Explore / Why Does Cannabis Affect Everyone Differently?
If you've spent any time in the cannabis community, you've probably heard a variety of different cannabis experiences from fellow users. Not only are there vast numbers of different strains that produce different effects, each individual strain can have widely different effects across different patients, even at the same dose. How can this be? Fortunately, scientific analysis of the effects of cannabis yields some potential reasons for these differing levels and types of experiences among users.
To begin, it is important to note that many pharmaceutical drugs, each carefully manufactured, dosed, and administered, can still produce widely different effects across patients. From opioid painkillers to psychotropic drugs to sleep aids, everyone reacts to medications differently. This does not preclude these drugs from being widely used and prescribed by physicians for a variety of conditions, and we accept that we may have to work with our physician to find the right dosage and medication, or combination of medications, to make us well.
Cannabis is no different in that we should not expect it to act uniformly across our varied, complex, vastly intricate systems. As with any substance with medicinal properties, different people with different biology will respond to it in different ways. This knowledge naturally leads us to the conclusion that different people should consume cannabis differently, if they elect to consume it at all; however, it does not demonstrate that cannabis is inherently dangerous in any way.
Here, we'll discuss several factors that can influence the way cannabis is processed by the body, thereby changing the effects it produces. While some of them are a little high-tech (I don't expect most of us will run out and have ourselves genotyped, after all), we hope that they'll provide some potential insight into your own cannabis experience.
According to a study conducted in 2013, the long-term effects of cannabis are determined in part by your genes. The study took 83 cannabis smokers and 58 people who did not use any drugs, genotyped each subject (essentially, coming up with each subject's genetic "blueprint" in order to determine genetic differences between subjects) and tested them in a variety of cognitive functions.
Interestingly, the study found no statistically significant correlation between lifetime cannabis consumption and long-term decline of executive function (the action that takes place in the frontal lobe of your brain and helps you make decisions), counter to the expectations of the researchers. However, it did find some genetic differences in the way cannabis affects us in the long term.
Researchers analyzed the effects of two genes, COMTval158met and 5-HTTLPR, on sustained attention (a measure of your ability to maintain focus over an extended period) and monitoring/shifting (your ability to keep track of moving objects or components simultaneously). This requires a bit of background science to explain, but don't glaze over just yet: we'll get to the interesting stuff shortly.
There are two alleles, or possible different expressions of the same gene, that you can carry for the COMTval158met gene: val or met. Since you carry two alleles per gene (one inherited from each parent), your genotype, or personal genetic makeup, can either be val/val, met/met, or val/met. Each of these three combinations of alleles produces a different expression of this gene, which influences how cannabis affects us in the long term.
Researchers found that val/val carriers who smoked scored lower in sustained attention than val/val carriers who didn't smoke, suggesting that val/val carriers might be more susceptible to negative effects of cannabis on the ability to sustain focus.
The study also found that cannabis smokers who carried the val allele (meaning their genotype is val/val or val/met) made more errors in the shifting/monitoring test than did met/met carriers who also smoked. This is interesting because among non-drug users, met/met carriers tend to do worse in shifting/monitoring than val/val carriers. Cannabis use appears to reverse this trend in the presence of this particular gene expression.
Concerning the 5-HTTLPR gene, the study concluded that "there is also evidence that the proposed link between cannabis use and depression is only present in cannabis users carrying the s/s genotype." People carrying the s/s expression of this gene, which affects the production of a protein related to the transport of serotonin in the brain, have been shown to have a predisposition toward depression. In these people, cannabis use appears to exacerbate this risk.
There is scientific evidence to show what cannabis users have been saying for decades: all strains are not created equal. A study conducted in 2010 examined the combined effects of THC and CBD, the two most prominent cannabinoids in cannabis. They found that CBD has the ability to act as a "blocker" for some of the negative effects of cannabis that can be produced by THC in some users, such as feelings of anxiety.
If you're someone prone to anxiety or paranoia when you smoke, it may be helpful to try a strain with a relatively high CBD content and lower THC concentration, or to dose with a CBD concentrate before consuming THC. By increasing the amount of CBD, the non-psychoactive component of cannabis, that you consume, you may be able to mitigate or eliminate some of the negative effects of cannabis. Conversely, you should avoid high-THC, low-CBD strains, as these are more likely to produce unwanted side-effects or bring about that uncomfortable, "too high" feeling.
As far back as 1971, researchers have suggested that the effects experienced by cannabis users is in part dependent on the environment in which it is consumed. This isn't to say that a cannabis high is "all in your head." However, consuming cannabis in an environment in which you feel comfortable and at ease, while you are in a good mood, can help you experience more of its positive aspects. Cannabis can act as an amplifier for what you're feeling, meaning that while a joint or puff off a vape can make a good day even better, you may find yourself going down a "rabbit hole" of negativity or consumed with anxiety if you smoke at the wrong time.
Consuming cannabis at a crowded event may help calm you, but it can also induce paranoia and fear in some users. If you're new to cannabis, skip that joint at a festival or party and opt for a quiet toke at home with a friend or two (there's evidence that we have more positive experiences with cannabis when we consume it with others, especially loved ones). Once you've gained a bit more experience and have a better idea how cannabis interacts with your system, you can begin to experiment with using it in different situations. Be cautious of dabs and other concentrates, as you may find yourself higher than you intended on relatively little product.
There is no single reason that cannabis affects any one person differently from another. Scientists have found over 113 compounds within the cannabis plant, and due to the difficulty involved in performing research (thanks to the continued Schedule I status of cannabis at the federal level), our understanding of its effects and the mechanisms behind them remains sorely limited. Much more research is necessary to fully account for the subtle differences in the ways our bodies process cannabinoids, but this article helps give you a starting point.


text:
Miete steht für:
 den Abschluss und/oder die Durchführung eines Mietvertrages, siehe:
 Mietvertrag (Deutschland)
 Mietvertrag (Österreich)
 Mietvertrag (Schweiz)
 Immobiliarmiete, die entgeltliche Überlassung von Räumen und Grundstücken
 Geschäftsraummiete, eine Form der Immobiliarmiete
 Mobiliarmiete, die entgeltliche Überlassung beweglicher Sachen

Miete, Mietzins, Mietpreis und Mietforderung stehen für das vom Mieter zu zahlende Entgelt:

 Bruttokaltmiete, auch Bruttomiete, vertragliche Vereinbarung, bei der im vereinbarte Entgelt die Betriebskosten inkludiert sind
 Bruttowarmmiete, bei Wohnraum das Entgelt, welches für Nutzung und Betriebskosten insgesamt anfällt
 Indexmiete, eine variables Entgelt für eine Mietsache, welches an bestimmte Parameter gekoppelt ist
 Kalkulatorische Miete, kalkulatorische Kosten eines Unternehmens bei Nutzung eigener, abgeschriebener Gebäude
 Kaltmiete, der Teil des Entgelts für Räume und Grundstücke, der alleine für die Nutzung anfällt
 Nettokaltmiete, auch Nettomiete, vertragliche Vereinbarung, bei der das Nutzungsentgelt von den Betriebskosten separiert wird
 Politische Miete, anfallende Kosten für Korruption oder Lobbyismus
 Staffelmiete, Entgelt für eine Mietsache, bei dem Zeitpunkt und Umfang der Erhöhung bereits feststehen
 Umsatzmiete
 Vergleichsmiete, Vergleichswert aus Entgelten der letzten vier Jahre für Wohnraum innerhalb einer Gemeinde

Miete ist der Familienname von:
 August Miete (1908–1987), SS-Aufseher im Konzentrationslager Treblinka

Miete steht außerdem für:
 Miete (Haufwerk), eine Form der Lagerung von Schüttgütern
 Erdmiete, andere Bezeichnung für eine Vorratsgrube
 Holzmiete, eine Form der Lagerung für gespaltenes Brennholz
 Halbe Miete, einen Kriminalfilm

