Stephen Downes

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A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Consensus Algorithms, Zane Witherspoon, Hacker Noon, Feb 15, 2018
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A 'consensus algorithm' is a mechanism for verifying transactions in a distributed network. A transaction doesn't take place until everyone (or a large enough subset of everyone) agrees that it can take place (ie., it isn't contradicted by some previous transaction). But how do you get to have a say in these consensus networks? That's what the algorithms decide. The first is 'proof of work', such as solving equations to 'mine' bitcoins. Another is '... [Direct Link]


Interested in Bitcoins? Here are 10 Blogs You Need to Check Out, The Blog Herald, May 25, 2016
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Unlike Don Tapscott, I'm not going to transform myself into a blockchain expert. But some people will, and if you are one of those, here is a list of blogs that might get you started. [Direct Link]


The resolution of the Bitcoin experiment, Mike Hearn, Medium, Jan 16, 2016
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I've discussed Bitcoin and blockchains on this website before. This article is about the failure of that system, at least in the case of Bitcoin. The reasons are on the one hand technical, but on the other hand, the result of human failure. In a nutshell, the production of new Bitcoins has essentially been monopolized - At a recent conference over 95% of hashing power was controlled by a handful of guys sitting on a single stage - and these people have an incentive to prevent ... [Direct Link]


Peering Deep into Future of Educational Credentialing, Doug Belshaw, Apr 02, 2015
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Is an educational credential like a type of money? That's the core thought behind Doug Belshaws post that challenges traditional thinking on things like badges. Because, he argues, if they are like money, then they could be like something like bitcoins, generated through a cryptological algorithm called a blockchain, and hence able to be dispensed without being duplicated. "If we used the blockchain for Open Badges," he writes, "then we could prove beyond reasonable doubt that the person ... [Direct Link]


The Bitcoins of Learning?, Jul 22, 2014

There isn't time (nor bandwidth in what has become terrible airport lounge wifi over the years) but I think that the concept of a bitcoin for learning is a really bad idea. I get the concept - students are looking for more than just grades; they want a learning 'currency' they can take with them to the workplace. And "currency, ideally, must travel, quickly and simply, and as widely as possible. It's a reductionist, simplistic mode of social interaction." But a substantial ... [Direct Link]


Bitcoin: How the Internet Created Its Own Currency, Christina Warren, Mashable, Nov 06, 2012

The story of Bitcoin is an interesting one, even if (as I believe) the artificial currency is unlikely to live a long life. In one of Mashable's better articles, Bitcoin is described from both a technical and historical perspective. "Coins are generated using a process called mining. Think of mining as a lottery. Computers connected to the network (known as miners) aim to find the solution to a certain mathematical problem. If they successfully solve the problem, a new block is created. ... [Direct Link]


Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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