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Tesla Launches A $1,500 Surfboard, Sells out Almost Immediately

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Danzig

The latest clean transportation offering from Elon Musk is the Tesla surfboard, a $1,500 limited edition short board that sold out almost immediately.

TUBULAR TESLA. If you’re looking at which forms of transportation are the cleanest, the surfboard is hard to beat. It produces no emissions — the only fuel needed to get from Point A to Point B~~reak~~ is a gnarly wave. Sure, it might not be ideal for your morning commute if it happens to involve inland roads or electronics. But that isn’t stopping Tesla from adding surfboards to its clean transportation offerings.

On July 28, Tesla added the Limited Edition Tesla Surfboard to its online shop. According to the product page, the Tesla surfboard features the same paint finishes as Tesla’s vehicles and will fit in the company’s Model S, Model X, and Model 3 vehicles.

VERY LIMITED EDITION. Tesla produced just 200 of the $1,500 boards, and they sold out almost immediately. eBay is now your only hope for snagging a Tesla surfboard — that is, if you’re willing to shell out upwards of $5,000 for a single board.

What sets the board apart from those you’d find in a beachside surf shop, you may ask? It’s hard to say. The board is the result of a collaboration with two expert board creators, Lost Surfboards and Matt “Mayhem” Biolos, so it’s likely pretty high quality, but according to TechCrunch, most of Lost’s boards cost between $700 and $800. That Tesla logo comes with quite the markup.

DIVING INTO A NEW MARKET. No one knows for sure why Tesla decided to add a surfboard to its list of online wares. Tesla declined to go on record about whether or not the motivations had anything to do with the company’s recent financial struggles (it recently reached out to suppliers to ask for refunds on past contracts).

Tesla plans to start shipping the boards in two to 10 weeks (assuming no production delays), so surf enthusiasts should be able to hit the waves with their exclusive Tesla surfboards before the end of the season — assuming they decide to keep the boards and not attempt to make a tidy profit off them in the resale market.

READ MORE: Tesla Launches a New Product: A Surfboard [Electrek]

More on Tesla’s finances: Tesla Is Reportedly Asking Suppliers to Refund Payments to Have More Cash on Hand

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Tesla Launches A $1,500 Surfboard, Sells out Almost Immediately

Geckos Can Regenerate Parts of Their Brain, Which Could Help Us Heal Our Own

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Danzig

Researchers discover that leopard geckos can regenerate parts of their brain, potentially opening up a new area of research in treating the human brain.

LIZARD BRAINS. We knew that they can regenerate their tails (and spinal cords). But it turns out that geckos can regenerate parts of their brain, too, according to researchers from the University of Guelph. That’s cool for geckos, but it could be cool for us, too; it could signal a new area of research for the treatment of human brain injuries and degeneration. The researchers published their study last month in the journal Scientific Reports.

Because geckos can regenerate various parts of their bodies, the researchers suspected there might be something interesting going on in gecko brains, too. So they injected leopard geckos with a chemical label they could then detect within the DNA of any newly formed cells. This allowed them to see new cells as they turned up in the geckos’ brains.

They found many more of them than they anticipated. The researchers were also able to identify a type of stem cell that regularly turned into brain cells in the animals’ medial cortex, a part of the brain that serves the same function as the hippocampus in humans. This is the first time scientists knew that stem cells were involved in the formation of new neurons in the leopard gecko’s brain.

LIZARDS = PEOPLE? Lizards are more closely related to humans than amphibians or fish, which are the subjects of most regeneration research, lead researcher Rebecca McDonald said in a news release. So the discovery that geckos can regenerate parts of their brain could change the way we study the human brain, perhaps more profoundly than previous regeneration studies.

“The findings indicate that gecko brains are constantly renewing brain cells, something that humans are notoriously bad at doing,” said Matthew Vickaryous, McDonald’s co-author on the study, in the news release. “The next step in this area of research is to determine why some species, like geckos, can replace brain cells while other species, like humans, cannot.”

LIZARDS ? PEOPLE. Even if we figure out why humans can’t regenerate brain cells the way geckos do, though, it doesn’t mean we’ll know how to change our biology to more closely mimic theirs. Still, given the remarkable complexity of the human brain, any new understanding of its inner workings is a step toward better treatments for injuries, diseases, and degeneration.

READ MORE: U of G Study Is First to Find Evidence That Leopard Geckos Can Make New Brain Cells [University of Guelph]

More on regeneration: An Organism That Regenerates Could Allow Us to Heal Humans

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Geckos Can Regenerate Parts of Their Brain, Which Could Help Us Heal Our Own

For TSA’s “Quiet Skies” Program, Air Marshals Followed Travelers’ Every Move

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Danzig

The TSA's Quiet Skies program instructs teams of armed air marshals to track U.S. citizens through airports and aboard domestic flights.

QUIET SKIES. Hop aboard a domestic flight in the last few months? You might be one of the thousands of American citizens monitored by armed, undercover air marshals through the U.S. Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Quiet Skies program.

The TSA launched Quiet Skies in March, but the public is just hearing about it now thanks to a July 29 report by The Boston Globe, which obtained TSA bulletins on the program and talked to air marshals involved in it.

CHOOSING A TARGET. According to The Globe’s report, the TSA screens every American traveling within the nation for potential inclusion in Quiet Skies, but even air marshals interviewed anonymously by The Globe aren’t sure why it decides to include some people and not others.

The one concrete criterion seems to be that they “are not under investigation by any agency and are not in the Terrorist Screening Data Base,” according to a TSA bulletin from March. Additionally, targets may have the same travel patterns as known terrorist suspects or be “possibly affiliated” with someone on a watch list, according to a May bulletin.

UNDER HIS EYE. Once the TSA identifies a Quiet Skies target, a team of air marshals has the task of monitoring that person’s every move.

This group follows the target through the airport and then travels on their flight with them, noting everything from how many times they used the restroom to whether or not they had “a cold, penetrating stare.”

Air marshals told The Globe it’s a costly and time-consuming process that prevents them from doing “more vital law enforcement work.”

IF IT LOOKS LIKE SURVEILLANCE… The TSA neither confirmed nor denied the existence of Quiet Skies to The Globe, but later provided statements on it to other publications. TSA spokesperson James O. Gregory told The Washington Post a bit more about why Quiet Skies was created in the first place: as “an additional line of defense to aviation security.” He also denied that the program qualified as “surveillance” since the TSA wasn’t listening to targets’ calls or trailing them outside of the airports.

Based on the legal definition of “surveillance,” Quiet Skies sure does seem to qualify. But however the TSA wants to classify the program, it raises new concerns about the U.S. government’s monitoring of the average citizen. If teams of armed air marshals could be jotting down whether or not we declined a bag of peanuts on our last flight, what else might classified government records be noting down about us?

