Bitcoin

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The Current State of Blockchain and Where it's Going

In an earlier post, Blockchain evolution: A quick guide and why open source is at the heart of it, I discussed the first generations of blockchains: the public Bitcoin and cryptocurrency blockchains, followed by the Ethereum blockchain capable of executing programs ("smart contracts"), leading to permissioned versions of code-executing blockchains (e.g., Hyperledger Fabric, Quorum). Let's step back into the blockchain jungle and take a look at the current state of the ecosystem and the projects trying to solve some of the limitations of blockchain technology: speed and throughput, cross-blockchain information and value exchange, governance, and identity and account management.

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The Evolution of Blockchain - A Quick Guide and Why Open Source is at the Heart of It

It isn't uncommon, when working on a new version of an open source project, to suffix it with "-ng", for "next generation." Fortunately, in their rapid evolution blockchains have so far avoided this naming pitfall. But in this evolutionary open source ecosystem, changes have been abundant, and good ideas have been picked up, remixed, and evolved between many different projects in a typical open source fashion. In this article, I will look at the different generations of blockchains and what ideas have emerged to address the problems the ecosystem has encountered. Of course, any attempt at classifying an ecosystem will have limits—and objectors—but it should provide a rough guide to the jungle of blockchain projects.

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The Promise Of A New Internet

Adrienne Lafrance | The Atlantic | June 10, 2014

People tend to talk about the Internet the way they talk about democracy—optimistically, and in terms that describe how it ought to be rather than how it actually is...For years, Internet advocates have been asking what regulatory measures might help save the open, innovation-friendly Internet...

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ThoughtWorks Sells Out Third Annual XConf Manchester

Press Release | ThoughWorks, XConf | July 25, 2016

ThoughtWorks, the leading global, digital transformation consultancy, sold out its third annual tech conference, XConf, in Manchester on Thursday 14th July - another sign that Manchester's tech community continues to thrive and grow. From building a LEGO set to demonstrate software development, to illustrating the history of blockchain as a spotlight on the future, the one-day conference addressed the hottest trends and topics in technology right now...

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WordPress Lets Bloggers Pay With Bitcoin, Citing Open Access

Brian Browdie and Marc Hochstein | American Banker | November 15, 2012

The world's most popular web publishing platform has begun accepting Bitcoin, an international digital currency and payment system with no central issuing authority. Read More »

Would Jonas Salk Join The Open-Source Movement?

Jess Bolluyt | Tech CheatSheet | October 28, 2014

...While Salk’s lasting impression on medicine and its place in society is obvious, his philosophy on the patent-free development of the polio vaccine — and its applicability to the increasing influence of technology on biological and biomedical research — is also an important part of what he left behind...

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Your Money or Your PHI: HHS Issues New Guidance on Ransomware

Jocelyn Samuels | HHS Blog | July 11, 2016

To help health care entities better understand and respond to the threat of ransomware, the HHS Office for Civil Rights has released new HIPAA guidance. One of the biggest current threats to health information privacy is the serious compromise of the integrity and availability of data caused by malicious cyber-attacks on electronic health information systems, such as through ransomware. The FBI has reported an increase in ransomware attacks and media have reported a number of ransomware attacks on hospitals...

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