Andreas M. Antonopoulos educates Senate of Canada about Bitcoin (Oct 8, ENG) – Video

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Andreas M. Antonopoulos educates Senate of Canada about Bitcoin (Oct 8, ENG)
October 8th 2014, Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce Study on the use of digital currency, 11th session Background on the Study on the use of digital currency: In Canada,...

By: Bitcoin Embassy

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Andreas M. Antonopoulos educates Senate of Canada about Bitcoin (Oct 8, ENG) - Video

Can A "Junk Standard" Buttress Bitcoin Prices?

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Even in our world of fiat currencies, you often hear people saying that only metal or commodity-backed money count as true money. Gold standard is Paradise Lost and we, the unfortunate descendants of monetary equivalents of Adam and Eve, are punished by having to put up with fake money conjured up by fraudulent central banks. Bitcoin is not that different in the sense that it, too, is backed by nothing some may argue that it is backed by math or the ingenious design of proof of work. But as the latest price movements seem to suggest, the electricity bill doesnt translate into prices very well.

What if Bitcoin is backed by a commodity?

Lets assume there is such an institution called the Bitcoin Reserve (not to be confused with Bitreserve, which is a entirely different organization). The mission of the BR is to stabilize Bitcoin prices and the way it does it is by introducing a gold standard, for example, one bitcoin is interchangeable with one ounce of gold. When Bitcoin price falls below this predetermined parity, BR will buy bitcoins from the market at the price of one ounce of gold per bitcoin. As more people traded their bitcoins for gold, the supply of Bitcoin tightens up, sending prices soaring until it reaches the predetermined parity, then BR would start to sell its bitcoin holding, until the price drop below to the one ounce gold per coin level. The same process repeats over and over.

But this imaginary institution probably will only exist as a thought experiment. First, the cost would be forbiddingly high. Since BR is not designed to be a business, such an idea wont make any business sense. Even there is someone or a company in possession of 21 million ounce of gold wanted to do it, will this system work? One problem that may be easy to foresee is that once people are assured that each bitcoin is worth at least one ounce of gold, that information will translate into the price and almost certainly the price will stay above that level. But unlike a central bank in the real world, after BR sells all its bitcoins, it cant run the press to print more. If it still cant bring the price down to the once ounce gold per coin level after having sold all the bitcoins, there is little it can do.

A thought came to me this morning when I was cleaning my room. I have a shelf of English language books (I live in China, where owning English language books is not as common as you may assume and I took a lot of trouble to acquire some of them). Now I no longer read these books and keeping them takes some space in my small apartment I tried to donate them, but couldnt find a school or public library that would accept; I tried to sell them, but again didnt find any store would take them. Selling them on Taobao, the Chinese eBay eBay, is an option but would be too time consuming.

Lately, as Bitcoin seems to have entered a downtrend, I keep hearing people asking what, if anything, would prevent Bitcoin from dropping below 300 USD or 200 USD level.

My thought is that if gold standard is too costly and impractical, will a second-hand book standard, or for the heck of it, a junk standard do? An example is that I offer to sell my shelf of books to anyone, who would pay me two bitcoins. Because my intension is not financial gain, I see myself more like a micro central bank than a book seller. I offer to sell all the books for two bitcoins no fiat money, only Bitcoin and only two. The two bitcoins may or may not be a good value depending what you need these books for and where the price will go and I dont mind if I never be able to sell them for the price. That is not the point. The point is that by arbitrarily pricing the books for two bitcoins, I back two bitcoin with real world asset. I also pledge that I wont change the price and will keep the books for the next five years (at least) unless someone take the offer or an act of god such as fire, earthquake or nuclear attack, separates me from my books. To prove I own the books, I can do proof-of-reserve by taking a picture of my books with a timestamp such as the frontage of New York Times website of a particular day. To prove these books are not fake, I accept third party on-spot audit.

I am not conceited enough to believe my act alone would have any effect on the Bitcoin prices, what I try to do is remind people that they are not as helpless as they may think in front of the all mighty market. If there will be enough people doing what I am doing now there will be what I would call a crowd-sourced Bitcoin central bank that would give the currency some support, and the effect can be profound. Imagine you see a few blog posts just like this one in a day, the psychological effect will eventually factor into the prices, all achieved at a cost that is almost negligible to backers like me, especially when compared with buying bitcoins using your fiat savings.