READ MORE: Welcome to the Quiet Skies [The Boston Globe]

More on government surveillance: Employees, ACLU Demand Amazon Stop Facilitating Government Surveillance

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For TSA’s “Quiet Skies” Program, Air Marshals Followed Travelers’ Every Move

Going Dark: How to Hide Your Social Media Presence for Good

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Danzig

The internet is filled with your embarrassing pictures from high school or that one office party. Here’s how you can hide posts you don’t want haunting you.

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Going Dark: How to Hide Your Social Media Presence for Good

Google Glass Is Back, And May Have Finally Found A Place It Belongs

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Danzig

Google unveiled the Enterprise Edition of Google Glass. Instead of unleashing it on the public, they think it will help factory workers.

“IT’S BAAACK.” Jennifer Bennett, a technical director for Google Cloud, announced that Google Glass would be returning. But instead of being a goofy headset that your everyday person can use to covertly record everyday life, it’s geared towards industrial applications. The factory floor is really where people could use some hands-free assistance, and might not mind being goofy while doing it, according to WIRED.

OKAY, GOOGLE. If you’re among those who breathed a sigh of relief when Google decided to stop selling its glasses a few years back, I have good and bad news. Google Glass resurfaced last summer as the newly-retooled “Enterprise Edition.” If you’re wondering why you don’t have one yet, it’s probably because Google has been marketing these gadgets to businesses, not individual people. And, also, unless you work in a factory, you’re probably no longer its ideal clientele.

The new Google Glass Enterprise Edition includes an app by Israeli software company Plataine that basically embeds a smart assistant into each headset. That means the AI system can understand and respond to voice commands either by displaying information on the glasses or responding out loud.

Google suspects this can help workers manage their workload, scan barcodes and prepare for projects, and look up recommendations without needing to drag a laptop around with them.

THE HAWTHORNE EFFECT. You may recall that gross feeling when you walked by a person wearing Google Glass, that feeling of wondering whether they had just filmed you or subjected you to some sort of facial recognition tech. Well, that element is still there in the Enterprise edition: the WIRED article mentioned that bosses might monitor their employees through their hip new spectacles. While this may boost productivity, it will almost certainly lower morale as employees wonder whether or not their boss is spying on them at any given moment. It’s almost like Google couldn’t resist adding a teensy pinch of technological dystopia to its product.

Read more: Google Glass Is Back — Now With Artificial Intelligence [WIRED]

More about Google Glass: Google Glass Is Back, and It’s No Longer Meant for Everyone

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Google Glass Is Back, And May Have Finally Found A Place It Belongs

This Week in Tech: July 21 – July 27, 2018

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Danzig

The post This Week in Tech: July 21 – July 27, 2018 appeared first on Futurism.

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This Week in Tech: July 21 – July 27, 2018

Cryptomining Malware Is Infecting Corporate Networks Worldwide

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Danzig

CORPORATE HIJACKING. Security firm Kaspersky Lab just exposed an international cryptocurrency mining ring that is using malware software called PowerGhost to spread across vast corporate networks. The malware is infecting anything from workstations to entire server farms, using corporate hardware to dedicate a portion of the computer’s power to mine a yet-unknown cryptocurrency.

Once a computer is infected, a script downloads the mining tool, which uses the hardware’s processing power to solve complex computational problems. The small amounts of cryptocurrency it mines gets sent back to the attacker’s wallet; the virus, meanwhile, launches a copy of itself to infect other computers connected to the same network.

RANSOM NO MORE. Previous analyses by Kaspersky Lab and security firm Skybox suggested that it is more profitable for cybercriminals — you know, the tinted sunglasses, hoodie-wearing type — to install cryptocurrency mining malware, rather than holding data hostage using ransomware. Browser-based cryptojacking attacks rose 80 percent in 2017, they found.

The difference between these two approaches is fairly simple: mining malware uses processing power of targeted machines — anything from workstations, servers, to even point-of-sales terminals, and people’s smartphones — to mine for obscure cryptocurrencies; ransomware simply locks people out of being able to access their data, threatening to bear their data for all to see. Unless of course, they pay a ransom. That’s how last year’s worldwide ransomware attack WannaCry worked.

WORLD DOMINATION. PowerGhost is even harder to notice than other crypto-mining malware. According to Kaspersky Lab, the malware doesn’t even need to use any files at all, making itself even more invisible to anti-malware and -virus software. Rather than moving files onto the targeted machine to start running mining software, PowerGhost runs a script from memory right away, and bam, it starts mining.

This malware used corporate networks to spread across the entire globe as Kaspersky Lab’s handy map shows:

The intent is simple: the more infected computers, the more processing power available to mine more cryptocurrency. The more crypto, the bigger the reward. And as it turns out, targeting corporate networks is an extremely effective way to do just that.

Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to fend off “cryptojacking” malware. Malware communicates with servers in a way very similar to conventional, unsuspicious network communication. And on a big corporate scale, a lot of data could end up hiding the mining software quite well.

If your computer in infected with PowerGhost, installing software updates and patches to avoid being vulnerable to exploits will fix it. But this is surely not the last cryptomining malware we’ll see.

“The miner we examined indicates that targeting consumers is not enough for cybercriminals anymore – threat actors are now turning their attention to enterprises too. Cryptocurrency mining is set to become a huge threat to the business community,” principal security researcher David Emm tells ZDNet.

Translation: cryptomining malware has the potential to turn into a huge headache for everyone.

More about cryptomining: Crypto Mining for Charity: Your Processing Power Could Save the World

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Cryptomining Malware Is Infecting Corporate Networks Worldwide

The Horror Of Penile Psoriasis (And What To Do About It!)

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Danzig

The horror of penile psoriasis is hard to describe to those that dont have it. Imagine your sexy, noodly appendage looking like its just been pulled through a paper shredder. Even if youre into S&M and like your sausage being butchered, its not a fun look, let me tell you!

Now imagine slicing this with a butchers knife.

Thankfully so far, knock on wood I havent had problems with P on the peepee.

Penile psoriasis, like psoriasis in general, can appear anywhere on your love vegetable from the base of the shaft all the way to the top of the glans. Even if youre circumcised or uncircumcised, it can get you. However, unlike the common plaque psoriasis, the skin looks smooth NOT rough and dry.

If you want to see what a sex machine looks like covered by psoriasis, scroll on down! If not, run away and hide in a cupboard.

