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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
- Hits: 2021
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/
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
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A good article interpreting Arthur Danto's essay "The End of Art".
Link: https://hyperallergic.com/191329/an-illustrated-guide-to-arthur-dantos-the-end-of-art/
And, if you're fussy about sources, the original article (.pdf): https://moodle.ufsc.br/pluginfile.php/1407250/mod_resource/content/1/Danto%20-%20A%20philosophical%20Defense.pdf
Meanwhile, to note, this has been considered before, consider's Hegel's end of art thesis: http://www.rae.com.pt/Danto%20hegel%20end%20art.pdf
Which might be referring to an entirely different idea.
Meanwhile, I'll leave you these:
Ecclesiastes 1:9
"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun."
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
- Hits: 1911
And, while ongoing rumours swirl about Trump's alleged (and really, indisputable) ties with Russia, France faces it's own battle with the far right.
Two links that should make you think:
Link: http://time.com/4627780/russia-national-front-marine-le-pen-putin/
and the ongoing speculation over the French election: http://live.reuters.com/Event/French_Elections_2017
I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but Russia seems to have had a big hand in subsidizing the far right in a lot of countries at the moment. Of course, Xenophobia is the natural result of allowing too much immigration/change too quickly, bound to fuel nationalist sentiments, but the Russians are capitalizing on that. They are - generally - "Walking softly and carrying a big stick", and like it or not we're mirroring their politics and oligarchy time and again through increasingly corrupt democracies, while they remain suspiciously in the shadows. Which makes me suspect that maybe America isn't the superpower it thinks it is, and if Russia is merely biding it's time in the wings until opportunity presents itself, what should we expect?
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
- Hits: 1987
It's a curious thing, but scientists have identified 208 eight new minerals, frequently at mining sites where exposed to the elements (water, air, etc) entire new minerals are formed.
Link: http://www.mining.com/human-activity-creates-208-new-mineral-species/
Imagine the chemistry that occurs when you're space probes drop into places like Jupiter and Saturn, completely foreign environments and conditions. Curious.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
- Hits: 2127
A brief article on how little Darwin worked, to extraordinary results.
Link: http://nautil.us/issue/46/balance/darwin-was-a-slacker-and-you-should-be-too
Which kind of struck a chord, as I'm (when not at work) a bit of a slacker, only nowhere near as productive. I mean, I don't even manage the walks, let alone the wife, the reading, the rest of it, yet I still get nothing done, and I've planned for all of the above...clearly there's something is wrong...