Tag: internet

Surveillance is the Business Model of the Internet

Surveillance is the business model of the Internet. We build systems that spy on people in exchange for services. Corporations call it marketing.

Bruce Schneier

Bitcoin is a money platform with many APIs

Bitcoin is a money platform with many APIs

Bitcoin is much more than just a digital currency. It is a protocol, a network, a currency and a transaction language. Most of all, though, it is an application programming interface (API) for money. Nowadays, bathroom scales and fridges have APIs, so why not money?

Traditional money does have APIs, but they are closed. You can program the merchant API of the VISA network if you are a trusted merchant. You can send and receive FIX messages if you are a stockbroker or exchange. Regular people, however, don’t even have APIs into their bank accounts, let alone the broader economy. Bitcoin changes all that by not only offering an API for accounts (wallets) and transactions, but also making that API available to everyone.

Good news from Cyta

Cyta – Cyprus Telecommunications Authority – has updated its website.   First time in years you can visit it without having 20,000 animated banners thrown in your face from the front page.  In fact, the new site looks pretty good.  And it’s easy to navigate around as well, which is not so common for sites with a lot of information.

cyta website

 

And these aren’t even all the news.  They’ve also reduced the prices of the mobile internet.  How often does that happen?  Exactly, never!

Good job, guys.

3D Printed Guns (Documentary)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DconsfGsXyA

This one actually sent me into a lot of thinking (which is still not complete).  On one hand, I am very anti-gun.  On the other, I am very pro-Open Source.  I do agree with the point Cody raises about there being no more politics or politicians, just a pseudo-selection between the candidates who protect the same class of people.  Also, Nick’s saying that 3D printing technology is getting better and cheaper fast, and that law has always been way behind technology – this all makes 3D gun printing a complicated issue.

Thoughts?