It looks like a sunburnt willy, but its not! (Courtesy of http://www.edoctoronline.com/)

No, thats not an exotic variety of Spanish tomato. (Courtesy of http://www.dermaamin.com/)

The good thing about penile psoriasis is that there are many ways of relieving the physical discomfort (and no, not by massaging it with gallons of vaseline). While it may look like a desiccated salami, it can still feel great. You just have to treat it right, baby!

The more you touch it, the worse it gets. If you see psoriasis appearing, its best to go easy on the sex/masturbation, because any action will just mean further aggravating the skin and making it sore. For me, 2 to 3 days is enough for it to be back to normal.

Wear 100% cotton underwear and loose trousers. Now, you dont have to go the way of MC Hammer and get yourself parachute pants, but hipster, penis-rubbing, skin-tight jeans are a bad choice. So is tight underwear, latex, spandex and other ridiculously groin suffocating garb. Cotton allows the skin to breathe properly and absorb extra moisture, which means that any penile psoriasis wont be further aggravated by the type of clothes you wear. I stick to boxers, but Im sure Y-fronts or whatever else is fine if its cotton.

The third words of wisdom are to use moisturizer! Moisturizing the dry areas in the morning can make the daytime more tolerable; but you will have to experiment with what brands to use to get something non-greasy (John, is that a mayonnaise stain on your pants again?). For me personally, a bit of vaseline works well after the shower, but other hypoallergenic creams are just as good.

While the groin and penile area is very sensitive, and therefore can be quite difficult to treat in cases of severe penile psoriasis, it also means that it responds super quickly to creams.

The first line of attack is usually a topical treatment using a cream such as hydrocortisone. Hydrocortisone in particular is one of the weakest steroid creams you can get, and it works well in the groin area.

One word of warning since the skin is so thin, it can increase the bodys absorption of the cream to 30%. This can lead to a thinning of the skin and even discolouration. However, in my experience, if you use it SENSIBLY, it works well, even in the long-term.

For me, all it takes is 2 to 4 applications over a couple of days to stop the psoriasis before it sexually abuses my love wand. Just take a pea-sized amount and rub it in a little goes a long way down there (no pun intended!) and youll be back in business in no time.

The second treatment option is phototherapy using UVB light. It can take from 20 to 60 sessions for this to have an affect, and it also has side effects, such as leading to testicular cancer, which is why Ive never tried it. I recommend that you stick to the creams for quick relief (before exploring longer-term treatments, such as diet changes.)

Update:I just discovered this little gem and had to share it with you.

One of my onlinebuddies who getspsoriasis on the silly willy told me that he usescondoms to ease the irritation, and I have to say,his method isingenious!

If youve everheard of occlusion, this works the same way. What you do is moisturise your penis really well, then get a condom and squeeze a bit more ointment in there. Now put it over your flaccid penis and go about your day.

Youll forget that its ever there in about five minutes, and at the end of your day, your penis will start to feel human. The trick is getting the condom to stay put and not slip off. Just experiment with sizes!

Related flaky goodness

Tags: penis, psoriasis

redblob I'm just an average 28 year old living with psoriasis. Over the last decade, I've tried everything, from real snake poison to rubbing banana peels over my body. I've finally found an approach that's working for me, and I'm sharing it with all the flakers out there. But Psoriasis Blob is not about one man, it's a growing community of great, red people.

Is Eugenics Happening Today? – Genetics Generation

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Danzig

Is Eugenics Happening Today?

As research continues to uncover new disease-causing mutations, it becomes increasingly possible to stop the transmission of certain heritable diseases. In the long term, this may lead to complete eradication of diseases like Down Syndrome, cystic fibrosis, and hemophilia. However, some wonder if modern day attempts to eradicate hereditary disorders equate to eugenics.

One complication of genetic testing for the purpose of disease eradication is that, in practice, a particular ethnic group will likely be involved due to shared ancestry. For instance, Tay-Sachs disease is significantly more common in certain Jewish communities. Tay-Sachs is a genetic disease that causes a deterioration of mental and physical abilities and results in death by age four. Eradicating Tay-Sachs will require screening all individuals in the affected population. However, a public campaign to test all individuals of Jewish descent for Tay-Sachs carrier status may for some recall the racist motivations of eugenicists in the early 20th century, particularly those associated with Nazi Germany. Also, racial stereotypes or biases may be reinforced if genetic testing performed on individuals of an ethnic group reveals a predisposition to a particular disease or condition.

Using modern genetic technology, prospective parents can be prescreened to determine their carrier status for certain diseases. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis following in vitro fertilization allows parents to select embryos that are free of disease. Additionally, prenatal genetic testing can provide a lot of information to parents about their unborn child. These technologies make more informed decision-making possible, but some are concerned about a shift in the way we view family and parenting. Parents who want to have a child without pursuing genetic testing may feel guilty if the child is born with any health problems. Additionally, some are concerned about what an overemphasis on eliminating disabilities in unborn children will mean for people who already have the disability.

The most significant difference between modern genetic technologies, that some view as eugenic, and the historical use of eugenics is consent. Today, individuals pursue genetic testing by choice. An individual can never be forced into testing or be required to take action, such as sterilization, based on the results of a genetic test. Individuals differ in their views on genetic testing in relation to reproductive decision-making and possible eugenic motivations, but at least today parents have the choice to use the technology or not.

CLICK HERE for an introduction to eugenicsCLICK HERE to view a case study that asks if certain prenatal procedures can be considered eugenic

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Is Eugenics Happening Today? - Genetics Generation

Nanotechnology : Dallas County Community College District

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Danzig

Nanotechnology and nanoscience refer to the behavior and properties of materials at the nanoscale: about 1,000 times smaller than is visible to the human eye. The technology allows for the fabrication of devices with molecular dimensions, as well as producing entirely new properties that emerge at that size. To get an idea of the scale:

Applications can be found in areas as diverse as semiconductors, electronics, medicine, robotics, energy production and other fields. Learn more about nanotechnology:

Nanotechnology has been identified by the U.S. Department of Labor as one of the countrys top three emerging technologies over the next decade. Still in its relative infancy, it has the potential to revolutionize science.

The ability to earn a degree in nanotechnology is relatively new, with Richland College offering one of the few associate degrees in the area. Several Texas universities and colleges offer bachelors, masters or doctoral degrees with an emphasis in nanotechnology.

If you are already in or considering a career path in a science- or manufacturing-related field including chemistry, biology, physics, medicine, engineering, electronics, telecommunications or semiconductor manufacturing you should look at nanotechnology.

There is no one job described as a nanotechnician, but a number of career fields incorporate nanotechnology into their research, development, manufacturing and production processes, including:

Its the wide range of potential products and applications that gives nanotechnology its enormous job-growth prospects. According to a study by market researcher Global Information Inc., the annual worldwide market for products incorporating nanotechnology is expected to reach $3.3 trillion by 2018.

