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Hackerspace Hack42 is proudly hosting a new artist-in-residence. Dr. Vera K. Wilde (PhD PoliSci) is a (former) Harvard Kennedy School researcher. She is working on re-branding the Dark-Web to the EDTR-web, a place for Expressing, Dissenting, Teaching and Resisting. The EDTR-web is using technologies like TOR and encrypted communications tools to create a place of freedom where centralised power cannot reach.
Vera will be using arts (oil painting and songwriting) as well as writing and political science methods to define and develop the EDTR-web as a social space and technological phenomenon.
I was asked to shoot a couple of photos of Vera. We connected really well and it turned into a two hour photo-shoot in which we had great fun driving around the hackerspace and Buitenplaats Koningsweg compound looking for shooting locations during golden hour.
Did you know that a hacker could steal your passwords and personal information just by being on the same Wi-Fi network as you? All they need is a $20 piece of equipment and a little technical know-how, and then they can launch a man-in-the-middle attack.
Luckily, there's a way to stop them. Watch as Samet teaches Natalie about the importance of using a VPN (virtual private network) when connected to public Wi-Fi.
In the video, Samet uses a $20 wireless adapter and a set of free penetration testing tools running on Kali Linux on a typical laptop to identify Natalie’s computer on the wireless network and listen to her traffic. That means he can see Natalie’s request to visit Hotmail, intercept it, and forward it on to Hotmail from his own computer, pretending to be Natalie.
Hotmail wants Natalie to use HTTPS, so it sends back the login page encrypted using SSL, but because Samet is the man-in-the-middle, he can “strip” (i.e., remove) the SSL before forwarding it to Natalie. Natalie doesn’t know it, but when she types in her password and hits “Sign in,” she’s sending it in clear text straight to Samet. Samet adds back the SSL encryption before forwarding it on to Hotmail—and no one is the wiser.
In the second half of the video, Natalie connects to the secure ExpressVPN server in New York before logging into Hotmail. All her traffic is now sent through a private, encrypted tunnel instead of the public network Samet is listening on.
Now, none of Natalie’s traffic is visible to Samet, not even the initial request to Hotmail that he previously used to initiate the SSL strip. The attack running on Samet’s machine is stuck at a listening screen, waiting for traffic that will never come. At this point, a more malicious hacker would probably move on to another victim on the network who wasn’t using VPN!
Curious to understand more? Check out the companion blog:
www.expressvpn.com/blog/wi-fi-hacking-explained/
ExpressVPN is a virtual private network service that allows you to amplify the entire internet. Get around censorship, secure your internet connection, and browse anonymously. An ExpressVPN subscription gets you access to 140+ server locations in more than 90 countries. And with apps for all your devices, you can take ExpressVPN with you wherever you go!
Hard drive encryption uses a lot of different methods to encrypt data in your hard drive. This basically means that your data can now be much safer than it was before. And, to access it, you’ll need a key or a password. Why? So you can read the data. That will also make it more difficult for hackers to steal any of it. And, BitLocker is the best way for you to achieve this. BitLocker can easily encrypt your data. The process is also really fast, so don’t worry about your time being wasted.
Hackerspace Hack42 is proudly hosting a new artist-in-residence. Dr. Vera K. Wilde (PhD PoliSci) is a (former) Harvard Kennedy School researcher. She is working on re-branding the Dark-Web to the EDTR-web, a place for Expressing, Dissenting, Teaching and Resisting. The EDTR-web is using technologies like TOR and encrypted communications tools to create a place of freedom where centralised power cannot reach.
Vera will be using arts (oil painting and songwriting) as well as writing and political science methods to define and develop the EDTR-web as a social space and technological phenomenon.
I was asked to shoot a couple of photos of Vera. We connected really well and it turned into a two hour photo-shoot in which we had great fun driving around the hackerspace and Buitenplaats Koningsweg compound looking for shooting locations during golden hour.
Bitcoin is one of the world’s first crypto currency systems which in easier terms is digital money. Basically, the idea is to use paperless, digital money with enough encryption so that every transaction is secured and there’s no trace left.