What do you think a junk standard to boost the Bitcoin prices? Want to give it a try?

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Can A "Junk Standard" Buttress Bitcoin Prices?

Bitcoin expands to daily, in-store purchases

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A Bitcoin ATM sticker is posted to the window of a coffee shop in downtown Vancouver, Monday, Oct. 28, 2013. The ATM, which will be officially unveiled on Tuesday, will allow consumers to exchange Canadian cash for digital cash. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, JONATHAN HAYWARD)

JONATHAN HAYWARD, ASSOCIATED PRESS

For this Saturdays Georgia Tech home football game against Duke, fans should bring their team jersey, face paint, beer-resistant poncho and smartphone, but forget the wallet. Theres a new way to pay for concessions at Georgia Tech: bitcoin, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Bobby Dodd Stadium at Georgia Tech is only one of a growing list of places integrating the use of digital currency.

"Bitcoin is described by bitcoin.org as 'an innovative payment network and a new kind of money.' It is a peer-to-peer payment network with no middleman. Users send and receive bitcoins within the (digital) network of those honoring the system," reports a Deseret News article from April.

Companies like Dell, Dish Network, Expedia, Overstock, Amazon and, most recently, PayPal are a few big names accepting bitcoin as payment for online shopping, reports the International Business Times. PayPal-using merchants, like eBay, Uber, Airbnb and TaskRabbit, will soon also begin taking the currency.

But Bitcoin is also being used beyond cyberspace. It is entering the real world.

Some 3,000 businesses around the world accept bitcoin for payment, according to coinmap.org, says the Wall Street Journal.

"Brick-and-mortar stores including Home Depot, CVS, Kmart and Sears" accept bitcoin at their check-out stands, reports Forbes.

Local mom-and-pop stores and restaurants are upgrading to the digital currency, too. Right now, only a handful of retailers in each big city are taking bitcoins, but that number is growing. Coinmap provides an interactive worldwide map to click and zoom to find nearby bitcoin-accepting retailers and restaurants.

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Bitcoin expands to daily, in-store purchases

Nemesis, comets and global revolution: Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection – Video

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Nemesis, comets and global revolution: Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection
Wars, rumors of wars, extreme weather, socio-political chaos, and planetary upheaval... ever get the feeling that we live in #39;interesting times #39;? Jet Stream meanderings, Gulf Stream slow-downs,...

By: Niall Bradley

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Nemesis, comets and global revolution: Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection - Video

10/3 2014 Knightdale Knights 28 @ Clayton Comets 32 Varsity Football game – Video

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10/3 2014 Knightdale Knights 28 @ Clayton Comets 32 Varsity Football game
CLAYTON Rodney Rowe made a triumphant return to action for Clayton on Friday night as the Comets used a balanced offense to escape Knightdale, 32-28. The win improved the Comets to 4-2,...

By: Landen Leiser 5StarQB

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10/3 2014 Knightdale Knights 28 @ Clayton Comets 32 Varsity Football game - Video

Ireland scrapes home despite century from ACT Comets' Matt Condon

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Matt Condon scored a breakthrough century for the Comets on Thursday against Ireland. Photo: Rohan Thomson

ACT Comets youngster Matt Condon stamped himself as a star of the future, scoring a century at almost a run a ball in a one-wicket loss to Ireland on Thursday.

The 18-year-old anchored the Comets' innings with a superb knock, bringing up his ton with a six as he made 126 from just 128 balls in a competitive total of 5-305.

However, it wasn't enough to deny Ireland a second straight win in Canberra, the visitors reaching the target with 10 balls to spare in a thrilling finish at Manuka Oval.

Condon got away to a shaky start before finding his feet, the opener just clearing the fence over the fielder at deep long on to reach three figures.

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"It's ridiculous. I never thought this day would come and it's massive for me in the future," Condon said.

"I couldn't have swung any harder and I just cleared the boundary.

