Just as the Internet forever changed (some say destroyed) publishing, a digital currency known as Bitcoin threatens to change forever the way we do banking. Bitcoin is the first digital currency that is distributed via P2P network. No bank is required between the coin owner and whomever they are dealing with.

Decentralization is the basis for Bitcoin’s security model. Bitcoins can be sent to anyone with a Bitcoin address and a hash is used to secure the transactions. Other benefits include nontaxable transactions and the inability to have your accounts frozen. Because the transactions leave no paper trail [Update: A reader left this link to Bitcoin Explorer which shows the trail] and are completely anonymous, several discussions have centered around the illegal possibilities of using untraceable money:

• Prostitution
• Gambling
• Drug deals
• Hiring a hitman

While these possibilities certainly exist, it is more likely that major banks and governments will kill it before it gains too much traction. After all, what government would allow citizens to purchase goods and service stax free (well, more tax free than they already do on the Internet). What do you think about Bitcoin?

If I say ‘robot’, what’s the first image that springs to mind? Most people visualize R2D2, C3PO, the Man-Machine from Metropolis or ASIMO, the Honda Walking Robot. Maybe even a Roomba. I am willing to bet the image of a mylar balloon with flapping “wings” did not figure highly in your mental model of what a robot looks like.

How about behavior? Is “socially awkward” a term you associate with robotics? OK, I’ll give you that C3PO was indeed a social disaster. Ollie is both socially awkward and a mylar balloon with flapping wings. He’s also as charming as a balloon robot can get. Ollie is the brainchild and creation of Pritika Nilaratna, who has licensed Ollie under a Creative Commons License and freely gives away the instructions to make your own socially awkward robot.

Via @nikkistephan

Via: Medical Billing And Coding