5 Intriguing Things
"That person is Gavin Andresen, a mild-mannered 48-year-old picked by the real Satoshi Nakamoto, whoever he or she is, as his successor in late 2010. Andresen became 'core maintainer'—chief developer—of the open source code that defines the rules of Bitcoin and provides the software needed to make use of it. The combination of Nakamoto’s blessing and Andresen’s years of diligent, full-time work on the Bitcoin code has given him significant clout in Bitcoin circles and stature beyond. ... Andresen has had and maintains more influence than anyone else on the code that determines how Bitcoin operates—and ultimately whether it can survive. Although there is no central bank for the currency, its design needs significant changes if it is to become widely used. How Andresen wields his power over Bitcoin will shape not only its fate but also the prospects for other virtual currencies."
2. Just a thousand tiny robots swarming into different shapes.
"First, all the robots are put together in an unformed blob and are given an image of the desired shape to be built. Four specially programmed seed robots are then added to the edge of the group, marking the position and orientation of the shape. These seed robots emit a message that propagates to each robot in the blob and allows them to know how 'far' away from the seed they are and their relative coordinates. Robots on the edge of the blob then follow the edge until they reach the desired location in the shape that is growing in successive layers from the seed."
3. Cool Freaks' Wikipedia Club.
"WELCOME TO THE COOL FREAKS’ WIKIPEDIA CLUB... This group is primarily for posting cool/weird/odd/fun Wikipedia articles that you find, and for discussion about them."
4. On thinking about the Internet as an actual space, a reading list.
"As someone who does work on online communities and spatial informatics, I’m very much aware of the extent to which we tend to use spatial metaphors to talk about web-based technologies. I asked around the Social Media Collective (including our mighty network of esteemed colleagues) for favorite critiques of the intertwining of space and the internet, and thought I’d share the list of sources here."
"This is like watching Picasso paint: Behold as Miles Davis watches Louis Malle’s French film noir, Ascenseur pour l’échafaud ('Elevator to the Gallows') and improvises his moody soundtrack score. Ascenseur pour l’échafaud was the celebrated director Louis Malle’s feature film debut and starred Jeanne Moreau and Maurice Ronet as lovers planning a murder... After getting some basic cues and the key from Davis, the soundtrack was totally improvised while the musicians watched the movie on a screen."
Today's 1957 American English Language Tip
choler(ic). Choler, except when used historically with reference to the four humors, is now a mere ARCHAISM; choleric, however, has survived it, & is preferable in some contexts to irascible, quick-tempered.
Of the Desired Shape to Be