Internet entrepreneur in the 1990s as a teenage internet tycoon launched a new website entitled "Mega" in January of 2013,It's a cloud storage service that uses encryption to protect users from government or third party "spies" from invading users' privacy. Kim has been called one of the world's "largest tech entrepreneurs technology that made him a millionaire, politicians and other invaders spilling state of being unsure of something that continues to run into insignificant problems surrounding his case to create a scoop or one news organization with some of the biggest names in Hollywood collapses,such form as franchise are the top to understand how bad things are in Hollywood right flee home violence invaders most politicians are like this propaganda from Hollywood right. stay with us stay with modern Technology.
In combination with the EOS-1D Mark III, Canon expands the professional EOS system with the following accessories:
Speedlite 580EX II – When connected to the EOS-1D Mark III, the Speedlite 580EX II allows for weather resistant flash shooting and flash control via the camera’s menu system. Replacing the Speedlite 580EX, it offers faster, silent recycle times and a more durable build quality. A new Off-Camera Shoe Cord, Compact Battery Pack and Speedlite Bracket (also released today) maintain moisture and dust resistance for off camera shooting.
Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E2 – Smaller, lighter and more versatile than its predecessor, the unit enables wireless image transfers to computers and remote FTP servers. Support for HTTP means that picture editors can connect to the EOS-1D Mark III over the internet – allowing them to view, select and download images from the camera’s memory card moments after capture. PTP connection mode enables two-way communication between the EOS-1D Mark III and a computer for wireless remote shooting with the supplied EOS Utility software.
Original Data Security Kit OSK-E3 – Like the Data Verification Kit DVK-E2, the Original Data Security Kit OSK-E3 can detect whether an image has been changed since it was captured by the camera. In addition to data verification, Original Data Security Kit OSK-E3 supports image encryption for protection of critical images.
EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM – Superior image quality
Canon’s engineers have completely redesigned the optics on the EF 16‑35mm f/2.8L II USM to deliver higher contrast levels and improved resolving power. To ensure corner-to-corner sharpness and contrast throughout the focal range, the lens includes three types of aspherical lens elements (ground, replicated and glass moulded). Two UD lens elements virtually eliminate chromatic aberration, while Super Spectra lens coatings suppress flare and ghosting.
Rapid auto focus is driven by a virtually silent Ring-type Ultrasonic Motor (USM) incorporating Canon’s latest auto focus algorithms. Full-time mechanical manual focus override is also provided. As with all L-series lenses, the EF 16‑35mm f/2.8L II USM is weather sealed to protect against dust and moisture.
A new 82mm Protect filter for the EF 16‑35mm f/2.8L II USM has been released to coincide with today’s launch.
Speedlite 580EX II – Increased durability
The Speedlite 580EX II improves on many of the specifications of its predecessor. Recycling is silent and up to 20% faster. Weather seals ensure that when attached to the EOS-1D Mark III, the Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E2 achieves the same level of dust and moisture resistance as the camera itself. A redesigned metal flash foot plate and connector pins allow more stable communication between the camera and flash, while a quick release mechanism minimises wear and tear on both units. The flash head zoom covers the range 24mm to 105mm and an integrated diffusion panel allows extended wide-angle coverage to 14mm.
The new Off Camera Shoe Cord OC-E3, Compact Battery Pack CP-E4 and Speedlite Bracket SB-E2 also allow sealing against dust and moisture, giving photographers a complete system to achieve off-camera lighting effects in difficult weather conditions.
Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E2 – Faster workflows
Responding to feedback from Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E1 users, Canon has expanded the functionality of the Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E2 to also support two-way communication via peer to peer (PTP) and HTTP protocols. Remote users can trigger the shutter button or download images from the camera via an internet browser window, dramatically reducing the time it takes from capture to publication. The Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E2 offers users a greater degree of security by allowing up to 4 types of WEP encryption as well as WPA2-PSK, which supports high security AES encryption.