Siehe auch:
 Miethe

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Hosted by the Department of Computer Science at the University of Calgary, the Friday/Saturday of 22/23 March 2013 saw The Oracle Academy provide two days of In-Class Meetings with a dozen educators. We experienced a relaxed and creative time as Oracle's "Road Warrior" Instructor Bruce Regittko reinforced lessons learned and guided the group through a fun and fascinating Greenfoot project. The team made a slideshow presentation of the project, Take Your Chance Matching Game.
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Wall Street Journal to President Trump: It's Time for Monetary Reform
by Jonathan Decker
This week, a fantastic editorial appeared in the Wall Street Journal that has sparked a very important conversation. In the article, the paper's editorial board encourages President Trump to use monetary reform to address Chinese currency devaluation. The WSJ wrote:
Mr. Trump's trade policies are also becoming a currency problem. Faced with the threat of U.S. tariffs on some $500 billion of its exports, China seems to be letting its currency depreciate to compensate. The yuan traded at 6.27 to the U.S. dollar on April 18 but fell to 6.77 on Friday. That should help the competitiveness of Chinese exports in the short term, albeit at the risk of more capital flight.
None of this helps the world or U.S. economies. Exchange-rate fluctuations add uncertainty to investment decisions and lead to slower growth. If countries turn to currency devaluation as another protectionist tool, they will further distort trade and investment flows. That's what happened in the 1930s as countries indulged what became known as "beggar thy neighbor" currency devaluations for short-term competitive advantage.
Which brings us to Mr. Trump's monetary opportunity, if he and his advisers have the wit to seize it. The global monetary system has operated with fiat currencies since the collapse of Bretton Woods in 1971 when Richard Nixon closed the U.S. gold window. The world's major central banks have gone their own way, often leading to sharp and destructive currency movements that in the worst case have contributed to market crashes (1987) or recessions (2008).
[Trump] could put together a task force of American and foreign experts to debate and recommend how to navigate the transition from postcrisis policy and promote more currency stability. Experts who have written for us over the years include Messrs. Warsh and Taylor, economists Steve Hanke, Glenn Hubbard and Judy Shelton, former Fed Chair Paul Volcker, investor and philanthropist Sean Fieler and historian and investor Lewis Lehrman, among others.
Mr. Lehrman in particular has argued that the root cause of the large U.S. trade deficit is the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency. That has been an "exorbitant privilege," as Frenchman Valéry Giscard d'Estaing once put it, but a new monetary arrangement could reduce the burden on the U.S. to be the world's sole absorber of surplus goods.
The WSJ's suggestion that President Trump should convene a panel on monetary policy is an important one. Good money is an essential element of economic growth (as well as a critical pillar of supply-side economics), but too often it is dreadfully overlooked by policymakers. If Trump convenes a panel of experts to debate the best monetary policies for economic growth, it will draw much-needed attention to this important facet of the economy.
For inspiration, President Trump's administration could look towards the Centennial Monetary Commission, which would provide a neutral forum for debate by including those who support the gold standard, a rules-based approach, and advocates of the status quo. By fostering a public conversation on monetary policy, President Trump would be aligning himself with similar efforts made by President Reagan, and he would give conservatives something huge to cheer for. Kudos to the Wall Street Journal for making this excellent suggestion.
Jonathan Decker is the Chief Economic Correspondent for TheNationalPulse.com.
Archive: Jonathan Decker
2 comments on "Wall Street Journal to President Trump: It's Time for Monetary Reform"
Larry White says:
I'll offer this comment.
WSJ Calls on Trump for monetary reform: https://on.wsj.com/2Lj6GKf If a serious effort to look at monetary system reform does take shape, here is a "marketplace of ideas" for possible reform all on one page:
https://bit.ly/1ThzY92
Have you ever read this?
http://www.usagold.com/halldiscussion.html
It's a bit lengthy, but it makes a lot of sense. :-)
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The Coral Triangle is an area of tropical waters in the South Pacific that ranges from the Philippines to the north, the Solomon Islands to the east, and Indonesia to the west. It is considered to be the center of marine biodiversity, having the greatest range and number of aquatic species in the world.
And it is one of the most fragile and threatened regions in the ocean.
The Philippine's ABS-CBN.com reported on the consensus of several recognized marine scientists that a concerted effort must be made to protect the Coral Triangle from the effects of climate change, acidification, and other man-made threats. It was interesting to note that their concerns focused on the social-economic and political implications of what would happen should the Coral Triangle continue on it's current path. Considering the implications on mankind, as opposed to the ecosystem itself, is often a good strategy in gaining the attention of policy makers.
Interesting article, so I thought I would post it here in its entirety.
CAIRNS, Australia - The Philippines and the other countries in the Coral Triangle should step up their efforts and investments to conserve "the most productive" reef ecosystem in the world, scientists said on Tuesday.
Overfishing, pollution, coastal development, climate change and ocean acidification are endangering the coral reefs of Southeast Asia and Western Pacific, which could lead to conflicts, food insecurity, and political instability in the region.
Jompa said national governments and international donors should invest in the survival of the Coral Triangle because of its profound economic and political impact.
Maurice Knight, chief of party of the USAID Coral Triangle Support Partnership, said the international donors and national governments should address the preservation of the regional reefs since it has massive socio-political impacts beyond the Pacific. He noted that the cost of saving the Coral Triangle is huge.
"We need to come to grips with the costs of conservation," he said, adding that ignoring the health of the area would be more expensive for the countries in the long run.
The collapse of the Coral Triangle could lead to lesser sources of food and livelihood to millions of people all over the region, Knight said. This could lead to political instability and conflicts, as well as internal and external migration, making the Coral Triangle's health a "global" issue.
The Coral Triangle Initiative, which started in 2009, is an alliance of six countries in the so-called Coral Triangle region, the center of marine biodiversity in the world. The initiative, which is supported by the governments of Australia and the United States, aims to preserve the health of the coral reef systems in the region.
The regional waters provide various services to more than 130 million people living in the region. The reef ecosystems are sources of food, employment, and revenue from tourism for the Coral Triangle countries.
The World Resources Institute released the report Reefs at Risk on Monday at the International Coral Research Conference in Cairns, Australia, which put a spotlight on the status of corals in the Coral Triangle. According to the WRI, 85% of the reef cover of the Coral Triangle is in decline.
The threats come from overfishing, watershed-based pollution, and coastal development. Factors such as climate change, ocean acidification increase the number of threatened reefs to 90%, the WRI study said.


Gain understanding about your key personality behaviours.
Find out how the DISC factors, Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Compliance predict your behaviour towards others and the everyday things.
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Едуард Невил Исдел (на английски език - Edward Neville Isdell) е ирландски бизнесмен, бивш президент и главен изпълнителен директор (CEO) на Кока-Кола Къмпани, от 2004 до 2008 година, заменяйки на поста Дъг Дафт.

Кратка биография
Роден е в Северна Ирландия, но когато е на 10-годишна възраст семейството му се премества в Замбия. Постъпва на работа в "Кока-Кола" през 1966 година, след като се дипломира в Харвардски университет. През 1972 година е назначен за генерален мениджър на Кока Кола Ботлинг - Йоханесбург, най-голямата бутилираща компания в Африка.

През 1980 година е прехвърлен да ръководи компанията Кока-Кола в Австралия. През 1981 година става президент на новосформирания джойнт венчър между The Coca-Cola Company и "San Miguel Corporation", създаден във Филипините.

Премества се в Западна Германия през 1985 година, като е назначен да оглави Централно Европейската дивизия на компанията. Само за 3 години на поста той успява да преструктурира сектора в Германия, като лицензираните от компанията търговци от 160 се свиват до 30. В началото на 1989 година, е издигнат за вицепрезидент на The Coca-Cola Company и да оглави Североизточно/Африканската Група (Northeast Europe/Africa Group, преименувана на Northeast Europe/Middle East Group през 1992 година), като основна цел е да бъдат радработени новите пазари за компанията в Индия, Близкия изток, Източна Европа и бившите републики от СССР. През 1995 година, става президент на Европейската дивизия (на английски език – Greater Europe Group).

От юли 1998 до септември 2000 година, Исдел е главен изпълнителен директор на Coca-Cola Beverages Plc във Великобритания, преди обединението ѝ с компанията Hellenic Bottling, като по този начин се формира втората по големина бутилираща компания в света - Кока-Кола Хеленик Ботлинг Къмпани (на английски език - Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company). Оттегля се от поста управляващ директор през декември 2001 година. От януари 2002 до май 2004 година, работи като международен консултант за The Coca-Cola Company, и управлява собствените си инвестиции в Барбадос.

Бил е член на борда на директорите на "Coca-Cola Enterprises", "Coca-Cola Amatil", "Coca-Cola Femsa" и "British Telecom". Бил е директор на пивоварната компания "Scottish and Newcastle Breweries".

Завръща се като ръководител в "Кока-Кола" през 2004 година. През 2008 година е заместен на поста от турския бизнесмен Мухтар Кент.

Вижте също
 Кока-Кола

Американски бизнесмени
Кока-Кола
Ирландски бизнесмени
Американци от ирландски произход