Though many career paths incorporate nanotechnology, engineering positions in particular are projected for high growth. Workforce Solutions of Greater Dallas estimates that more than 30,000 engineering positions including electronic, environmental, mechanical, civil and petroleum engineers will be available locally this year. CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, estimates 20 to 42 percent growth in all engineering fields (high growth is considered to be more than 10 percent annually) through 2024 in Texas.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the fastest-growing engineering specialty will be biomedical engineering. Jobs in this field, which centers on developing and testing health-care innovations such as artificial organs or imaging systems, are expected to grow by an astounding 72 percent.

See more about careers in Nanotechnology.

Richland College

Richland College is the only college of DCCCD to offer a program in Nanotechnology. See more about theassociate degree in Nanotechnology.

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Nanotechnology : Dallas County Community College District

Molecular Cloning

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Danzig

Molecular Cloninghas served as the foundation of technical expertise in labs worldwide for 30 years. No other manual has been so popular, or so influential. Molecular Cloning, Fourth Edition, by the celebrated founding author Joe Sambrook and new co-author, the distinguished HHMI investigator Michael Green, preserves thehighly praised detail and clarity of previous editions and includes specific chapters and protocols commissioned for the book from expert practitioners at Yale, U Mass, Rockefeller University, Texas Tech, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Washington University, and other leading institutions. The theoretical and historical underpinnings of techniques are prominent features of the presentation throughout, information that does much to help trouble-shoot experimental problems.

For the fourth edition of this classic work, the content has been entirely recast to include nucleic-acid based methods selected as the most widely used and valuable in molecular and cellular biology laboratories.

Corechapters from the third edition have been revised to feature current strategies and approaches to the preparation and cloning of nucleic acids, gene transfer, and expression analysis. They are augmented by 12 new chapters which show how DNA, RNA, and proteins should be prepared, evaluated, and manipulated, and how data generation and analysis can be handled.

The new content includes methods for studying interactions between cellular components, such as microarrays, next-generation sequencing technologies, RNA interference, and epigenetic analysis using DNA methylation techniques and chromatin immunoprecipitation. To make sense of the wealth of data produced by these techniques, a bioinformatics chapter describes the use of analytical tools for comparing sequences of genes and proteins and identifying common expression patterns among sets of genes.

Building on thirty years of trust, reliability, and authority, the fourth edition of Molecular Cloning is the new gold standardthe one indispensable molecular biology laboratory manual and reference source.

Highlights of the new edition:

Praise for the previous edition:

Any basic research laboratory using molecular biology techniques will benefit from having a copy on hand of the newly published Third Edition of Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual...the first two editions of this book have been staples of molecular biology with a proven reputation for accuracy and thoroughness. The Scientist

In every kitchen there is at least one indispensable cookbook...Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual fills the same niche in the laboratory (with) information to help both the inexperienced and the advanced user. (It) has once again established its primacy as the molecular laboratory manual and is likely to be found on lab benches...around the world. Trends in Neurosciences

Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual has always been the laboratory mainstay for protocols and techniques. It has a pure-bred ancestry, and the new edition does not disappoint. (It) includes information panels at the end of each chapter that describe the principles behind the protocols.... The addition of this information extends Molecular Cloning from an essential laboratory resource into a new realm, one merging the previous prototype with a modern molecular monograph...the next generation of Molecular Cloning not only carries on the proud heritage of the first two editions but also admirably expands on that tradition to provide a truly essential laboratory manual. Trends in Microbiology

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Molecular Cloning

The 7 Stages of Financial Independence | Radical Personal …

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Danzig

You cant go from broke to rich in a single step. Theres no magic fairy who will suddenly transform your financial life for you. You have to do it yourself.

But you can work your way through a path that leads to financial independence and complete abundance. That path has stages and you should celebrate your progress at every stage!

We all begin from a place of dependence on others. You may be a young adult transitioning from under your parents care to being self-supporting. Or you may have hit a rough patch in life as an adult and needed the help and aid of others.

Regardless where youre starting from, the first step is to transition from being dependent on others to being self-supporting and financially solvent.

The first stage of financial independence is to become financially solvent. This means that you are able to support yourself on your own income without the aid of others and that you are current on all of your bills.

There are many strategies that you can employ depending on your starting point. You may need to create an income for the very first time in your life. You may need to transition from an unreliable or low income to a bigger and better income. Or you may need some ideas to renegotiate your debts with your creditors.

It doesnt matter why youre behind. It only matters that you get your income to a point where its equal to or greater than your expenses.

Once youre current on your bills, you need to build a buffer account. Call it what you willemergency fund, rainy day fund, cash reserves, buffer accountthe purpose is the same.

Unexpected problems happen. Unexpected opportunities present themselves. Youll need money. If you dont have any money saved, youll fall behind on your bills and wind up in debt. Or you wont be able to take advantage of a perfect opportunity because you didnt have the cash.

First you figure out how much you need in the buffer account. Then you save it. Then you declare yourself financially stable.

If you have debt, youll probably want to get rid of it. Not all debt is created equal. But youll need to sit down and look at your debts and make a plan to dump the debt thats not getting you closer to financial independence.

That definitely means getting rid of any high-interest rate debt. It certainly means clearing your name from any old, unpaid debts. It probably means dumping any consumer debt tied to depreciating assets. And it likely means having a plan to clear the debt on any productive business or investment assets.

Being debt free means you can enjoy greater freedom and independence in your life. And thats the whole point, isnt it?

Your long-term goal is to de-couple the expenses associated with your lifestyle from your need to work to pay for them. That happens when the income from your investments is sufficient to pay for them.

This happens in stagessmall at first and larger later. The first stage is to have your basic living expenses covered by your investment income.

That means your housing expenses, utilities, food, transportation, and insurance. When these basic needs of life are covered by your investment income youve attained a high degree of financial security.

When your current lifestyle expenses can be met with your investment income, youve reached the point of financial independence! Congratulations!

You can choose to disconnect yourself from work if you want to. But of course you might choose not to.

The key at this stage is simply to know that its up to you!

Its possible that you have some lifestyle goals which are beyond the lifestyle youre currently living.

This might be things you desire to buy, experiences you desire to have, or philanthropic goals you wish to meet.

If so, the important thing is to clarify these goals and fund them with your investment income. At that point in time, youre truly financially free in every sense of the word.

When you reach this stage of your financial journey, youve reached the most challenging stage of all. But it can be a very enjoyable challenge!

Youve accumulated wealth beyond the amount needed to fund your own lifestyle expenses with a comfortable margin of safety.