USB host functionality means photographers can shoot directly to external storage media on longer shooting assignments. The unit also supports recording of GPS data - when connected to a portable GPS device, the location and time of capture is automatically added to each image as EXIF data.
Requiring no additional batteries, the Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E2 fits neatly onto the side of the EOS-1D Mark III and offers the same degree of weather resistance as the camera body.
Original Data Security Kit OSK-E3 – New encryption feature
The Original Data Security Kit OSK-E3 supports advanced image encryption when used with the EOS-1D Mark III, answering a need in the market for a secure way to transmit electronic images. The system works by writing captured images to a standard CF memory card, while the SD card slot contains the Original Data Security card (supplied with the kit) which acts as the encryption key. Encrypted images can be decrypted only by a computer with the same encryption key, allowing photographers to send images over public networks – such as wireless LANs or the internet – with the assurance that only the intended recipient can view them.
The Original Data Security Kit OSK-E3 is capable of detecting the slightest (single bit) discrepancy in image data. For images shot with the EOS-1D Mark III and a GPS-connected Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E2, it can also be used to verify that GPS data recorded at the time of capture has not been altered – an increasingly important consideration for news publications.
Photos and information copyright: www.dpreview.com
More Reviews at
How to password protect a folder or directory on Linux
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During World War II the German Army used the SZ40 for high-level communications. It provided on-line encryption and decryption of messages and was capable of handling large volumes of traffic at high speed.
Built by the German firm Lorenz, the SZ40 depended on wheels for its encryption/decryption. It encrypted elements of the electrically generated “Baudot Code” used in normal telegraphic transmissions (e.g., teletype). By adding the numeric representations of two letters together, a third letter was created. The wheels generated the key. Although highly complex, the use of wheels meant the key was not random.
Seen at the National Security Agency’s National Cryptologic Museum, Fort Meade, Maryland.
An observation from someone who is not an expert in cryptography: Cryptography is about converting order (a written or spoken message) to disorder (an encrypted communication with no clear patterns) and vice versa. Thus, I find it interesting that a number of tools for cryptography—especially prior to the digital age—have a physical order or pattern.
The 36th annual Graduate Symposium in Italian Renaissance Art, where our students presented the following papers:
Lindsey G. Hewitt, Incarcerated Art: Andrea di Cione’s Expulsion of the Duke of Athens at the Florentine Stinche
Hannah Mathews, Celebrating Evangelism and Earthly Power in a Clarissan Convent: Paolo Veneziano’s Santa Chiara Polyptych
Tim Grogan, Alberti in Stone and Stucco: Traces of the De re aedificatoria at Giuliano da Sangallo’s Palazzo Scala in Florence
Noah Stevens-Stein, Portraiture between Power and Prophecy: Parmigianino’s Allegory of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V
Katherine Rabogliatti, Immortalizing Encryption in Sofonisba Anguissola’s Boston Self-Portrait (ca. 1556)
Dave Johnson, The Portrait of “Bencino Brugniolaio and diverse things”: Genre-blending in Giovanna Garzoni’s Old Man from Artimino for a Medici Prince
Hannah G. Ward, “Leonardo Pittore Razzista”: How Italy’s Fascist Government Appropriated Leonardo da Vinci as an Icon for Racial Propaganda in La Difesa della Razza
Protect computer, secure computer, encryption, tokenization, computer lock
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Example of Locky ransomware.
Locky is ransomware malware released in 2016. It is delivered by email and after infection will encrypt all files that match particular extensions.
After encryption, a message (displayed on the user's desktop) instructs them to download the Tor browser and visit a specific criminal-operated Web site for further information.
The current version, released in December 2016, utilizes the .osiris extension for encrypted files.
Many different distribution methods for Locky have been used since the ransomware was released. These distribution methods include Word and Excel attachments with malicious macros,DOCM attachments and zipped JS Attachments.
Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locky
Taken at the National Cryptologic Museum, NSA.
Creative Commons photo courtesy of ideonexus, please feel free to use for your own purposes.