text:
Bitcoin, a huge opportunity.
How the cripto-currency should evolve in order to meet its aspirations
Aurelio Riccioli
Interest and expectations arising around Bitcoin are constantly increasing. Many are regarding this electronic currency as a real opportunity for speculating and trading far from the inquisitorial eye of governative agencies and revenue offices. Others are glimpsing, on the other hand, a mutual medium of exchange amidst actors cooperating in anarchical communities drawing their inspiration from libertarian principles in which any statal element is utterly absent. We could continue excerpting other similar cases, but is not the will of this work proving Bitcoin to be one thing or another, nor to determine what definitely Bitcoin actually is. Many of the reserves addressed to this currency are really influenced by the distorting lenses of the old thinking schemes used to look at it. Also is certainly true that the multiple facets of Bitcoin depend both on substantial innovations and on many of the old things it wants to redeem itself from; projected in the future while still entangled in the past, as it is. Aim of this document is to highlight this ambivalence as well as the opportunities that may emerge from the really innovative aspects of Bitcoin – possibly a new currency – in order to bring new, uncanny and pregnant perspectives. Namely, it will mainly try and underline what Bitcoin could be, pretending to be nothing more than a invitation for further debates and in-depth analysis about the subject.
A very detailed study of the Bitcoin [1] functioning is required for a deep comprehension of it. In this dissertation I tried anyway to avoid too technical topics or subjects being not functional to the established objectives. Paragraph 3, after a brief historical overview, synthetically explains what Bitcoin is and how does it work. Readers already aware of these features can jump directly to the following paragraphs. Anyone willing to go deeply into the technicalities can find in the addendum all the details concerning the implementation of the Bitcoin protocol and of its pivotal points (mainly cryptography, digital signature and other IT concepts) [2].
2. Historical overview
Fig. 1. The libertarian and anarchist Bitcoin vocation also emerges in some of his imaginative representations although detectable in the network. In the lemniscate the maximum number of bitcoins in circulation. Below the sentence "in cryptography we trust".
Bitcoin historic roots can be dated back in 1982, when the first germinal description of a cryptographic and untraceable means of payment appeared, edited by David Chaum, a computer engineer specialized in cryptography. From a re-elaborated and extended version of this draft, Chaum himself realized in 1990 a first working implementation of the system he conceived, denominated eCash. But the concerns of the Californian engineer were not circumscribed to mere technical aspects.
He also encouraged discussions and confrontations about such issues as anonymous digital currency and reputational systems [3] based on pseudonyms, concurring to make the surrounding environment an optimal incubator for further fruitful developments.
So then in the early '90s different groups supporting cryptography as a means of social and political change started to operate, mainly in Silicon Valley. In 1992 the chyper-punk [4] movement was founded, congregated around a mailing list in which technical issues concerning cryptography, mathematics, informatics as well as philosophy, politics, privacy and more were discussed. One of the founders of the movement was Timothy (Tim) May, who spent a lot of years working as electrical engineer for Intel where, as chief of the research department, solved problems of a certain importance in the field of integrated circuits reliability.
May, during the most engaged years of his activism – from early 90's to his retirement in 2003 – shaped the movement in a peculiar way, concurring to build an ideal bridge between the universe of cryptography and anarchism, that is Crypto-anarchism, sort of a virtual place in which the principles of anarchism can be realized. May consolidated the conceptual side of the movement by redacting, in 1992, the Crypto-Anarchism manifesto, followed in 1994 by the "Cypernomicon", an outright summa of the theoretical chyper-punk principles.
May was insofar sure about the enormous impact that the cryptographic digital technology would have had on the social structures in a very near future, to estimate it to be of the same relevance as the one brought in by the invention of printing:
Just as the technology of printing altered and reduced the power of medieval guilds and the social power structure, so too will cryptologic methods fundamentally alter the nature of corporations and of government interference in economic transactions. Combined with emerging information markets, crypto anarchy will create a liquid market for any and all material which can be put into words and pictures. [5]
To fully understand these statements of May we should consider that cryptography and digital protocols not only support reserved informations exchange – of which currency can be seen as a peculiar specialization – but can also get to implement stipulation, audit and respect of sheer contracts between anonymous contractors, independently from third parties, government or assimilable.
May himself considers Crypto-anarchism to be somehow a variant of Anarcho-capitalism, a political philosophy promoting individual sovereignty within a liberal market from which the State has been definitely banned. The theoretical foundations of this mainstream of thought can be led back to the person, moreover controversial, of Murray Rothbard and to the austrian economic school in general. As we will see afterwards, this ligature of thought shall re-emerge when we study the creation of currency in the Bitcoin system and its peculiar deflationary behaviour.
On the road leading to Bitcoin we find, in 1998, an article written by Wei Dai describing a system "using peer to peer networking to enable payments within parties without relying on a mutual trust". Clearly influenced by the work of Tim May, Wen Dai started his paper as follows:
I am fascinated by Tim May's crypto-anarchy. Unlike the communities traditionally associated with the word "anarchy", in a crypto-anarchy the government is not temporarily destroyed but permanently forbidden and permanently unnecessary. It's a community where the threat of violence is impotent because violence is impossible, and violence is impossible because its participants cannot be linked to their true names or physical locations. Until now it's not clear, even theoretically, how such a community could operate. A community is defined by the cooperation of its participants, and efficient cooperation requires a medium of exchange (money) and a way to enforce contracts. Traditionally these services have been provided by the government or government sponsored institutions and only to legal entities. In this article I describe a protocol by which these services can be provided to and by untraceable entities. [6]
Wei Dai's "b-money" almost contains the entire framework of the protocol on the bases of which Bitcoin has been implemented shortly afterwards. In 2008 a developer known as Satoshi Nakamoto – still is not clear if this is a nickname and if a group of people are behind it – edited the white book of Bitcoin protocol [7]. On January 3rd 2009 the first Bitcoin network was born and the first coins were generated. After the first unstable steps hallmarked by reliability problems, Bitcoin quickly starts to be talked about, within further downfalls – such as the close-down of Silk Road, a web site selling drugs using Bitcoin as currency - , speculative bubbles and blatant announcements of openings or closures coming from governmental agencies or big business corporations. In April 2013, the Bitcoin economy exchange has been evaluated over 11 bilion dollars.
3. Synthesizing Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a crypto-currency, that is an electronic currency based on cryptography (denotated as BTC or XTC) – implemented in 2009 by a not clearly idendifiable developer hiding himself behind the nickname Satoshi Nakamoto. The Bitcoin protocol – whose specifications Satoshi Nakamoto engineered in 2008 – contemplate transactions between users of a not hyerarchized net of computers whose hosts are functionally equal amongst them. [8]. The peculiar configuration of the Bitcoin protocol implicate the needless of third authorities granting the validity and substantiality of the transactions. In order to achieve this goal, each Bitcoin net user must keep on his computer an updated copy of the record covering all the transactions so that they can be of general public knowledge. Each user of the net stores the Bitcoin in an "electronic wallet" resident on his computer or care of a third and qualified institution. The money is transferred by means of encrypted transactions amidst public addresses not refearable to any identifiable individual. Albeit public the transactions are de facto anonymous. The protocol itself preserves the users from the eventuality that other malicious ones can spend two or more times the same coins appointing to the single hosts of the net the task of validating the fulfilled transactions. This "job" is paid by the Bitcoin protocol with a predeterminate amount of Bitcoin, halving every 4 years (currently 25 BTC are being paid). In the Bitcoin slang this operation is known as mining.In 2140, as the last mining activity has been done, the remuneration of the "extractive" activity will be zeroised, while the bulk of circulating Bitcoin will reach its maximum peak (21 millions BTC). From that moment on the Bitcoin users, in order to stimulate the validation activity of hosts of the net, will be asked a small commission for each executed transaction.
3.1 How to use Bitcoin
Fig. 2. Client Bitcoin
The first step for using Bitcoin consists in getting hold of the so called wallet, which allows admittance to the Bitcoin net and starting to carry out transactions.The wallet permits the generating of the public addresses that, in the same way of email addresses, enable to get and to send money. Different typologies of wallets are available: software, smartphone or web. The first ones are programs addressed to one's home pc and are available for the most widespread Operating Systems (Windows, Mac and Linux). A wallet software by now "classic" is the original client Bitcoin engineered by Nakamoto (see fig. 2) but others are as well available, offering several additional functionalities. Smartphone wallets must be installed on one's mobile telephone and allow to ease QR code payments. Finally, web wallets enable to manage the single addresses through third websites, simplifying the overall management by being easily accessible both by user's home personal computers and smartphones. Each kind of approach offers advantages and detriments, about which we won't moreover dilate.
In order to start using Bitcoin is first of all necessary to get oneself some Bitcoins. There are three ways to do it:
Purchase Bitcoin on the foreign exchange market, just as any other currency. Some qualified websites offer the chance to get Bitcoin in change of euros or dollars
Start selling on the web, accepting Bitcoin as means of payment
Carry out mining activity. Such an activity is by now nevertheless almost unworkable for users having only one home Personal Computer, even if decently powerful: the complexity of the computations required is such that this kind of operation is now uneconomical.
Now, let's assume that we bought some Bitcoin from a qualified website. We then can transfer the money to an address of our own after generating it through the Bitcoin wallet in a couple of clicks. This address unequivocally identifies us as addressees of a Bitcoin transaction, as an email address would do. Coming as a dumb sequence of alphanumeric scripts, is proper to assign it a label in order to remember its adhibition (for instance "Donations" for identifying the address due to receive them if we are a no profit organisation). The security best practises suggest using a different address for each different transaction, the address being actually the public side of a couple public key-private key of the asymmetric cryptography. The private key is used for digitally signing our Bitcoin transactions, in practical terms for having them disposable and to publicly attest being the active holders of a certain public address, but the wallet, in spite of arising with a rather intuitional interface, does hide the implementative complexities.
Let's now go trough the simple steps to fulfill to complete payments. After opening the suitable frame of the wallet (check, for instance, fig. n.2 showing the case of the original client) all the required fields, such as the consignee address (usually this will be the case of a cut and paste from the recipient site rather than the acquisition of the QR code via smartphone) must be fulfilled; then a label for a "spoken" identification of the transaction has to be applied (e.g. "Books purchase", optional but suggested). Finally, of course, there is the total amount. Once the send button is clicked the transaction is widespread trough the whole Bitcoin net which keeps it in a temporary abidingness state until the final the operation is officially confirmed by the net itself (usually within 1 hour).
It's also possible to create transactions with multiple recipients by censusing each one of them in the appropriate frame. After clicking the send button the wallet will choose, following a certain algorithm, the address from which withdrawing the available Bitcoin (should different receiving addresses be available). Actually, the addresses are not the exact counterpart of a bank account, so they are usually not enclosed with the transactions, in order to grant the namelessness of the involved actors (I can't have knowledge of who I got a certain amount of money from). Is more correct to relate the concept of bank account and of total balance to the whole of the addresses stored in a wallet. This is, indeed, also the balance displayed by the main screening of the Bitcoin client. Additional functionalities are an address book, a filtrable list of the executed transactions and a screening for the user to sign with his private key a certain message, useful for proving to actually being the owners of a certain public address. Apart from this last functionality, this is a very simplified version of what is normally found in the home banking application program interfaces bynow offered to every bank account holder.
Special attention must be addressed by the Bitcoin user to wallet protection. As previously mentioned, the private keys are what needed for demonstrating the paternity of a certain amount of Bitcoin. Losing them would mean hopelessly losing all the money. Thus it's essential adopting several security precautions contemplating at least the wallet encryption and a periodical backup of the wallet itself, that is the record of the private keys.
Presently there is no evidence of any company or institution disbursing Bitcoin loanings. After all, as we will see in the following pages, embodies mechanisms based on smart contract that allows fund raisings by means of "digital subscriptions" launched on the net.
4. The dark side of Bitcoin
In this chapter we will try to highlight the vulnerabilities of the Bitcoin protocol. However, contrary to what one might immediately expect, the topic of the discussion here has nothing to do with issues of information security, namely flaws in the protocol that may affect operation and hence credibility. It is widely known that the effectiveness of hacker attacks goes hand in hand with the progress of computer sciences in designing increasingly safer and more secure systems. In principle, hackers could definitely bring down the entire Bitcoin system rather than simply opening up gaps of differing size here and there if they were to go a step too far. It could also be argued at length about the likelihood of such an event occurring. However, as important as the issue of security may be, in our opinion, it is secondary so we are glad to leave this aspect to the software's ordinary evolution and improvement processes.
The vulnerabilities, or rather the intrinsic and structural weaknesses, of the Bitcoin Protocol that we will be discussing regard mainly two aspects that are somewhat related to one another. The first to be illustrated is linked to the creation of money.
4.1 A limited money supply
The remuneration of mining is the only way to create new bitcoins. Certainly those who created the Bitcoin protocol had to deal with an all but trivial problem, namely allowing peer-to-peer network users to create money while avoiding that inflation could arise from this generation activity. If every node in the network were allowed to issue currency at will, the experiment of a crypto currency would not even be worth trying. In Bitcoin's case, the problem has been solved in a brilliant way by linking the issue of currency to an actual activity, the so-called proof of work. The idea itself is sound. The remuneration of the validation process carried out by the nodes in the network represents the fair compensation for the service provided, exactly as if you were to request it on the market. You get money in return for the hours or days of computing. It is an easy calculation. This original way of issuing money though has a problematic consequence: the total amount of currency in circulation is limited, hence expansionary forces will eventually drive the system to deflation. In the Bitcoin wiki, the deflation issue is discussed under various topics. The following quote somehow summarizes the "official" position:
Because the monetary base of bitcoins cannot be expanded, the currency would be subject to severe deflation if it becomes widely used. Keynesian economists argue that deflation is bad for an economy because it incentivises individuals and businesses to save money rather than invest in businesses and create jobs. The Austrian school of thought counters this criticism, claiming that as deflation occurs in all stages of production, entrepreneurs who invest benefit from it. As a result, profit ratios tend to stay the same and only their magnitudes change. In other words, in a deflationary environment, goods and services decrease in price, but at the same time the cost for the production of these goods and services tend to decrease proportionally, effectively not affecting profits. Price deflation encourages an increase in hoarding — hence savings — which in turn tends to lower interest rates and increase the incentive for entrepreneurs to invest in projects of longer term. [9]
If it is true that a classical economist typically has a sort of deflation horror vacui, there is no doubt though that the worst financial crises have been precisely those having a deflationary nature. It is also questionable whether the Austrian school of economics has actually managed to have the last word when it comes to this issue despite its many positive theoretical contributions. The same Bitcoin wiki mentions several authors out of (its) chorus and several debates have ensued on the Web suggesting that the issue is still open or at least that is rather risky to consider the future deflationary behavior of Bitcoin as being certainly advantageous.
4.2 The possibility of accumulation
Fig. 3. Trend of the market price of Bitcoin from February 2012 to February 2013 in USD (source blockchain.info).
To introduce now what we have identified as a second vulnerability of Bitcoin, let's consider on the one hand that the possibility of spending bitcoins is now somewhat limited - suffice it to look at the list of companies all over the world that accept bitcoin payments - and on the other hand that the value of the Bitcoin economy has already exceeded USD 6 billion (November 2013). In such a context, it should be no surprise that an interesting quantitative analysis of Bitcoin transaction concludes that "most of the minted bitcoins remain dormant in addresses which had never participated in any outgoing transactions." [10]. The debates that have ensued in the Web around this analysis seem to be quite interesting and symptomatic: Several supporters of the crypto currency argue that if this primarily speculative interest in Bitcoin should just be considered a bad thing, well, it is a necessary evil in order to allow the extensive spread of the crypto currency. They also note that, similarly to traditional legal tender currencies, Bitcoin also serves the function of a reserve of value that can be hoarded and this is considered as an element in favour of the crypto currency.
The reader might well be surprised now that a trait that Bitcoin shares with the other traditional currencies is classified as a vulnerability. The reason will become clear, however, further in the discussion. For the time being, let's consider how all of this is nothing else than the litmus test of how Bitcoin is a currency projected towards the future but that shares many of the aspects of traditional currencies from which it intends to distance itself as their revolutionary alternative.
However, it is not our intention to be unfair toward Bitcoin, which indeed appears to be a grand edifice of thoughts and ingenious solutions. But to allow it to effectively fulfill its libertarian vocation, it must necessarily evolve by making another conceptual break from traditional currencies going to the root of the economic thought from which it draws its origins.
5. The perishable currency of German anarchism
In the historical introduction we highlighted how Bitcoin is rooted in crypto-anarchism that developed, starting in the 1980s, mainly thanks to activists from the departments of electronic engineering and computer sciences on college campuses in California. The intuition of the potentially revolutionary scope of cryptographic techniques in the form of virtual communities inspired by libertarian principles ideally had opened the doors of the world of anarchism to the activists of this movement. However, when speaking of anarchism, it seems that the crypto-anarchists have taken the anarcho-capitalist figure of Murray Rothbard and other members of the Viennese school of economics as their theoretical reference without establishing a contact with the economic concepts that developed in European anarchism in the early 20th century and had a certain resonance in the United States as well.
5.1 Silvio Gesell and Schwundgeld
In the 1930s and 1940s at least fifteen complementary currencies spread in the United States and in Canada. These were modeled on Schwundgeld, literally "money than fades", also known as "stamped money", created by Silvio Gesell and launched in Austria in 1936 in the famous "Wörgl experiment". Even the well-known American economist Irving Fisher who had recognized the value of the idea of monetary de-cumulation or demurrage praised and promoted American versions of Gesell's currency.
Without dwelling on a theoretical discussion of demurrage [11], the mechanism of de-cumulation developed by Gesell, in brief, consists of a tax on liquidity payable periodically to the state as a "stamp" to be placed on the back of the paper currency to maintain the nominal value unchanged. After the expiration date of the reporting period - for example, every month for an amount of 1% of the face value - a bill without the stamp would have no value. The tax could also be collected in other ways such as through automatic taxation of checking accounts or in other ways. To avoid paying the periodic tax, holders of money are therefore encouraged to keep as little money as possible. The flow of money that is generated is used by the state, which typically will use it for public investments to achieve full employment.
Monetary de-cumulation puts therefore an end to the stagnation of capital in the economic body. To use an image, it is as if in the latter the 'temperature' started to increase and the 'frozen' monetary financial assets started to melt and flow; annuities that clogged the unproductive economic fabric would be dissolved and, driven by the increased velocity of cash circulation, it would seek outlets in the form of new investments which in turn would generate additional employment.
