal to work and conform in any remedial respect to social norms. When I visited Japan I was impressed not only by the low visibility of the homeless, but by the lack of begging - in a city where the cost of living is easily double that of Calgary and the opportunities half.
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I mean my Blue-Jay is pretty sharp, but these birds are passing tests a lot of people couldn't:
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Curious as to what alternatives there are to BitCoin and Ethereum, the two main cryptocurrencies that are priced somewhat out of my league, and so I'm doing a little research.
Is it worth investment? Will it survive? Proof of robot work, the calculation of lengthy and intensive - and, on the surface, meaningless problems (larger and larger prime numbers, for example), investment capital, the future belongs to those who own the most machines, or robots, and this is the sign of the Armageddon...
There's a coin for every flavour - 9 alone that pandered to those interested in porn - groincoin, sexcoin, wankcoin, etc, most of which have failed. There's Potcoin - to facilitate the buying of pots I'm guessing, and there's quite a few others - many of which can, at the moment, be bought into for fractions of the cent. Low initial investment with the possibility of great returns - however unlikely it beats the lottery, and while I've never been known to make a good investment it just might be time to start...
Links: Wikipedia on Cryptocurrencies
Not without their perils: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/mbjyk4/heres-how-traders-lost-millions-in-the-first-ethereum-flash-crash
Ideas:
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I was aware it existed, but didn't know it had a name...
Mumblecore. Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumblecore
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is 20/20 vision. I'm, of course far sighted, and frequently miss what's right under my nose. Like the chance to buy real estate in Old Glenora in the mid 80's, and again in Calgary in the early 90's. My fortune would be made. And, of course, my failure to invest in Bitcoin - I remember reading about it when it first came out, thought it was a curious idea, but didn't stump up the cash. If I had I'd be worth Millions...
Bitcoin's big rally pushes prices to record highs
Monday marks the seven-year anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day – the moment a programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz spent 10,000 bitcoin on two Papa John's pizzas.
More important than the episode being widely recognized as the first transaction using the cryptocurrency is what it tells us about the bitcoin rally that saw it break through the $2,100 and $2,200 marks on Monday.
Bitcoin was trading as high as $2,251.61 midday Monday, hitting a fresh record high, after first powering through the $2,000 barrier over the weekend, according to CoinDesk data.
On May 22, 2010, Hanyecz asked a fellow enthusiast on a bitcoin forum to accept 10,000 bitcoin for two Papa John's Pizzas. At the time, Hanyecz believed that the coins he had "mined" on his computer were worth around 0.003 cents each.
Bitcoin mining involves solving a complex mathematical solution with the miner being rewarded in bitcoin. This is how Hanyecz got his initial coins.
The cryptocurrency has many doubters as it continues to be associated with criminal activity, but it has still seen a stunning rally. Here are two facts, on Bitcoin Pizza Day, however, that highlight this:
- While being worth $30 at the time, Hanyecz pizzas would now cost $22.5 million at current bitcoin prices.
- If you bought $100 of bitcoin at the 0.003 cent price on May 22, 2010, you'd now be sitting on around $75 million.
Link: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/22/bitcoin-price-hits-fresh-record-high-above-2100.html
AND, Somebody even more miserable than I: https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/05/i-threw-away-4-8-million-in-bitcoin/