The 36th annual Graduate Symposium in Italian Renaissance Art, where our students presented the following papers:
Lindsey G. Hewitt, Incarcerated Art: Andrea di Cione’s Expulsion of the Duke of Athens at the Florentine Stinche
Hannah Mathews, Celebrating Evangelism and Earthly Power in a Clarissan Convent: Paolo Veneziano’s Santa Chiara Polyptych
Tim Grogan, Alberti in Stone and Stucco: Traces of the De re aedificatoria at Giuliano da Sangallo’s Palazzo Scala in Florence
Noah Stevens-Stein, Portraiture between Power and Prophecy: Parmigianino’s Allegory of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V
Katherine Rabogliatti, Immortalizing Encryption in Sofonisba Anguissola’s Boston Self-Portrait (ca. 1556)
Dave Johnson, The Portrait of “Bencino Brugniolaio and diverse things”: Genre-blending in Giovanna Garzoni’s Old Man from Artimino for a Medici Prince
Hannah G. Ward, “Leonardo Pittore Razzista”: How Italy’s Fascist Government Appropriated Leonardo da Vinci as an Icon for Racial Propaganda in La Difesa della Razza
Vera Wilde, artist-in-residence at Hack42. Because Art & Science!
Hackerspace Hack42 is proudly hosting a new artist-in-residence. Dr. Vera K. Wilde (PhD PoliSci) is a (former) Harvard Kennedy School researcher. She is working on re-branding the Dark-Web to the EDTR-web, a place for Expressing, Dissenting, Teaching and Resisting.
The EDTR-web is using technologies like TOR and encrypted communications tools to create a place of freedom where centralised power cannot reach.
Vera will be using arts (oil painting and songwriting) as well as writing and political science methods to define and develop the EDTR-web as a social space and technological phenomenon.
This is our second photo-shoot together. We have great chemistry and it's loads of fun to shoot with her.
We got to play with a few props, listen to some music and experiment with light and posing.
Fortune Brainstorm TECH 2016
WEDNESDAY, JULY 13TH, 2016: ASPEN, CO
8:00 AM–8:45 AM
BREAKFAST ROUNDTABLES
ENCRYPTION AND SECURITY FOR THE THREAT-SET
Ask any board chairman or CEO—the most pressing issue by far at any corporation this year is cybersecurity. Have you been hacked? (Yes.) Will you be hacked again? (Yes.) What can you do about it? Attend this session and hear from top industry experts about what to look for and what to do about it.
Steve Herrod, Managing Director, General Catalyst Partners
Paul Judge, Chairman, Luma
Lara J. Warner, Chief Compliance and Regulatory Affairs Officer, Credit Suisse Group
Michelle Zatlyn, Head of User Experience, CloudFlare
Moderator: Robert Hackett, Fortune
Intelligence track hosted by KPMG
PHOTOGRAPH BY Stuart Isett/Fortune Brainstorm TECH
SQL Encryption Assistant,a SQL Server Management Studio add-in, provides an easy-to-use interface for key management. Attach signatures, encrypt data, enable TDE and implement EKM providers.
Congressman Jim Himes (D-Conn.), Ranking Member on the NSA and Cybersecurity Subcommittee on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
...delicious lentil soup is delicious. Plus rye toast and herbal tea. Eaten at my desk while I watch videos on encryption, cryptography, stenography, and various other stuff for my Security + class.
288 calories - 40g carbs - 9g fat - 11g protein
cloud encryption, cloud security, cloud privacy, cloud protection, cloud safety, cloud best practices, tokenization, pgp, private key, public key
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Vormetric doesn't leave your
encryption success up to chance.
Vormetric unique approach, combined with its long history in encrypting mission critical data for the enterprise – is proven, simple and provides strong security.
How to use Mutt email client with encrypted passwords
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I've been thinking about creating little puzzles and distributing them on Flickr. This one isn't very complex (or beautiful), but it's a start. Please don't post spoilers or hints.