However, Schwundgeld, at least as originally formulated by Gesell, does not prevent the speculative behavior of economic operators, shows a marked propensity to generate inflation and, above all, does not adequately address the problem of credit, namely of how new money is generated. From this point of view Gesell's positions were rather traditional and could not imagine anything but the 'usual' central bank that issued currency under a monopoly on behalf of the state.
Therefore, there is a need for a revision and an evolution in Gesell's scheme, which can be found only in the social thought of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner. Much less known than Gesell and almost unknown in anarchist and libertarian circles despite his bonds with German anarchism [12], in the period following the First World War, Steiner conceived an innovative monetary reform as part of a broader and more complex social reform that he called "the threefolding of the social organism".
5.2 The evolution of Schwundgeld: Purchase money, gift money and loan money
In the Steinerian circuit, Gesell's scheme needs two substantial changes [13]. The first of these concerns the social actor tasked with the collection of the "stamps", namely the final recipient of monetary de-cumulation. In keeping with the functional separation of the economic, cultural and state domains specific to Steiner's social tripartite division, de-cumulation should not be managed by the state. Indeed, the state must be completely excluded from the economic sphere. It must limit itself to enforcing laws without direct intervention in economic life.
In Steiner's system, monetary de-cumulation should instead be channeled to funding the cultural sphere of the social organism, which is made up of all those institutions that belong neither to the state nor to the economic sphere: hospitals, schools, cultural foundations, theaters, universities, etc. namely everything that typically represents a cost center, the uneconomic element of society.
In order for de-cumulation to reach a given cultural institution rather than another depends on the free will of those who have to pay. When I pay the "stamp", I also decide who to donate the amount to. In this way, it is possible to build up a free social cultural life in the social organism founded on it and independent of both the state and the economic sphere. The function of redistribution no longer lies with the state sphere and is placed in the hands of civil society, in accordance with the libertarian nature of threefolding social order.
De-cumulation affects the entire currency in circulation, but it is possible to preserve savings from its effects by handing it over to banks, which, in order not to incur the stamp costs, will invest the money accordingly. For the depositor the consequence is that of being able to "freeze" savings at the date of the deposit and to delegate the burden of de-cumulation to others.
Steiner thus distinguished the currency that we use routinely as a means of exchange and which he calls purchase money from that originated from de-cumulation: gift money or "old money". It is important to emphasize that the concept of gift money does not have any moral connotation in the Steiner's scheme, as it has a specific economic function.
The second change to be made in the Schwundgeld scheme regards the fact that it tends to be inflationary due in part to the increased speed of movement and to a greater extent to the fact that it continues to be issued by a central bank orbiting around the state sphere.
In fact, Gesell completely missed a fundamental aspect of currency which is manifested through the creation of investment banks. This is a phenomenon that did not go unnoticed by Joseph Schumpeter, he too connected in some way to the Austrian school of economics, who in "The Theory of Economic Development" of 1911, identified the dynamic element that could lead a stationary system - like Gesell's system - to make the quantum leap capable of assuring new growth and progress, "an innovation no less powerful than electricity to explain the second industrial revolution" as the economist Aleksander Gerschenkron later said.
For Schumpeter, like Steiner, the decisive factor that allows a system to abandon a steady state is credit, which should not be understood as a mere collection of "purchase money". It is a type of money other than that which is normally used to exchange goods and services. And yes, he did refer here to goods and services, but not current ones, but future ones, those that will be implemented through a business venture or through a transformation of existing processes carried out for example by a qualified technician. In general, as regards the highest results achieved in the transformation of labor by the Spirit, that is to say by individual talents and skills. The money that is used for this purpose has no ties to the current mass of circulating capital, concerning as it does its link to future goods and services alone which it has the power to give rise to in the future. Its justification must be sought not in the present but in the future needs of the community which should be planned today.
Steiner called this investment money loan money or even "young money". It is the monetary instrument that is made available to entrepreneurs so that they can fulfill their creative function of value while the issuing or investment banks are social actors responsible for its provision. Proven management skills and personal credit understood as a solid reputation and reliability, are the guarantees that these banks ask from the entrepreneur. In the hands of talented entrepreneurs, loan money brings into existence new economic realities, hence transforming into spending power for households through wages, through the payment of suppliers, etc.; it slowly becomes purchase money which in turn becomes gift money. Through the spending of cultural institutions, gift money returns to businesses and then to the issuing banks that destroy it without harming the monetary balance of the system. It should be borne in mind though that the three kinds of money are not physically distinct. They are the same currency that takes on different functions depending on how close or far the de-cumulation is.
The issuing of loan money, as clarified by the economist Geminello Alvi, lies with the issuing banks operating under a free banking system. That means not a single central bank, but several issuing banks in competition with one another and this is what keeps Steinerian monetary circulation from experiencing inflation.
Steiner's scheme is completed by a further reform of financial markets in order to limit speculative behavior to a maximum and introduce economic associations to allow banks to better calibrate their investments. By bringing together representatives of producers, consumers, traders and goods carriers, economic associations would be tasked with providing the credit system with the elements needed to properly assess the financing of only those products that are intended to cover the actual needs of the community.
6 Towards a new three-in-one crypto currency
Let us now try to describe the changes to be made to Bitcoin - or to be made by a new crypto currency derived from it - to address at least some of the issues examined above. Clearly these are just hints and hypotheses to be further developed.
First, we must point out that there already is - among the countless cryto currencies that are popping up like mushrooms - a fork in the Bitcoin project that implements Gesell's de-cumulation scheme called Freicoin.
6.1 Freicoin
Freicoin is a crypto currency that implements Gesellian de-cumulation by making a change to the Bitcoin protocol from which it derives. The rate of decumulation is currently set at around 5% a year. However, there is no way to direct de-cumulation to any beneficiary of one's choice; the levy is in fact carried out automatically.
The introduction of de-cumulation necessarily involves a review of the mechanisms that generate new currency in Bitcoin. In this regard, the creators of Freicoin first argue, not without reason, that although the activity of miners is essential to ensure the security of transactions, it is not necessary to consume large quantities of real goods - electricity, hardware, etc. - to issue 100% of the currency. In Freicoin it is therefore expected that only 20% of the total money can be generated through mining. The remaining 80% is immediately created and put entirely at the disposal of a non-profit organization created ad hoc, namely the Freicoin Foundation whose mission is "to create a world where commonplace non-usurious complementary currencies inspired by the works of Silvio Gesell are brought into being through economic development, charitable action, and the support of global commons and which engender perpetual prosperity through sustainable development".
The Foundation has the task of distributing its available funds within the first three years of life of Freicoin (distribution should be completed in 2016). After this period, a finite money supply amounting to 100 million freicoin will have been generated.
Freicoin marks a return to centralized issue but the Foundation, in the plans of its creators, should be transitional. The objective is undoubtedly to make Freicon a completely peer-to-peer and decentralized currency but not without identifying effective mechanisms that enable it to put the money issued to use in accordance with the Foundation's mission. It will be possible to release Freicoin from central issue only if a solution were to be found to these problems:
how to allocate the demurrage to non-profit organizations (i.e., belonging to the sphere of cultural institutions according to the tripartite social system) without the risk of giving rise to criminal behavior – e.g., a fraudulent user could allocate the demurrage to himself rather than to a cultural institution
identifying an alternative mechanism, or rather, a complementary one to mining to generate new money. Once this mechanism is found, it is a matter of figuring out how to distribute the generation of money between mining and this alternative mechanism
This gives rise to a particularly arduous dual challenge: Freicoin should, on the one hand, make the management of donations similar to that of complementary currencies such as the Chiemgauer [14] and, secondly, find an efficient solution to the problem of creating new money. All this without resorting to "central agencies".
6.2 A proposal: bitmercor, bitdonor e bitinvor
It is likely that the solutions to the above problems are difficult to find until you search for them in a single system. But Steinerian monetary circulation, as described in the previous paragraphs, may perhaps provide the key to a broader scenario within which Freicoin can evolve.
The currency that circulates in Bitcoin-Freicoin is in fact what Steiner calls purchase money, namely money to be used as a pure medium of exchange. We will call bitmercor [15] the functional domain that originates from the circulation of this currency. It is the functional domain of the pure exchange of assets and the current operation of the Bitcoin protocol is sufficient for this purpose.
Clearly, even the ordinary monetary circulation of Freicoin is bitmercor but, with de-cumulation, it implicitly introduces another functional domain that we will call bitdonor. This domain is responsible for regulating the allocation of demurrage, but it does so with its own rules that may require the introduction of a new protocol, which is different from that of Bitcoin-Freicoin.
Bitdonor as an expression of civil society understood in the sense of Nicanor Perlas, or as a third social pillar alongside the state and market pillars, should deal with:
publishing a register of all the institutions that can receive demurrage of purchase money
in the event of an external request, certifying that a given institution actually belongs to that register
defining how to allow a new entity to join the recipients of gift money
monitoring continued compliance with ethical requirements originally requested and the actual social mission of the registered institutions
sanctioning and, in severe cases, even expelling institutions that fail to comply with the social vocation initially declared
Fig. 4. The bitinvor domain comprises entities (i1, i2, i3...) that manage the issue of credit to finance new businesses. The money flows into the bitmercor domain and becomes purchase money. Demurrage is forwarded to cultural institutions subject to verification with one of the public registers d1, d2, d3 of bitdonors that the recipient is an accredited cultural institution.
Bitdonor could also be organized as a peer-to-peer network and adopt a Bitcoin-like protocol to implement the tasks requested of it. For example, the generation of the public key that identifies a given cultural institution could be the result of a process of gaining a certain level of consensus, after which the institution may be considered accredited. The mechanism to check already registered institutions could avail itself of a reputation-based system that assigns a certain percentage of "ethical reliability" to the accredited institution. Below a certain threshold, the institution may be automatically excluded from donations, either temporarily or permanently. Finally, to economically support bitdonor in its institutional tasks, a portion of the donations can be reversed to cover expenses.
But how should bitmercor interact with bitdonor? The Bitcoin protocol supports the implementation of smart contracts. Of these, an example is provided in Bitcoin's documentation. It describes the query of an oracle, i.e., an external system that is able to respond true or false to a request made by a Bitcoin transaction. The oracle's answer is binding for finalizing the transaction successfully. Therefore:
bitmercor requires that, in order to pay the demurrage, a transaction must be specified for the same amount to be paid to a cultural institution chosen by the payer
the payer enters the public key of the institution of his choice in the transaction to pay demurrage
the bitmercor protocol requires the bitdonor oracle to certify that the recipient is duly credited: if the oracle's answer is affirmative, demurrage is transferred; otherwise the transaction fails and the payer must choose another institution
The bitmercor circuit should also make sure that donors can be spent once and only once and only by users registered with bitdonor, that is, that they are cultural institutions and not other entities.
The above considerations should address the first of the two issues that Freicoin should solve. Now the complex issue of monetary emission is to be addressed. Maybe the reader may have noted that the difficulties typical of the bitmercor domain are usually due to basically technical or other problems which can be solved through automatic electronic processing. This was finally the nature of the problem of the validation of the Bitcoin block chain.
But the bitdonor domain already starts to deal with issues that are not easily manageable through mere IT solutions. Assessing whether a cultural institution meets the requirements to access donors may be the result of an IT process but it requires a well-defined institution rather than a peer-to-peer network.
This is even more true with regard to the issue of money. We have seen in the section on Steiner's evolution of the Gesellian scheme that the issuing of currency is managed by different issuing banks in a free banking scheme. Today, the banking system is the subject of harsh criticism which rightly stigmatizes the all too cynical and unscrupulous conduct of institutions that have completely forgotten their social function and are deformed under the weight of the exasperated search for profit maximization. But you cannot think of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The issuing banks should act as a sort of organ of social perception in the search for skilled entrepreneurs to whom to entrust the credit needed to anticipate the future creation of goods and services. It is an important and delicate function that requires extensive experience and specific skills that are unlikely to be substituted by a peer-to-peer network of heterogeneous subjects who lack the necessary skills. At present, it is frankly difficult to adequately address this issue without presupposing some sort of replica of the banking function to deal with the issue of loan money to businesses. If we call this functional domain bitinvor (see Fig. 4), it should rely on various institutions operating as banks. An appropriate change to the Bitcoin-Freicoin protocol should allow bitinvor institutions to grant the amount of funding to an entrepreneur ex nihilo, exactly as is the case today when the protocol pays miners.
In accordance with the tenets of economic associationism in Steiner's tripartite division of society, entrepreneurs should produce only the goods actually required by the community to which they belong. This has two positive consequences: a significant reduction of business risk on the one hand and, on the other hand, an appropriate sizing of its production capacity. The bitinvor domain should then interact with economic associations to be able to optimally finance only those firms dedicated to meeting the real needs of the community. In this regard it is possible through a peer-to-peer network to make sure that the associations of consumers and producers can express and quantify their needs in some way. For the disbursement of funding, the relevant transaction could then be finalized with a smart contract only if the following conditions are met:
existence of proof of work by an association of consumers and producers demonstrating the necessity to satisfy a certain need of the community in a certain quantity
rating of the entrepreneur above a minimum threshold to be set
approval of the funding by the banking function for the entrepreneurial activity that meets the specific needs of the community in terms of quality and quantity
We have highlighted the anarchist and libertarian roots of Bitcoin's genesis and its role as a means of exchange for mutually cooperating subjects in anarchist communities in which the state is entirely absent. The path that Bitcoin has so far taken to achieve the purpose for which it was born is characterized by solutions that can be considered brilliant. The overall design of its implementation starts to reveal part of the mystery of what currency is and to manifest its ethereal, intangible nature, essentially based on human trust. But this process of 'monetary epiphany' has not come full circle yet.
Light has been shed on how the theoretical roots of the libertarian principles inspiring Bitcoin delve into anarco-capitalism and other currents of contemporary liberal and anarcho-individualist political philosophy. All this has greatly influenced the design of Bitcoin which has focused primarily on the need to exclude the state from the economic sphere. But in doing so, it has neglected to investigate the real nature of money. Aside from this, Bitcoin risks ushering the ills of today's money into the anarchist communities of which it aspires to become the means of exchange, thus contaminating electronic money.
Yet it was precisely in circles contiguous to anarchism where the concept of monetary de-cumulation was initially developed through the thought of Silvio Gesell. It was then perfected as part of the complex transformation into the threefolded social organism conceived by Rudolf Steiner, he too connected to German anarchism. It postulates "loan money", "gift money" and "purchase money", each of which becomes the other as part of a cycle similar to that of blood in a living organism.
Freicoin is a crypto currency derived from Bitcoin that natively implements Gesellian demurrage. It could be the starting point for an implementation of Steiner's three kinds of money, which, as illustrated in the previous chapter, are focused on three separate functional domains: bitmercor, bitdonor and bitinvor. Here it is important to note that Bitcoin and other crypto currencies derived from it have various mechanisms (proof of work, reputation, smart contracts, etc.) which can at most support majority decisions in the context of virtual communities based on peer-to-peer networks. But as said, especially the process that leads to the generation of money is far from being comparable to a democratic process. The bitdonor and bitinvor domains almost certainly require centralization and it is mindless to force them into mechanisms that are foreign to them solely to comply with an abstract requirement of anonymity. The exclusion of the state from economic sphere is much better achieved when money can actually be guaranteed an independent genesis as investment money and its subsequent transformation into purchase money and gift money with modalities typical of each functional domain. Rather than attempting to spread an electronic currency that is in general invisible to the state, it is more appropriate to create the conditions for healthy monetary circulation within small communities where you have the market, cultural institutions and entrepreneurial skills in search of the credit needed for the production of the goods and services required by the community. By creating the conditions for its circulation, much will have been done to allow the new currency to firmly take root in a given territory and to give rise to new economic processes independent of the state sphere.
The hurdles to overcome in order to integrate Steiner's three kinds of money into a crypto currency may seem huge. In the 1980s and 1990s, the difficulties strewn along the path ahead of David Chaum, Tim May and other pioneers of crypto-anarchism definitely appeared to be no less formidable. Yet, less than thirty years later, the whole world has seen the Bitcoin phenomenon in all its magnitude and this is just the first implementation of crypto-anarchism!
What is essential now is to head in the right direction.
[1] Following an agreement by now fairly widespread in the network, 'Bitcoin' (capitalized) refers to the protocol or the concept in general, while 'bitcoin' (with an initial lowercase) refers to the single instance or the 'physical' money.
[2] For a complete discussion you can refer to the documentation "official" protocol: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Main_Page
[3] From Wikipedia: "A reputation system computes and publishes reputation scores for a set of objects (e.g. service providers, services, goods or entities) within a community or domain, based on a collection of opinions that other entities hold about the objects". A concrete example is constituted by eBay.
[4] Perhaps one of the most famous followers of the movement is Julian Assange of Wikileaks. The term should not be confused with cyber-punk from which it jokingly derives.
[5] Tim May. Cyphernomicon, 1994. http://www.cypherpunks.to/faq/cyphernomicron/cyphernomicon.txt.
[6] Wei Dai. b-money, 1998. http://www.weidai.com/bmoney.txt.
[7] Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, 2008. http://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf.
[8] That is, each node can act as both as a server and as a client, by sending and receiving data according to the needs. Such a network is also known as peer-to-peer or P2P.
[9] Paragraph "Deflation" in: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Controlled_supply.
[10] Dorit Ron and Adi Shamir. Quantitative Analysis of the Full Bitcoin Transaction Graph. Sito web, 2012. http://eprint.iacr.org/2012/584.pdf.
[11] For a more comprehensive treatise: http://www.tripartizione.it/articoli/perishable_money_09_2013.html.
[12] For a complete discussion of the relationship between Rudolf Steiner and German anarchism: http://www.tripartizione.it/articoli/GGPreparata_Perishable_Money_in_a_Threefold_Commonwealth.pdf.
[13] The innovation of Steiner on the Gesell's schema, a theme extended and somewhat complex, will be discussed here only partially and in a manner consistent with the objective that we have set. To know more about the three kinds of money of Rudolf Steiner, consult the work of economist Geminello Alvi see: L'anima e l'economia. Mondadori, 2005; La Confederazione italiana. Marsilio, 2013; Il Capitalismo - Verso l'ideale cinese. Marsilio, 2011.
[14] Recent partial implementation of the money at maturity Steiner, see section on the Chiemgauer in http://www.tripartizione.it/articoli/perishable_money_09_2013.html.
[15] We recall here the terminology of the economist Geminello Alvi for which mercor corresponds to the Steiner purchase money, donor corresponds to the gift or old money and invor corresponds to loan or young money.


