Bitcoin
April 5, 2013
For the last few weeks, a few friends and I have been charting the rise of Bitcoin, an online decentralized currency that provides anonymity and a certain degree of security. Many people I know have been skeptical of it, not just from concern as to its financial sense but as to the technical details supporting ‘online cash’.
As priceonomics puts it:
Bitcoin is an elegant solution to a difficult technical problem. But that won’t move millions of people to adopt a new form of money. Bitcoin has three advantages capable of driving its adoption. It decentralizes trust and reduces the control of governments and banks over the money supply; it offers anonymity and freedom from censorship over individuals’ use of their money; and it reduces the fees on online purchases and transfers of money.
I high suggest reading this article as it puts forth in a simple, non technical way, the mechanics behind bitcoin and an analysis of its future viability. Really a must read for anyone interested in technology and society.
Monday/Tuesday – Day 245/246
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to do a repeat of Monday/Tuesday last week. There was no way I could miss Physics this week, and I was already dangerously behind on my other lectures. I had missed a full week of Glee, and was one strike away from failing choral society (at which 100% attendance is required). Thus, while I dressed up nicely for the day and managed lunch at Hillel, my day was mostly sitting in the back in lectures, listening quietly.
In the evening, after classes and my recitation that I’d had to prepare for chag very carefully (it went really well), I had a large block of rehearsals. Unfortunately the breaks didn’t line up with Hillel properly and as a result I missed out on dinner. Which effectively meant missing out on food. Thus, I asked Michal to save me a take away box for later. Now, I’m not sure whether it was the thing of pickles I ate, or the semi cooked chicken, but something in my day didn’t agree with me and I was in distracting pain for the next twelve hours, gaining very little sleep and as a result, not doing particularly well on Tuesday.
Tuesday was another physics lecture and more rehearsals. Singing was great! Had a good time with my songs and as always, a little progress. Today was also our first rehearsal for Time To Shine (more details to follow in the next few weeks) and I’ve gotta say, we sounded pretty awesome, despite the baritones really stretching to sing consistent E#s. And then, finally, after that, CHAMETZ!!! So excited. Real food! Sushi was first order.
Full PGC rehearsal later that day was also there, but I was pretty distracted. Food was the only thing on my mind.
Shabbat/Sunday – Day 243/244
April 4, 2013
I am pleased to mention the inclusion of yet another wonderful person in my life. The delightful Tova Reiter of U Chicago fame. Chol Hamoed (intermediate festival days) brought her to Penn, to spend time with her close friend Ariella. Surprisingly enough, despite our numerate difference we hit it off almost straight away. My only regret is that I will unlikely be seeing a lot of her in the near future due to geographical concerns. My life in a nutshell.
Shabbat was Glee Elections, and boy did they take forever. Most of the day was spent cooped up in a little room discussing the various merits of all the candidates. And we didn’t even finish. That said, I did take significant breaks to try and hunt down food that was Kasher l’Pesach, and ended up eating bananas, macaroons and matza sandwiches. Not the best of lunches.
Sunday was dedicated to a lot of hard work, just getting coding done before chag came in again. There didn’t seem to be enough time though to really do anything between meals and Hillel and getting ready. Additionally, I had office hours in the evening so I had to prepare offline any cards and info etc I needed.
Another highlight of the weekend was the PGC trip to sing at the Philadelphia Philly’s Baseball Game! I saw a few real baseball players and was screened on the jumbotron! So exciting!
Finally, late Sunday night, after shule and dinner, I read my new Douglas Hofstader book while my students coded and occasionally asked me questions. Ended up staying till around 1AM as some people decided to hand in their work past the midnight deadline.