Also see Puzzle 2
How to password protect a folder or directory on Linux
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How to disable entering password for default keyring to unlock on Ubuntu desktop
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If looking for the best hard drive encryption software for Windows, Microsoft BitLocker is the ideal choice. It is a full-volume encryption tool that uses the AES encryption algorithm to ensure complete data protection. However, managing BitLocker's implementation is itself challenging, which can be simplified with the centralized cloud-based tool-BitTruster.
Taken at the National Cryptologic Museum, NSA.
Creative Commons photo courtesy of ideonexus, please feel free to use for your own purposes.
Hackerspace Hack42 is proudly hosting a new artist-in-residence. Dr. Vera K. Wilde (PhD PoliSci) is a (former) Harvard Kennedy School researcher. She is working on re-branding the Dark-Web to the EDTR-web, a place for Expressing, Dissenting, Teaching and Resisting. The EDTR-web is using technologies like TOR and encrypted communications tools to create a place of freedom where centralised power cannot reach.
Vera will be using arts (oil painting and songwriting) as well as writing and political science methods to define and develop the EDTR-web as a social space and technological phenomenon.
I was asked to shoot a couple of photos of Vera. We connected really well and it turned into a two hour photo-shoot in which we had great fun driving around the hackerspace and Buitenplaats Koningsweg compound looking for shooting locations during golden hour.
BSCUK wallpaper, mac4lin icons at gnomelook.org, oios AWN dock theme, graphics vecteezy.com/belial90
overview
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ky5PTgpTAo
sourceforge.net/p/gar/code/HEAD/tree/csw/mgar/pkg/clamav/...
Example of Locky ransomware.
Locky is ransomware malware released in 2016. It is delivered by email and after infection will encrypt all files that match particular extensions.
After encryption, a message (displayed on the user's desktop) instructs them to download the Tor browser and visit a specific criminal-operated Web site for further information.
The current version, released in December 2016, utilizes the .osiris extension for encrypted files.
Many different distribution methods for Locky have been used since the ransomware was released. These distribution methods include Word and Excel attachments with malicious macros,DOCM attachments and zipped JS Attachments.
Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locky
The first Cryptokids event at the Waag, learning kids about security, hacking computers, safety, encryption... in a fun way.
Apple is under tension from the FBI to backdoor Apple iphone 5c security. It’s having a community, principled stance on this, in line with its latest community pro-privateness defense of encryption, and yesterday released a client assertion describing that it will fight the court ord...
First 1000 businesses who contacts honestechs.com will receive a business mobile app and the development fee will be waived. Contact us today.
#electronics #technology #tech #electronic #device #gadget #gadgets #instatech #instagood #geek #techie #nerd #techy #photooftheday #computers #laptops #hack #screen
honestechs.com/2016/02/17/why-apple-is-proper-to-reject-t...
cloud storage security, cloud protection, tokenization, encryption, authentication, privacy, security
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(Sketch)Notes from a one-week data protection officer course by the www.dp-institute.eu, with all spelling, grammatical, translation and content-wise mistakes very much my own. (I use them for quick reference. If you need to be 100% sure about a privacy or security related issue, I suggest you should not do your research on Flickr. ;)
Vera Wilde, artist-in-residence at Hack42. Because Art & Science!
Hackerspace Hack42 is proudly hosting a new artist-in-residence. Dr. Vera K. Wilde (PhD PoliSci) is a (former) Harvard Kennedy School researcher. She is working on re-branding the Dark-Web to the EDTR-web, a place for Expressing, Dissenting, Teaching and Resisting.
The EDTR-web is using technologies like TOR and encrypted communications tools to create a place of freedom where centralised power cannot reach.
Vera will be using arts (oil painting and songwriting) as well as writing and political science methods to define and develop the EDTR-web as a social space and technological phenomenon.
This is our second photo-shoot together. We have great chemistry and it's loads of fun to shoot with her.
We got to play with a few props, listen to some music and experiment with light and posing.