text:
Only my translations
1 Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. (Jud 1:19)
(Jud 1:19)
1 An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends and against all sound judgment starts quarrels.
1 A person who isn't friendly looks out only for themselves. They oppose all good sense by starting fights.
1 Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom.
Copyright: English Standard Version – The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved. | New International Version – Holy Bible, New International Version ® (Anglicised), NIV TM Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used with permission. All rights reserved worldwide. The "New International Version" is a trademark registered in the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc. The "NIV", "Biblica", "International Bible Society" and the Biblica Logo are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc. Used with permission. | New International Reader's Version – Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version®, NIrV® (Anglicised) Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.® Used with permission. All rights reserved worldwide. "Biblica", "International Bible Society" and the Biblica Logo are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc. Used with permission. | King James Version – Copyright © Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Further contents


If you've heard the McLaren 570S in person, you'll know that it is quite possibly the loudest modern-day McLaren, P1 included.
Even still, one YouTuber and 570S owner decided to turn things up a notch by fitting his car with a set of sports cats from Larini and, in the process, show the world how to make a real exhaust video.
Chances are you, like us, have seen dozens of low quality exhaust videos which fail to accurately capture the symphony made by aftermarket systems. This clip, though. was filmed on the stunning Angeles Crest Highway with a proper microphone, a host of cameras and a drone to perfectly show just how good this car sounds.
Yes, the 570S may have a twin-turbocharged V8 rather than a naturally-aspirated powertrain but first, even Ferrari has embraced forced induction and, second, to our ears, its soundtrack is quite appealing in this configuration.