"I had no idea what score I was on.

"The batting powerplay was on with only three fielders out so I had to have a dip.

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Ireland scrapes home despite century from ACT Comets' Matt Condon

ACT Comets' hope bid to rejoin one-day competition will be finalised in weeks

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Nial O'Brien of Ireland plays a sweep shot against the ACT Comets. The Comets will find out if they are back in the national one-day competition at the end of October. Photo: Jay Cronan

Cricket ACT hopes to know the fate of its bid to rejoin the national one-day competition when officials meet with the Cricket Australia board at a meeting on October 30.

As revealed in Fairfax Media last month, Cricket ACT has signed a memorandum of understanding to develop pathways with Country Cricket NSW and Cricket NSW, including a united push to play in the domestic 50-over competition from 2015.

Fringe players from other states would have the chance to play for a new team based in Canberra and Cricket Australia is considering the proposal.

Cricket ACT chairman Ian McNamee will be at a board meeting at the end of the month while Cricket NSW boss Andrew Jones will be in the capital on Friday to unveil the joint pathway program.

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Canberra's first-grade captains have backed the proposal to have the Comets reincarnated under a new banner.

The capital is preparing to host a bumper summer of cricket, which includes Australia versus South Africa in six weeks, the Big Bash League final and three World Cup games at Manuka Oval.

McNamee said Cricket ACT was pushing ahead with its bid to join the one-day competition.

"We want to get it back to where it was once before, and I don't believe that aspiration is out of order," McNamee said.

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ACT Comets' hope bid to rejoin one-day competition will be finalised in weeks

Comets Fall To Massapequa 3-1

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Written by Matthew Levine, hicksville@antonnews.com Thursday, 09 October 2014 08:46

It was something senior Noelle Batista had been practicing since was very little.

She stepped up to take a free-kick from 25 yards out for the Hicksville Comets against the rival Massapequa Chiefs. The practice certainly paid off as it was a fantastic curling effort into the top corner.

Not a bad effort for someone who usually doesnt take them.

Usually Kelly Carroll, our center back takes them but Noelle has been begging me to take them, Comets head coach Rich Hinnerschietz said.

However, she just may get more opportunities in the future.

No way, Hinnerschietz joked before admitting hes going to have to.

For the Comets, unfortunately the great goal came with the team down by three goals.

Chiefs senior forward Kristen Bischoff fired into the top corner in the games fifth minute to put Massapequa in front.

While the Comets came out moving the ball well, the early goal changed the game.

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Comets Fall To Massapequa 3-1

Amgen'biosimilar Phase3 Plaque Psoriasis Study Met Primary Endpoint For Efficacy

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By RTT News, October 08, 2014, 09:23:00 AM EDT

(RTTNews.com) - Amgen ( AMGN ) announced its Phase 3 study evaluating efficacy and safety of biosimilar candidate ABP 501 compared with Humira (adalimumab) in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis met its primary endpoint.

The primary endpoint was the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) percent improvement from baseline to week 16 of treatment.

At week 16, the PASI percent improvement from baseline was within the prespecified equivalence margin for ABP 501 compared to adalimumab. Safety and immunogenicity of ABP 501 were comparable to adalimumab.

ABP 501 is being developed as a biosimilar to adalimumab, an anti-TNF- monoclonal antibody, which is approved in many countries for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, plaque psoriasis (PsO), polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

"Results from Amgen's biosimilar Phase 3 plaque psoriasis study met the primary endpoint for efficacy and showed comparable safety and immunogenicity to adalimumab, which further demonstrates the Company's commitment to provide patients with access to high-quality medicines," said Sean Harper, M.D., executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen.

Amgen said it has six biosimilar molecules in development and expects to launch the portfolio starting in 2017.

Psoriasis is a non-contagious chronic disease in which the immune system causes skin cells to grow at an accelerated rate. Instead of being shed, skin cells pile up, causing painful and itchy, red, scaly patches. Approximately 125 million people worldwide have psoriasis, and 80 percent of those patients have plaque psoriasis.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

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Amgen'biosimilar Phase3 Plaque Psoriasis Study Met Primary Endpoint For Efficacy