Now you have to decide how to responsibly manage the surplus. How will you allocate it productively while you control it? And who will control it when youre done with it? How will you assure that the money is used for good and not for evil?

Its a real challenge, but its one faced by all those who have faithfully and steadily built wealth throughout their lifetimes. Its the most important stage of all.

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The 7 Stages of Financial Independence | Radical Personal ...

Best Cyberpunk Books | BestScienceFictionBooks.com

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Danzig

So here we have a sub-genre of science fiction that has a cool name, because of which its authors dress in leather jackets and wear mirror shades - at least according to one well known scion of the craft - Neal Stephenson. But what - aside from an excuse to wear cool shades - is Cyberpunk?

Well basically Cyberpunk is all about dystopian, networked, future earth type societies. The technological focus is usually on computing, genetics and artificial or virtual intelligences, primarily. Oh and corporations. Usually big ones. Sub-sub genres (have we all gone mad?) include Steampunk - the same thing with Victorian overtones, and Biopunk - the same thing focused on genetic engineering and such. Additionally, books written after 1993 have a nasty habit of being called Post Cyberpunk.

Cyberpunk Derrivates -- "The Punks"

Post-Cyberpunk - which is cyberpunk, but all grown up, after the teenage hormones and depressions have dissipated some - leaving the genre feeling a little more respectable. Then there's Dieselpunk - sometimes referred to as 'gritty Steampunk'

Decopunk - Dieselpunk made all shiny and modernistic, like the Art Deco art styles of the 1920's to 1950's

Nanopunk - the new kid on the block, still deciding what kind of a creature he's going to be - but focussed on nanotechnology at the expense of biotechnology so far; Stonepunk - sic. The Flintstones (fancy stone age tech)

Clockpunk - concerned with clockwork mechanisms, likes to live in the renaissance period;

Teslapunk - alternate history where we got stuck at electricity, never going so far as to try anything else, and got really good at it (traces family line back to 18th, 19th and early 20th century imaginings of what electricity would do)

Atompunk - which would pretty much be Superman's pre-digital world in DC Comics (think: cold war, Sputnik, Space and arms races, superheroes, Dick Tracy);

Elfpunk - what elves and other folklorish creatures would be like if they managed to survive to inhabit our current or future world

Mythpunk - same as Elfpunk, but rooted in ancient myth (Hercules, the Valkyries - that sort of thing)

Nowpunk - which is a word invented by Bruce Stirling to describe one of his books. I really have no idea why it has stuck around, but you can go look it up for yourself - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowpunk#Nowpunk.

I think it means Cyberpunk set - well - like now. I guess the movie 'hackers' would be an example here.

It should be noted (for those new to this) that the term 'Cyberpunk' is derivative of the term 'cyberspace', not 'cyborg'. Cyborgs do occasionally appear in cyberpunk novels, as do other forms of synthetic life, and the synthesis of biological life with technology is a recurring theme, but the focus of cyberpunk is more on information technologies: networks, computers, being able to plug oneself directly into virtual environments by whatever means - that sort of thing. An example would be the 'Tron' movies. Both of them. Most of the action is contained within a virtual environment Another popular example of cyberpunk is the 'Matrix' series of movies. Technically most of the movies took place in cyberspace, not out in the 'real' world. I still think that 'the matrix' establishes a great premise for arguing in favour of existentialism - but that's for another time.

Finally: a quote that may help clarify things: "Cyberpunk literature, in general, deals with marginalized people in technologically-enhanced cultural 'systems'. In cyberpunk stories' settings, there is usually a 'system' which dominates the lives of most 'ordinary' people, be it an oppressive government, a group of large, paternalistic corporations, or a fundamentalist religion. These systems are enhanced by certain technologies (today advancing at a rate that is bewildering to most people), particularly 'information technology' (computers, the mass media), making the system better at keeping those within it inside it. Often this technological system extends into its human 'components' as well, via brain implants, prosthetic limbs, cloned or genetically engineered organs, etc. Humans themselves become part of 'the Machine'. This is the 'cyber' aspect of cyberpunk. However, in any cultural system, there are always those who live on its margins, on 'the Edge': criminals, outcasts, visionaries, or those who simply want freedom for its own sake. Cyberpunk literature focuses on these people, and often on how they turn the system's technological tools to their own ends. This is the 'punk' aspect of cyberpunk." Erich Schneider of 'The Cyberpunk Project'.

So without further ado: the top 25 best Cyberpunk (and derivative otherpunk) novels - arranged from best to less so.

You can view the crowd-ranked version of this list and vote on the entries at the bottom of this page.

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Best Cyberpunk Books | BestScienceFictionBooks.com

A Clear Map To Your Spiritual Enlightenment by David R …

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Danzig

Editor's Note - Many people find inspiration for coping with stress, anxiety, addiction and depression by studying the late David Hawkins Map of Consciousnessbelow, featured in his book Healing and Recovery.

By identifying where you are on the scale of consciousness now compared to where you want to be, the map below helps you monitor your progress. Look at this map and decide which level you are emotionally, then note your score from the log column.

Here are some descriptions to help you get an idea of where you are on this map and how to move up to achieve greater levels of consciousness and spiritual enlightenment.

Shame and Guilt Score 20 and 30

Starting at the bottom of the Map are the energy fields called Shame at 20 and Guilt at 30. The emotion that accompanies these levels is self-hatred, and the process going on in consciousness is one of self-destruction. The view of the world associated with this energy field is that of sin and suffering.

Apathy Score 50

The emotions of Apathy are hopelessness, despair, despondency, and depression. Apathy is like an old lady rocking back and forth in her rocking chair, staring hopelessly out the window after receiving an erroneous telegram that her son was killed in the war. A large portion of the world lives in a state of apathy, including whole countries and subcontinents, where the people stare blankly because there is no hope and no chance.

About one-third of the world lives at the bottom three states of Fear, Grief, and Apathy.

Grief - Score 75

If the woman in the rocking chair were to start crying and expressing emotion, then she would be improving and moving up to an energy field called Grief, which is characterized emotionally by regret and feelings of loss and despondence.

Fear Score 100

Fear is the next energy field, which is also negative, but contains a lot more energy. One can run a great distance with fear. The advertising industry plays off our fears to sell us products. Grief has to do with the past, but fear, as we ordinarily experience it, is of the future. Fear is emotionally experienced in everyday life by the average person as worry, anxiety, or panic.

Remember in grade school when the teacher called on somebody for an answer, everyone would shrink and hide behind the person in front of them? However, if we know what we are afraid of, the energy of fear can be beneficial.

Desire Score 125

Above fear is Desire, still a negative energy field, and one where we experiences general feelings of wanting and craving. This is the field of addictions and can easily become obsessions and compulsions. The process going on in consciousness is entrapment where we are controlled by our desires.