Can you grow your family business during a leadership transition?
Logic would say that during a leadership transition, it is important to assess, stabilize the operations, marketing and strategic activities of the company before embarking on entrepreneurial expansion, which usually involves new products/services, new markets or both. But this approach is rooted in what we think of as predictive logic- planning in a linear fashion, and trying to account for all the possible contingencies. In this scenario, the family business would likely slows its growth and may even lose traction in the market. This approach may have been preferable 50 years ago before we had digital communications, global competition, and internet savvy customers.
Instead, family businesses contemplating a leadership transition, might be best served to approach this with creative entrepreneurial logic. In other words, moving forward on new products/services, new markets or both by creating and shaping opportunities. This logic would apply concepts like small experiments, business model shaping, and expanding networks. One company that is successfully applying this logic is the Catered Affair (http://www.thecateredaffair.com).
The founder, Holly Safford, has built the company to be one of the elite catering companies in the Boston area- doing weddings, private events, and charity fund raisers such as the Boston Marathon, and the ring ceremonies for winning professional sports teams. The company is recognized for its innovative approach, outstanding customer relationships, and top quality food and service. TCA also runs events and catering at the Boston Public Library. TCA is presently run by Holly and her sons, Alex and Andrew, where they have equal responsibilities. Eventually, there will be a leadership transition, but the company is continuing to expand markets, products and diversify into new venues. In other words, the succession planning over the next 5 years is not separate from the growth strategy- rather the company is maintaining its entrepreneurial strategy, and if anything, expanding. In the words of the founder, you can't just stop with leadership succession, the family must continue to be entrepreneurial.
There is no doubt that this is a challenge for many family businesses because of the traditions, policies and practices that have often been in place for decades. However, by recognizing the difference between entrepreneurial and predictive logic, and the implications of the assumptions of these, a family enterprise can start to think differently. Predictive logic presumes that there are known inputs, known outputs, identified steps, a precision approach and that you will get tested results-- this means you would start by identifying an opportunity, identifying the quantity and needed resources, create a plan and execute. On the other hand, creative logic presumes that skills and capabilities of the individuals are a starting point, that opportunities can be made or created, the process is iterative, and that there are some unknown inputs. The approach begins with self/business understanding of capabilities, relies on observation and reflection, stakeholders are included and brought along, and action and experiment leads to results that can be built on. This is not to say that predictive logic doesn't work- rather businesses need to use both depending on the situation- but in entrepreneurial growth, a creative logic is often preferred.
So yes, family businesses can grow during a leadership transition, and should consider creative rather than predictive logic when approaching this process.


