Blockchain Principles

I am taking this course now from Block Geeks.

If I were teaching it, I would start off by asking "What is a block?" And expect a student to take the marker pen out of my hand and draw a square with it.

I would then ask "What is in this block?" He (or She) would then write "Hash, Data, Hash," (from top to bottom, or bottom to top) with it. I would promote him to the next class, immediately.

You might want to read and listen to it anyway.

For further information:

Cryptographic hash function

Big Business and Small Business

I must have acquired a hatred of Big Business early in my life, and I probably got it from my father, who was a small businessman.

Small Business and Big Business are two different things, as plenty of people can tell you. But the two can coexist easily. If they don't, the economy is in big trouble.

In Ft. Madison, Iowa, where I grew up, the West End of the town was dominated by the Santa Fe Railroad, which was Big Business. But it was surrounded by many small businesses, such as Barber Shops (and Whorehouses).

This is also true in Software, where some very big companies (such as Google) dominate, but lots of small companies are very active. The Feds are trying to regulate this, but cannot, because they do not understand it.

I even see this in Costa Rica, where I now live. It has a public health service, with some large hospitals, that provide basic care at a low price. These are surrounded by clinics that provide advanced services,  such as Mammograms. The result is good care at affordable prices.

Prove Your Azure Skills to the World

StackSocial

Most companies are implementing or investigating how to implement cloud technologies within their operations. Now's the time to take advantage of this booming career. According to Microsoft, Azure is being used by 85% of the Fortune 500 companies while salary estimates for Azure Architects are between $130,000 and $170,000. 

This is Big Money, but Most People are not interested. I am not interested because Microsoft is not interested in me!

Google has training programs also, and I am acceptable to them.

Computer Programming for the People?

Techopedia

This movement has its critics, but it's looking to empower a new generation of computer users.

Why isn't this catching on? Because people want to be like other people, and other people do not program. And do not want to program. 

It's worse than that. Most people do not exist, and do not want to exist. I hate to bring this up, because it makes me sound like a crazy, but we have to see this also. 

There is also the inherent value that these skills can bring to the individual and his or her skill set. Coding leads to a kind of concrete achievement, and as those who have experimented with it will often testify, it provides a tangible sense of personal victory and empowerment. Learning it provides deeper and more profound understanding of the nearly infinite ways that we can use computers.

A Cybersecurity Firm's Sharp Rise and Stunning Collapse

As I sat down for breakfast in front of my computer, I read this article on the New Yorker. It was a long read.

I was far out of my depth, and I knew it. It was talking about Cybersecurity, a subject so technical I could barely understand it. I had one small comfort: no one else does either.

We should be aware of our ignorance and telling each other about it. But we prefer to pretend to know everything. But we do not tell each other about this.

How to be a Rich Country

All the rich countries had a simple answer "Be like us!" 

Not realizing this was impossible for poor countries. Becoming rich was a long process (lasting hundreds of years) involving Industrialization, and Cultural Change. 

Americans are different from Mexicans, for many reasons, including Religion. Mexicans think of themselves differently and have different social objectives. 

They do not want to be like Americans. They like American money, but not Americans. But are too polite to say so. 

Their Intellectuals, who have probably studied in America, are aware of their problems, and how difficult they are. But only a few (American or Mexican) are listening to them. 

Poor Mexico, so far from God, and so close to America!

Firebase

Wikipedia

This is a Google product. It is constantly snooping around the Web, and snapping up any good stuff it finds there. It then uses it internally and makes it available for anyone else to use.

This is what made Google the leader of the pack, of some fast-running dogs.

Compare it to Microsoft's position in Is Microsoft Being Weighed Down By the Ghosts of Its Past?

The Software industry is unusual and is helping us escape from the Industrial Revolution of our past.