Desire can be the motivation to become successful or famous, to have a lot of money, to be a celebrity, or to acquire whatever one thinks is going to bring happiness, such as a special relationship. Desire can be used positively as motivation towards inner goals. However, failure to achieve these goals leads to frustration and resentment.

Anger Score 150

Anger is very obviously a high energy emotion. However, if an angry person knows how to utilize that anger constructively instead of destructively, it can energize resolve and determination.

Anger in the form of resentment may lead to hatred, grievances, grudges, and eventually even to murder or war. But the process going on in consciousness is one of expansion; for example, when an animal is angry, it swells up. When the cat gets angry, its tail swells up to almost twice its normal size, and the cat tries to look imposing. The biological purpose of expansion is to intimidate one's apparent enemy. The energy of anger can be positive if used to pursue something better, allowing us to move up to the next level.

Pride Score 175

Proud people are said to have a swelled head, be too big for their britches, are unteachable, cannot hear, or closed minded. This level of consciousness leads to a polarized position, constantly on the defensive for being 'right', so the world must be wrong. Pride relates to an underlying fear. Once the person faces the fear, they can let go of pride.

All these negative fields tend to reinforce each other and seldom occur alone. One predominates, but all are really feeding into each other. Emotional upset is usually a combination of all these negative energy fields.

Crossing Over to the Levels of Truth

By being willing to surrender the ego's narcissistic emotional payoffs of the negative energy fields, progress can be made toward the first level of true power, called Courage.

Something crucial now happens at this level because it has an enormous amount of power. It is obvious that Courage settled the United States of America. Courage created all the great industries and was the basis for man's getting to the moon. The Marines start at the level of Pride but really move up to the more stable level of Courage. Why? The emotional energy field is now positive because the person values truth rather than falsehood, and integrity instead of temporary gain.

At this level the field stops pulling negativity from the universe to itself. A person is now able to face, cope with, and handle things better, though still experiencing the lesser negative feelings, they now have the power to handle those energies. The critical process is one of empowerment.

All levels below Courage have a negative energy field stemming from the same thoughtthat happiness comes from outside oneself. Putting one's survival on something outside oneself therefore results in states of powerlessness, victimhood, and weakness by virtue of having projected the source of one's power outside of oneself.

Courage Score 200

Persons at the level of Courage who plan to ask their boss for a raise may still have knots in their stomach, be angry, and even feel hopeless about getting one. They might even be arrogant, but now, at the level of Courage, they have enough power to handle all that and be appropriate.

Neutral Score 250

At the Neutral level, the energy field is positive and even more aligned with Truth. The emotion of Neutral is self-trust. For example, it is 'okay' if you get the job and 'okay' if you dont. The process going on in consciousness is detachment. If you are not attached to any particular outcome then you are no longer a victim. Being Neutral, brings release from painful emotions as well as letting go of resistance which brings a lot more power.

Willingness - Score 310

Willingness is even more powerful. It is begins by saying yes to life, to join, to agree, to commit, and to align with because there is now the introduction of intention.

Acceptance Score 350

Acceptance is being capable, adequate, and confident. There is the beginning of transformation in consciousness. Transformation to the acceptance that we are the source of our own happiness, and that the power is within us. A big corporation for example, depends on people who have completed this transformation because they are realistic. They are not dominated by pride, which means denial, so they can allow for their weaknesses and shortcomings.

An executive on this level can say, "You know, I don't do very well with that guy in Argentina. It would be better if you send Jake; I'm sure he would get along better." The executive can indicate where he is limited, accept how the world works, avoid getting into 'right and wrong' about it, and therefore deal with it effectively. The transformation comes from re-owning one's power.

Reason Score 400

By recycling the energy back into the universe; for example through selfless service, you move up to the energy field of Reason at 400. The use of reason transcends the limitations of narcissistic/emotional distortion that is characteristic of childishness and the personal emotionality of pervasive likes, dislikes, and endless wants.

By silencing the clamor of emotionality, we develop the capacity for assimilation, recognition, classification, and comprehension of the significance and meaning of vast amounts of information.At its purest level, reason and the intellect represent increased reality testing and non-emotional respect for truth.

Love Score 500

This can evolve even more as the love of Truth for its own sake. This eventually leads to a paradigm jump at consciousness level 500 (Love).

Whereas reason is linear and objective, Love is a different dimension as it is nonlinear and subjective. Thus, it is said that reason is of the mind (the brain), whereas Love is of the being (the heart).At its emergence, love is selective and conditional, but as it evolves, it progressively becomes a lifestyle and a way of relating to all life. Love emanates from within the Self and is an expression of happiness.

Unconditional Love Score 540

Unconditional Love is the energy field of healing and also that of the twelve-step groups. There is a rise in the intensity of the energy field of aliveness, so it is preferable to be around these kinds of people because they make us feel more alive by giving out energy to the field itself.

As we move up towards this level, inner joy, quiet, and inner knowingness begin to take place. Within this energy field, we connect with something that is rocklike and ever present. This is the beginning of the transfiguration of consciousness, the beginning of an inner serenity, and the opening of compassion. To learn more relevations from consciousness research, see Healing and Recovery.

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A Clear Map To Your Spiritual Enlightenment by David R ...

Cryptocurrency News: Bitcoin ETF Rejection, AMD Microchip Sales, and Hedge Funds

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Danzig

Cryptocurrency News
Although cryptocurrency prices were heating up last week (Bitcoin, especially), regulators poured cold water on the rally by rejecting calls for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). This is the second time that the proposal fell on deaf ears. (More on that below.)

Crypto mining ran into similar trouble, as you can see from Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AMD) most recent quarterly earnings. However, it wasn't all bad news. Investors should, for instance, be cheering the fact that hedge funds are ramping up their involvement in cryptocurrency markets.

Without further ado, here are those stories in greater detail.
ETF Rejection.

The post Cryptocurrency News: Bitcoin ETF Rejection, AMD Microchip Sales, and Hedge Funds appeared first on Profit Confidential.

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Cryptocurrency News: Bitcoin ETF Rejection, AMD Microchip Sales, and Hedge Funds

First Amendment – Institute for Justice

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Danzig

Central to the mission of the Institute for Justice is reinvigorating the founding principles of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. We seek to defend the free flow of informationinformation that is indispensable to our democratic form of government and to our free enterprise economy.