Erin-Brooke Kirsh is an adorable curmudgeon living in the rainforest of Vancouver. Her writing is the result of cynicism and whimsy getting together and drinking enough to get kicked out of the bar. Her greatest accomplishment to date is that one time she painted her nails without getting nail polish everywhere.
Take a shot for every old math assignment you find.
No chase if it's from elementary school.
what is and is not important.
This is also acceptable for journal entries.
Chug your drink whenever you find remnants of past lovers.


People in learning and development are always seeking ways to help people better understand information. They are tuned in to recent trends and new and developing methodologies. And we here at AllenComm are doing the same.
Recently, there has been an industry buzz happening. You have probably already heard the word neuroscience. Some people are trying to convince L&D professionals that if they aren't basing every step of training on neuroscience, they are not using the most cutting-edge theories and techniques. We all know how fast our world changes and grows. Sometimes, we feel that if we don't grab hold of the newest information, the train will leave the station without us.
But here's the thing. Neuroscience has no real application in corporate training.
What is neuroscience? What is cognitive science?
True neuroscience is the medical study of neurons in the brain. Neurons are nerve cells built to process and transmit the electrical and chemical transitions of normal brain function. As core components of the central nervous system, neurons are mapped and studied by physicians researching such diseases as MS, Parkinson's and epilepsy.
Cognitive science studies human thought processes, such as attention and memory. It's about how we process information – about how we think.
Here is one way to look at it. Imagine your best friend tells you about a new recipe for, say, pasta sauce. Neuroscience explains the process of your brain interpreting the sound waves originating from your friend's mouth to your eardrum and then your brain for interpretation into words. That's the automatic function of our nervous system. But, as you are processing your friend's words, you wonder if shallots would be better than onions. That brain process? That's cognition. That is your brain interpreting the words, and making decisions about the marinara you will serve to your in-laws next weekend.
The neuroscience train is nowhere near ready to be put on the tracks, let alone leave the station. The problem with claiming neuroscience is an effective tool of corporate training is that claim is largely immeasurable outside a medical testing environment. And every reputable neuroscientist will tell you the same thing. Which is: We just don't know enough about our brains yet. Our brains are a wonderful, powerful mass of function and form that we have only begun to understand.
No science backs up the claim that understanding neuroscience can help improve your training. There are many theories touting the ability to harness neuroscience to improve a student's knowledge and retention.
At Allen, we know cognitive learning is proven and effective. It is the basis of our work and the secret to our success. We are all about that sauce.
Cognitive learning methods create measurable results. Neuroscience cannot do the same. It will not be a viable option for measuring effective training until scientists develop a small, portable MRI machine that can fit in your filing cabinet next to your sack lunch and old status reports.
In other words, we still have a lot to learn.


A prototype of the Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG extra-long wheelbase has been spied for the first time.
After seeing the upcoming stretched S-Class in S600 disguise, the model has now returned but in the hotter S65 AMG flavor. Set most likely to receive the Maybach nameplate, the longer S-Class will be offered with the massive V12 6.0-liter twin-turbo taken from the standard S65 AMG where it outputs 630 PS (463 kW) and 1,000 Nm (737 lb-ft).
This Maybach derivative will be approximately 200mm longer than the LWB S-Class (5246mm) and will retain the 2+2 seating arrangement. It will be followed by a Pullman variant which will be almost six meters long and will have a 2+2+2 cabin layout. It's not known at this point whether the Pullman will receive the AMG treatment as well.


Solve all remaining exercises from the String-1 section and Warmup-1 > notString. Then solve the examples from the String-2 section.
You may want to use your IDE and then copy/paste your code to the CodingBat web interface to avoid tedious syntax related fiddling.
Whenever you enter sensible information like billing details you don't want others sneaking these details. On the other hand you still want to recognize e.g. the account in question.
Advantage: Full control concerning e.g. correctness of entered value.
Disadvantage: Possibility of tapping by criminals.
* @param s The input string to be masked.
* 4 or less characters should be left untouched.
* More than 4 characters require masking.
Maven module source code available at sub directory P/Sd1/CoreClasses/StringMask below lecture notes' source code root, see hints regarding import.
Notice the presence of an alternate implementation mask2(String s) employing yet not covered arrays being based on the Arrays.fill (...) library method.
The method StringBuffer.appendCodePoint allows the conversion of integer Unicode values to the corresponding character sequence.
The above sequence is meant to form a single string which has just been arranged in lines for convenience reasons.
Write a program that computes the maximum product value of 13 adjacent digits within the above string.
final String input = "731671765 ... 94934"
The String class does contain a method to retrieve a substring starting and ending at given index positions. Read its documentation to find it.
The String class does contain a method returning the char value at a given index. Read the documentation to find it.
Be careful with respect to overflow errors.
Unfortunately this method sometimes returns weird results: The argument "5397536978179" for example returns -1594459696. This negative value is due to an arithmetic overflow: The product 5 × 3 × 9 × 7 × 5 × 3 × 6 × 9 × 7 × 8 × 1 × 7 × 9 is actually 2,700,507,600. This exceeds MAX_VALUE of 2,147,483,647 being representable by a 4 byte int variable.
The substring '5576689664895' yields the largest product value 23514624000.
Execute this code and explain the resulting output.
How do string literals relate to objects?
Read the documentation of System.identityHashCode(Object o) and Object.hashCode().
The string literal "TestA" is being instantiated only once: The Java™ compiler implementation allocates only one instance of class String per string literal.
a1 and a2 thus likely contain an identical object reference. Using the equals() method for comparison indeed returns true.
Comparing these two reference values for equality the "==" operator thus returns false.
The equals() method however still returns a value of true since both distinct objects carry an identical value.
The Java visualizer may be helpful.
Think about compile time and run time considerations.


text:
Q: send DTMF tones in ongoing call Hello I am new in android and I wanted to know that it is possible in android to send DTMF tones in ongoing call?
I want to do following in android. Is it possible ?
1) call +xx xxxxxxx
2) wait to the first tone to end
3) insert pass: xxxx
4) wait for the short high tone to end
5) press 1 till you hear specific sound.
Here tones are DTMF tones and I tried to do it with call intent but how can i enter pass in ongoing call using code?
Can anybody guide me ?
Thanks in advance !
Please help me to find out this. I want to know how it works. I search more and more in internet but i don't get perfect idea about this.
Thank you in advance.