You can now use Mac OS X Lion to encrypt entire external drives. In this case I'm encrypting my USB thumb drive. You won't see this option in System Preferences, Security & Privacy. To get it to you have to use Disk Utility and erase your device using "Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted)". www.facebook.com/facetmedia
Gilbarco Veeder-Root is the global leader in outdoor payment systems. After all, our FlexPay Secure Card Reader (SCR) offers customers double protection. With both physical protection and data encryption, we make it virtually impossible for your customers’ personal transaction information to fall victim to fraud. Your customers’ data is encrypted at the card reader.
See how FlexPay SCR makes your forecourt safer for your customers and you - visit www.gilbarco.com/us/products/flexpay-payment-systems/flex...
Hackerspace Hack42 is proudly hosting a new artist-in-residence. Dr. Vera K. Wilde (PhD PoliSci) is a (former) Harvard Kennedy School researcher. She is working on re-branding the Dark-Web to the EDTR-web, a place for Expressing, Dissenting, Teaching and Resisting. The EDTR-web is using technologies like TOR and encrypted communications tools to create a place of freedom where centralised power cannot reach.
Vera will be using arts (oil painting and songwriting) as well as writing and political science methods to define and develop the EDTR-web as a social space and technological phenomenon.
I was asked to shoot a couple of photos of Vera. We connected really well and it turned into a two hour photo-shoot in which we had great fun driving around the hackerspace and Buitenplaats Koningsweg compound looking for shooting locations during golden hour.
1H76GsGpfkyg2PtwnsZnTYgED3NinWgsG6
You may be asking yourself, "what are bitcoins?"
My bitcoin address:
1H76GsGpfkyg2PtwnsZnTYgED3NinWgsG6
Bitcoins are a new kind of electronic money. You can trade money for them, use them to pay for things, and trade them for money. This is one technology, that in the late 90's many people speculated about, but which had not manifested until recent years.
I am studying computer programming, but I'm only the barest beginner, so I'm not qualified to explain every detail about how bitcoin works. But I've been aware of it for some time, at least several months, and I've had some time to watch it go from being unknown, to being relatively valuable against the US Dollar, and accepted as a form of payment worldwide.
Bitcoin is described as a crypto-currency, but as far as I can see, encryption is not really the main reason why it works and is secure. The real strength of bitcoin is its distributed ledger. While most electronic funds rely on a central, highly trusted institution to keep a ledger of transactions, like a bank, to ensure that people don't spend the same dollar twice, for instance, bitcoin instead relies on a peer-to-peer network to verify transactions, and keeps a ledger distributed across the network. This means that if someone tries to spend a bitcoin twice, the second transaction will not be recognized by the network. This system is secure enough that it enables people holding bitcoins to make a backup file of them, so that if their computer went down they would not lose their money. This backup can even be kept on permanent portable media, like a flash drive or cdROM. Ledgend has it the identifiers for your bitcoins can even be printed out on paper, and buried in the backyard in an old shoebox. I haven't been using bitcoins long enough to know if that is true or not, so if some folks will send me some, I plan to try it out.
There are two other keys to the value of bitcoins, that the amount of them is capped at 21 million. Therefore they remain scarce. Unlike the US Dollar, which can be created at will as electronic bank entries, they will not become worthless, through over-production.
However, note this well, so that you don't appear foolish in arguments on your favorite web forums: Even though the quantity of bitcoins is fixed, bitcoins are divisible into extremely small fractions. This means that the quantity of bitcoins in existence, and the value of each "bitcoin unit" is irrelevant to their ability to function as a medium of exchange. If one bitcoin were worth 1 cent, or if it were worth a million dollars, you would still be able to use them both to buy a house in a lump sum, and also buy a cup of coffee.
One caveat about bitcoins, followed by an observation of why it is of limited relevance: To date, the price of bitcoins has either been very low per unit, or has swung wildly between $40 per Bitcoin up to $266. per Bitcoin. The lesson here is that we should be cautious about considering bitcoins to be a stable store of value, which is one of the functions we are used to thinking of as necessary for our money. However, note that with a little creative pricing and wary understanding of common risks in the market, this need not prevent bitcoin from serving the other major function of a currency; its role as a medium of exchange.