To protect free speech rights, IJ litigates to protect commercial, occupational and political speech. Because free markets depend on the free flow of information, IJ has long defended the right of business owners to communicate commercial speech to their customers. The Institute for Justice has also litigated groundbreaking cases in defense of occupational speech, protecting authors, tour guides, interior designers and others who speak for a living or offer advice from government regulations designed to stifle or silence their speech. Finally, we have been at the forefront of the fight against laws that hamstring the political speech of ordinary citizens and entrench political insiders. These laws include burdensome campaign finance laws and restrictions on grassroots lobbying.

Through IJs litigation, we seek to ensure that government regulation is constrained and that speakers and listeners are able to freely exchange information on the topics that matter most to them. Speakers and listeners should determine the value of speech, not the government.

Continued here:

First Amendment - Institute for Justice

The Futurist: The Top Ten Transhumanist Technologies

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Danzig

The Lifeboat Foundation has a special report detailing their view of the top ten transhumanist technologies that have some probability of 25 to 30-year availability. Transhumanism is a movement devoted to using technologies to transcend biology and enhance human capabilities.

I am going to list out each of the ten technologies described in the report, provide my own assessment of high, medium, or low probability or mass-market availability by a given time horizon, and link to prior articles written on The Futurist about the subject.

10. Cryonics : 2025 - Low, 2050 - Moderate

I can see the value in someone who is severely maimed or crippled opting to freeze themselves until better technologies become available for full restoration. But outside of that, the problem with cryonics is that very few young people will opt to risk missing their present lives to go into freezing, and elderly people can only benefit after revival when or if age-reversal technologies become available. Since going into cryonic freezing requires someone else to decide when to revive you, and any cryonic 'will' may not anticipate numerous future variables that could complicate execution of your instructions, this is a bit too risky, even if it were possible.

9. Virtual Reality : 2012 - Moderate, 2020 - High

The Technological Progression of Video Games

The Next Big Thing in Entertainment, Part I, II, and III

The Mainstreaming of Virtual Reality

8. Gene Therapy : 2015 - Moderate, 2025 - High

The good news here is that gene sequencing techniques continue to become faster due to the computers used in the process themselves benefiting from Moore's Law. In the late 1980s, it was thought that the human genome would take decades to sequence. It ended up taking only years by the late 1990s, and today, would take only months. Soon, it will be cost-effective for every middle-class person to get their own personal genome sequenced, and get customized medicines made just for them.

Are you Prepared to Live to 100?

7. Space Colonization : 2025 - Low, 2050 - Moderate

While this is a staple premise of most science fiction, I do not think that space colonization may ever take the form that is popularly imagined. Technology #2 on this list, mind uploading, and technology #5, self-replicating robots, will probably appear sooner than any capability to build cities on Mars. Thus, a large spaceship and human crew becomes far less efficient than entire human minds loaded into tiny or even microscopic robots that can self-replicate. A human body may never visit another star system, but copies of human minds could very well do so.

Nonetheless, if other transhumanist technologies do not happen, advances in transportation speed may enable space exploration in upcoming centuries.

6. Cybernetics : 2015 - High

Artificial limbs, ears, and organs are already available, and continue to improve. Artificial and enhanced muscle, skin, and eyes are not far.

5. Autonomous Self-Replicating Robots : 2030 - Moderate

This is a technology that is frightening, due to the ease at which humans could be quickly driven to extinction through a malfunction that replicates rouge robots. Assuming a disaster does not occur, this is the most practical means of space exploration and colonization, particular if the robots contain uploads of human minds, as per #2.

4. Molecular Manufacturing : 2020 - Moderate, 2030 - High

This is entirely predictable through the Milli, Micro, Nano, Pico curves.

3. Megascale Engineering (in space) : 2040 - Moderate

From the Great Wall of China in ancient times to Dubai's Palm Islands today, man-made structures are already visible from space. But to achieve transhumanism, the same must be done in space. Eventually, elevators extending hundreds of miles into space, space stations much larger than the current ISS (240 feet), and vast orbital solar reflectors will be built. But, as stated in item #7, I don't think true megascale projects (over 1000 km in width) will happen before other transhumanist technologies render the need for them obsolete.

2. Mind Uploading : 2050 - Moderate

This is what I believe to be the most important technology on this list. Today, when a person's hardware dies, their software in the form of their thoughts, memories, and humor, necessarily must also die. This is impractical in a world where software files in the form of video, music, spreadsheets, documents, etc. can be copied to an indefinite number of hardware objects.

If human thoughts can reside on a substrate other than human brain matter, then the 'files' can be backed up. That is all there is to it.

1. Artificial General Intelligence : 2050 - Moderate

This is too vast of a subject to discuss here. Some evidence of progress appears in unexpected places, such as when, in 1997, IBM's Deep Blue defeated Gary Kasparov in a chess game. Ray Kurzweil believes that an artificial intelligence will pass the Turing Test (a bellwether test of AI) by 2029. We will have to wait and see, but expect the unexpected, when you least expect it.

Original post:

The Futurist: The Top Ten Transhumanist Technologies

The Transhumanist Wager: Zoltan Istvan: 9780988616110 …

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Danzig

Man vs. machine, cryonics, mind uploading...a science fiction book that's Amazon's #1 book under the category Philosophy is The Transhumanist Wager. Istvan says religious people are challenged by transhumanists."-Fox News Channel

An unwieldy novel of ideas about a freelance philosopher named Jethro Knights who sails around the world to promote the need for life-extension research and winds up establishing a floating libertarian city-state called Transhumania--a regulation-free utopia of tech billionaires and rationalists--from which he wages an atheist holy war on a theocratic United States.-The New York Times

"The novel has been described as a modern version ofAtlas Shrugged."-Yahoo News

"The biggest novel on the transhumanist scene is Istvan's. 'The Transhumanist Wager' reads like Dan Brown's undergradudate thesis -- a rollicking plot setting out futurist thought, manifesto style." -The Spectator

"Protagonist Jethro Knights may become one of the grand characters of modern fiction." -Psychology Today

"Transhumanism is snowballing into an international movement. The current wave of debate surrounding the concept began withThe Transhumanist Wager."-Breitbart

"This book is an edgy riveting masterpiece that will long linger with anyone who reads it."-Serious Wonder

"An Ayn Rand-esque manifesto." -The New Yorker

"Best-selling and award-winning novel." -Reason

"The Transhumanist Wager tells the story of Jethro Knights, a philosopher who rails against democratic politics and becomes a revolutionary that seizes control of the world in order to enforce a global authoritarian transhuman regime."-BBC

"Istvan, a prominent transhumanist writer...enlightens me. In The Transhumanist Wager, transhumanists manage to launch the third world war."-The Telegraph

"The Transhumanist Wager envisions a radical future." -CBS News

"It's a dystopian story that imagines a Christian nation outlawing transhumanism prompting all the billionaires to retreat to an offshore sea-stead where they can work on their advances undisturbed."-The Times Magazine