A: try disabling the microphone (maybe via AudioManager.setMicrophoneMute) while the tone is played.

A: In VOIP only it is possible,Android applications have no access to the in-call audio stream. You can fake a it a bit in speakerphone mode.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


This unit explores school geography, focusing upon how geography is currently being taught and understood. While studying this unit you will read about the significance of geography as a subject, looking at differing views as to exactly which disciplines make up geography. The unit also includes a lesson plan and a look at definitions of geography as a medium of education.


We started our journey in 2007—as a team of two with one big idea. Today, that idea has become a movement. Our culture combines the spirit of startup with the perks of being public. As part of our team, you'll have the opportunity to grow your career, contribute your ideas to life-changing products and services, and—above all—have fun doing it.
We are looking for a talented Backend Software Engineer who is strong enough to push development beyond the limits and deliver best-in-class solutions. Being a player of a relatively small team, which is responsible for core features of our product.
We primarily use Java 8, JEE, Spring, Hibernate, Finagle/Finatra, MySQL, Cassandra, Kafka, Zookeeper, Prometheus.We are transiting all infrastructure to Google Cloud Platform and using the following: BigTable, Spanner, Google Cloud SQL, Google Cloud Storage, BigQuery.
Code the implementation and tests that meet functional and nonfunctional requirements, e.g. design patterns, logging, metrics, latency, throughput, scalability etc.


The first time I recall listening to a USS track – it was Hollow Point Sniper Hyperbole. I liked the track, but I had no idea how much I would come to love this Canadian duo and their subsequent releases – I actually had to travel to the other side of the Prairies and spend a year living in Edmonton before I realized how awesome USS truly is.
I am lucky to have lived in the two Canadian cities where USS are revered for the many talents they possess – Toronto and Edmonton. I am lucky to have been invited to the CASBY awards this year – USS headlined the event with an impressive performance and now that I have experienced the band live – I highly recommend attending a USS show.
To read my review on The Edge website please click on the link below!


I know many of you have seen posts about this pattern already, but I just had to share how much I love this bag. I bought the pattern for the Jane Market Tote just last week because I thought it would be perfect for the new Heather Bailey home dec fabrics that I fell in love with. The Market Tote is a great little pattern. I was able to put it together reasonably quick.
It's probably no surprise that I adore these fabrics, although the floral print is a bit girly for me. If I were to ever redo my blue chair though, I would choose the tile print in a heartbeat. I love it!
Everyone seems to be making bags to take to Sewing Summit. I really wanted to join the club and make a fun bag to take. Since I'm traveling approximately 30 minutes to get to Sewing Summit, I didn't exactly need the Amy Butler Weekender that so many are putting together. This bag will be a perfect addition to my purse at the conference. It has a great amount of space for handouts, a water bottle, and little extras from the conference. It's also perfectly practical since I know I will get a lot of use out this in the future.
The main change I made to the pattern was adding interfacing. I added a medium weight stabilizer to the outer lining. I added pieces of Peltex to the base of the outer lining pieces to give the bottom a nice stable base. I also added simple flat pockets to both sides of the inner lining.
I have to say that I love the tile fabric too. I loved seeing the bag yesterday too but didn't have a chance to say it. I'm also excited to be the first to leave a comment!
Cute! I always add more pockets when I make a bag.
I love this pattern from Alicia Paulson. One year, I made 19 of the bags as Christmas gifts.
Love it, Kati! :) Can't wait to see it in person!
This is so great! I've been eyeing that pattern, and agreed on the tile fabric, so pretty!
So cute! Now you're making me feel the desire to make a cute tote bag to carry to classes :) I love that new HB fabric you used, so pretty - reminds me of your City Green quilt!
That's lovely...do I need another bag? No, but will I make more? Yes!
Lovely lovely bag, and the fabric is beautiful too.
It looks fantastic and I simply love that the inside is as gorgeous as the outside!
Looks beautiful. Love this bag - seems very versatile. Maybe a great gift bag too.


text:
Viet Nam in new human avian flu alert:
Viet Nam is investigating a single human case of avian flu (H5N1) infection, the first since early September 2004, when a spate of cases raised fears of human-to-human transmission (see Clinica No 1126, p 13). "As avian influenza viruses become more active at cooler temperatures, further poultry outbreaks, possibly accompanied by sporadic human cases, can be anticipated," said the World Health Organization (WHO), in response to the "informal reports of a laboratory-confirmed case" in the southern province of Tay Ninh. The latest case, reported on December 30, brings the total number of human cases in Viet Nam in 2004 to 28, of which 20 were fatal. Reports of human cases in Thailand brought the 2004 total in Asia to 45, including 32 fatalities.
Subject: Viet Nam in new human avian flu alert:


text:
<?php
defined('BASEPATH') OR exit('No direct script access allowed');

class Medcert
{
    /**
     * Reference to CI
     *
     * @var object
     */
    private $_ci;

    /**
     * Table headers
     *
     * @var array
     */
    private $_tableheaders = array("Date Filed",
                                "Name",
                                "From",
                                "To",
                                "# of days",
                                "Status",
                                "Med Cert."
                                );

    /**
     * Class Constructor
     */
    public function __construct()
    {
        $this->_ci = get_instance();
        $this->_ci->load->model(array('employeeleavesfiled',
            'employees',
            'employeemedcert'));

        $this->_ci->load->helper(array('my_datetime_helper',
            'my_leavestatus_helper',
            'my_variable_helper'));
    }

    // --------------------------------------------------------------------

    /**
     * Retrieve list of sick leaves that may or may not require medical
     * certificates.
     *
     * @param date $datefrom
     * @param date $dateto
     * @return string
     */
    public function sick_leaves($start = NULL, $end = NULL)
    {
        // If date parameters are empty set it to the current date.
        $sdate = iif(isset($start), $start, date('Y-m-d'));
        $edate = iif(isset($end), $end, date('Y-m-d'));

        $empty[] = array('No results found.', '', '', '', '', '', '');

        $params = array('header' => $this->_tableheaders,
            'class' => array('table table-striped table-bordered dt-table'));

        $this->_ci->load->library('MY_table', $params, 'medcerts');

        $sickleaves = $this->_ci->employeeleavesfiled->medcerts($sdate, $edate);

        if (isset($sickleaves) && !empty($sickleaves))
        {
            for ($i = 0; $i < count($sickleaves); $i++)
            {
                $tabledata[] = array(convert_date($sickleaves[$i]->DateFiled, 'M d, Y'),
                                     $sickleaves[$i]->Name,
                                     convert_date($sickleaves[$i]->LeaveFrom, 'M d, Y'),
                                     convert_date($sickleaves[$i]->LeaveTo, 'M d, Y'),
                                     $sickleaves[$i]->LeaveCount,
                                     leave_status($sickleaves[$i]),
                                     $this->_check_medcert($sickleaves[$i]->WithMedCert, $sickleaves[$i]->LeaveID));
            }

            if (isset($tabledata) && !empty($tabledata))
            {
                return $this->_ci->medcerts->generate($tabledata);
            }
            else
            {
                return $this->_ci->medcerts->generate($empty);
            }
        }
        else
        {
            return $this->_ci->medcerts->generate($empty);
        }
    }

    // --------------------------------------------------------------------

    /**
     * Check if employee submitted a medical certificate.
     *
     * @param int $withmedcert
     * @param int $leaveid
     * @return string
     */
    private function _check_medcert($withmedcert, $leaveid)
    {
        $checked = FALSE;
        $checkval = "N";

        switch ($withmedcert)
            {
                case "Y" :
                    $checkval = "Y";
                    $checked = TRUE;
                    break;
                case "N" :
                    $checkval = "N";
                    break;
                default :
                    $checkval = "N";
            }

        return form_checkbox('medcert', $checkval, $checked, 'id="' . $leaveid . '" class="cert"');
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Coworking or meeting clients in the Segreen Business Park will bring you close to some outstanding global corporations. They have chosen this location because of its sustainable renovation and the lively pedestrian piazza at its centre. You can be part of this contemporary, efficient, office space and network with other successful professionals.
Choose the coworking or meeting space you need, with high quality internet connections and admin support available. You can book exactly the office space or meeting room that suits your business needs. The building is easy to find and parking is good – or come by rail and connect to the Milan underground network.