Since bitcoins are no more intrinsically valuable than any other monetary unit, the only way they have value is if people want them. (And I DO!) So, in that sense nothing is backing them but people's desire to have them, either to keep or to use. The same is true of Gold, Seashells or Dollars. The price of any commodity, even those commodities we decide to use for money, always tends to fluctuate relative to other commodities. In your RPG you may be able to exchange silver for gold at a fixed rate. You may exchange Euros for Dollars at a fixed rate during your vacation abroad, but if you look at the finance pages you'll notice that the exchange rate is always changing. Slightly if you're lucky, perhaps in your favor. But which is more true? That the dollar is falling or rising? Or that the Euro is falling or rising? Is Gold falling or rising, or is it the dollar? Did the price of gas go up at the local station, or did the Dollar go down relative to the world economy? I think it is accurate to say that most of the time it is at least a little bit of both, or all of these. And so it is with bitcoin.
But so long as people are willing to trade you bitcoin for dollars or vice versa, you can use bitcoin to facilitate transactions without having to hold onto it as a store of value. You could see an item for sale on the internet, its price is listed in dollars, but bitcoin is given as the preferred method of payment. You convert your money to bitcoin, at whatever the current rate is, pay in bitcoin, and perhaps the person on the other end does the reverse, converting bitcoin to their local currency, and neither of you take any losses (or gains!) due to the fluctuating price of bitcoin. Someone out there, however, will be willing to risk those losses or gains, just as there are with any commodity or currency in the world. They are sometimes willing to hold payments in escrow, ensuring both parties to a transaction are pleased with the bargain.
In these ways it is possible to separate the unit of account (store of value) function of a currency from its function as a medium of exchange.
Bitcoin is valuable because it is useful. It is useful for some of the same reasons that email is useful, or web publishing is useful. Because it helps things move more quickly, with less friction, at a lower cost, and makes things that in the past only a few people could do, something that many people can do.
Its adoption is being fueled by the fact that it is the native currency of the internet. And like the internet it flows wherever information flows. It crosses borders frictionlessly. It helps people build small things, and it helps small things become big things.
At last we have a realization of a mechanism that allows those long dreamed-of micropayments, because bitcoin is extremely divisible, and because transaction fees in it are extremely low, or sometimes absent. Merchants who are used to credit card processing fees are quickly taking notice of the gains that can be made by switching to a payment method without fees. Not to mention that it is a payment method without reverses or charge-backs.
This is the currency you can send someone in an e-mail, or pay in person using a smartphone.
One other benefit of bitcoin is that it enables anonymous transactions. The astute reader will realize from my earlier description of the strengths of bitcoin's workings that all bitcoin transactions leave a trail that is retained in the distributed network, so great caution should be used before one assumes that their transactions are safely anonymous. However, with the ease of creating bitcoin addresses, the fact that they need not be associated with any identifying information, not even email, that they could potentially be purchased from any Joe with bitcoins that you meet by chance at the park, psudonymity is a very real, very strong possibility.
So I hope that I've piqued your curiosity, and that you will try Bitcoins. And if you want to give me some, that's cool too. My newly created bitcoin address:
1H76GsGpfkyg2PtwnsZnTYgED3NinWgsG6
And if you would rather exchange value for value, give me bitcoins only if I give you something, well, I am a pretty good logo designer, I know lots about 3D animation, can sculpt in ZBrush and import meshes and textures into SecondLife. I can create custom seamless textures, I'm a decent photographer, and enjoy portrait work, and sports photography, and would love to do weddings. I'm also learning Java, and have a slew of other interests.
Microchip announced the world’s first H.264 video I/O companion integrated circuits (ICs) optimized for the proven and robust Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST®) high-speed automotive infotainment and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) network technology. The OS85621 and OS85623 devices expand Microchip’s existing family of MOST I/O companions with a cost-effective video codec solution. To learn more about the OS85621 and OS85623, visit: www.microchip.com/OS86521