Category: Technology

Your kids are watching Streampunks while YouTube watches everyone.

November 8, 2017

“Streampunks: Youtube and the Rebels Remaking Media” covers the rise of a new class of media stars: Youtubers. Robert Kyncl, YouTube’s cheif business officer, authored the book with the help of Maany Peyvan, Google’s lead writer. It’s an authoritative, fascinating, well-written and entertaining book. If you’re over 30 and you’ve blinked, then you may have missed the media revolution that YouTube sparked and is continuing to lead. But since current Google employees wrote the book, it’s not surprising that it sometimes seems like an infomercial that occasionally acknowledges some of YouTube’s less desirable impacts. If you work in the media business, then read this book. … More Your kids are watching Streampunks while YouTube watches everyone.

I’m an “Entreprenuer In Residence” at the UMass College of Information and Computer Sciences

November 8, 2017

The University of Massachusetts College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS) has doubled its undergraduate enrollment in the past five years. The grad school grew that fast in just two years. It now boast 210 active Ph.D. students out of a total enrollment of over 1,600. Two major sponsors have recently pledged an additional $12 million in funding for the school. That money will fuel continued growth. The latest initiative at the CICS is its Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) program, which the school asked me to help create. … More I’m an “Entreprenuer In Residence” at the UMass College of Information and Computer Sciences

Read “Introducing Ethereum and Solidity” to get your feet wet with smart contracts.

October 5, 2017

“Introducing Ethereum and Solidity: Foundations of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Programming for Beginners” is a light introduction to Ethereum and its built-in scripting language, Solidity. At 179 pages, this book is not a comprehensive tutorial about building decentralized apps (also called DAPPS). The book does, however, provide a very brief overview of developing and deploying smart contracts on Ethereum. … More Read “Introducing Ethereum and Solidity” to get your feet wet with smart contracts.

Ethereum: What a gas! – Come to our presentation on May 10th.

April 14, 2017

If you’ll be anywhere near Northampton, Mass. on May 10th, 2017, then make sure you swing by the World War II Club (50 Conz Street) at 6 pm. My Meetup.com group, Western Massachusetts All Things Blockchain, will be giving a presentation on Ethereum, which is a leading open source blockchain-based software project. Among other topics, … More Ethereum: What a gas! – Come to our presentation on May 10th.

Presentation: Intro to Blockchain – And, by the way, what the heck is proof of work?

April 11, 2017

I gave a blockchain presentation to my meetup group, Western Massachusetts All Things Blockchain. It’s embedded in this post. You can also see it on Slideshare. Please feel free to download the following files: Php sample code that demonstrates POW concepts; Microsoft PowerPoint XML Presentation If you use any of my material, please give me an attribution. Thanks for having a look. … More Presentation: Intro to Blockchain – And, by the way, what the heck is proof of work?

Utopia, Dystopia, or Both? The Master Algorithm is Coming.

April 8, 2017

“The Master Algorithm” gives readers an overview of the current state of machine learning, The book’s hypothesis is that there can be one general purpose algorithm that’s able to learn anything. The book reviews the philosophies, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the “five tribes” of machine learning, and in the process, readers learn the history of artificial intelligence (AI). The Master Algorithm concludes with some thoughts about a future when computers surpass the capabilities of the human brain for tasks that previously required conscious beings. Will learners solve all of our problems and bring about technological singularity, or will our future learning machines become our overlords in a Skynet-like dystopia? … More Utopia, Dystopia, or Both? The Master Algorithm is Coming.

“The Internet of Money” Will Take You On a Tour of Important Bitcoin Topics

January 19, 2017

Andreas Antonopoulos is a heck of a smart cookie, a great speaker, and one of the world’s leading bitcoin experts. The eleven chapters that make up his book, The Internet of Money, are the transcripts of selected presentations Andreas gave over the past few years. The publisher edited the transcripts to improve readability and to correct inadvertent errors. … More “The Internet of Money” Will Take You On a Tour of Important Bitcoin Topics

“Digital Gold” Tells the Story of Bitcoin from Outlaws and Anarchists to Wall Street and Winklevoss

December 10, 2016

Digital Gold tells the story of Bitcoin from Satoshi Nakamoto’s 9-page 2008 white paper through 2015. It’s fun to read. The characters in this true story are the ideologues, outlaws, millionaires, entrepreneurs, power brokers, geeks and a few oddballs who made Bitcoin the first viable, global and digital currency. Nathaniel Popper, a New York Times columnist, wrote Digital Gold. It was difficult for me to put the book down. … More “Digital Gold” Tells the Story of Bitcoin from Outlaws and Anarchists to Wall Street and Winklevoss

“Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies” Will Teach You how Bitcoin Works

December 7, 2016

If you want to learn how Bitcoin works on a technical level, then read Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies. If you’re a nerd, you’ll love it. Princeton University hosts the book’s web page, which provides links to video lectures for each chapter. From that web page, you can also download Java programming assignments and a free pre-publication version of the book. Coursera has an online course (currently free) that’s based on the book. … More “Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies” Will Teach You how Bitcoin Works

There’s Big Money in Big Data

November 1, 2016

The term “big data” has come to represent the technologies, software tools, methodologies, and even the organization structures, that are designed to manage and analyze the new massive and complex data sets that businesses are creating. Proponents argue that companies that master the challenges of big data will crush their competitors that don’t. This post reviews a book, entitled “From Big Data to Big Profits.” … More There’s Big Money in Big Data