"Many sayThe Transhumanist Wageris the newAtlas Shrugged."-Marin Magazine

"It's a page turner. Istvan knows how to tell a compelling story." -io9 / Gizmodo

"IenjoyedThe Transhumanist Wager...an adventurous suspense-filled semi-sci-fi about sailing, love, and life extension." -The Huffington Post

"About a man's quest to live forever using science, medicine, and technology."Popular Science

Thrilling...an important literary work that everyone should read."-Guardian Liberty Voice

"Bestselling The Transhumanist Wager& famous transhumanist Zoltan Istvan...a new philosophy, a new psychology, a new metaphysics...the concept of people taking a Transhumanist Wager is making a strong impact." -RT Television

"It's set in a dystopian near-future America in which transhumanists are on the verge of huge technological breakthroughs but are under attack from conservative politicians and radical Christian fundamentalist terrorists."-Vox

"A gripping story...it's my new favorite novel."-Brighter Brains

"Istvan demonstrates great adeptness at crafting complex characters."-San Francisco Book Review

"The story is brilliant. It will challenge your thinking." -33voices

"Fascinating. It'smaking waves."-Good Day Sacramento, CBS TV

"Istvan's novel has the potential to become a cult book. I hope it will be widely read and discussed." -Kurzweil AI

"A philosophical manifesto...the world becomes ruled by scientists." -Vice (Italy)

"Strongly libertarian...a radical version of transhumanism."-Patheos

"The action sequences in the book are top notch."-New York Journal of Books

"The book asks a simple question: how far would you go to fight an anti-science world in order to live indefinitely through transhumanism? Protagonist Jethro Knights would start a world war - and does so in the book"-Wired UK

"The Transhumanist Wagerpromises to become a cult classic among futurists."-SASM Institute

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The Transhumanist Wager: Zoltan Istvan: 9780988616110 ...

Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis 20/07/18

Posted on July 29, 2018 by Danzig

Bitcoin Cash in Reverse

Bitcoin Cash slipped by 0.24% on Thursday, following Wednesdays 3.33% slide, to end the day at $822.4.

A range bound start to the day saw Bitcoin Cash pullback to an intraday low $805.5 in the early hours, holding above the first major support level at $803.6, before hitting an intraday high $845 by mid-day.

The mid-day rally left Bitcoin short of the first major resistance level at $875.1 and more importantly $900 levels and the 23.6% FIB Retracement Level of $930, with the afternoon pullback to $820 levels leaving the extended bearish trend intact.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin Cash was down 1.61% to $810.8, with a start of the day pullback to an intraday low $806.7 doing the damage early on, while managing to steer clear of the first major support level at $803.6.

For the day ahead a move through a start of the day $823.9 high to $824 levels would support a run at the first major resistance level at $843.1, while we can expect Bitcoin Cash to face plenty of resistance on attempts to break out from the first major resistance level, which would leave $900 levels out of play for the day.

Failure to move back through to the mornings high could see Bitcoin Cash pullback later in the day to test the first major support level at $803.6 before any recovery, sub-$800 support levels likely to be left untested through the day.

Get Into Bitcoin Cash Trading Today

Litecoin slipped by just 0.17% on Thursday, following Wednesdays 3.16% slide, to end the day at $86.13.

Following Tuesdays late reversal, Litecoin moved from a start of the day intraday low $85.01 to middle of the day intraday high $88.9, before easing back to $86 levels, the moves through the day leaving the major support and resistance levels untested.

In spite of the relatively range bound day, Litecoin failed to break through to $90 levels to leave the extended bearish trend intact, the 23.6% FIB Retracement Level of $98 some way off.

At the time of writing, Litecoin was down 0.95% to $85.32, with a early fall to a morning low $84.71 seeing Litecoin hold just above the first major support level a $84.46 before recovering to $85 levels, a start of the day high $86.14 sitting well below the first major resistance level at $88.35 and $90 levels, which remains the key level for Litecoin.

For the day ahead, a move through to $86.68 would support a run at the first major resistance level at $88.35, though we will expect Litecoin to continue to fall short of $90 levels through the day, with the 23.6% FIB Retracement Level of $98 needed to be reached to begin a bearish trend reversal.

Failure to move back through to $86 levels later in the day could see Litecoin pullback through to $84 levels to test the days first major support level at $84.46, with the second major support level at 82.79 in play should sentiment not improve, while we will expect Litecoin to continue to hold on to $80 levels by the days end.

Story Continues

Buy & Sell Cryptocurrency Instantly

Ripples XRP fell by 2.1% on Thursday, following Wednesdays 4.12% slide, to end the day at $0.47793.

A morning recovery from late Tuesdays sell-off saw Ripples XRP move through to an intraday high $0.49674 in the early afternoon before going into reverse through the remainder of the day, the days high falling short of $0.5 levels and well short of the first major resistance level at $0.5203.

The afternoon reversal saw Ripples XRP slide to an intraday low $0.4708 before steadying, the days low holding above the first major support level at $0.4648, with the continued failure to take a run at the 23.6% FIB Retracement Level of $0.5528 leaving the extended bearish trend intact.

At the time of writing, Ripples XRP was down 3.33% to $0.46196 in whats been a bearish start to the day, Ripples XRP falling through the first major support level at $0.4669 to a morning low $0.46016, a start of the day $0.478 falling well short of the first major resistance level at $0.4928.

For the day ahead, a move through to $0.4818 would support a run at the first major resistance level at $0.4928, while we will expect $0.50 levels and the 23.6% FIB Retracement Level of $0.5528 to remain out of reach for the day.

Failure to move back through to $0.48 levels could see Ripples XRP pullback to $0.45 levels to test the second major support level at $0.4559 before any recovery to $0.47 levels, the extended bearish trend firmly intact going into the weekend.

Buy & Sell Cryptocurrency Instantly

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

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Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis 20/07/18

What is Bitcoin Cash? – cointelegraph.com

Posted on July 29, 2018 by Danzig

Bitcoin first appeared almost exactly nine years ago and its now as strong as ever. These days, its not only the worlds first but also the most expensive, stable and popular cryptocurrency.

That being said, it isnt perfect. One of the most pressing issues for the cryptocurrency has always been its scalability. More specifically, its been the size of a block of transactions, which upon the creation of Bitcoin was limited to one MB. This limit causes substantial delays in transaction processing times and limits the number of transactions the network can process.

Bitcoin Cash was a different story. It differs from the other versions in that in enabled the increase of the block size from one MB to eight MB. Its overall goal is to increase the number of transactions that can be processed by the network, hoping that Bitcoin Cash will be able to compete with the volume of transactions that industry giants like PayPal and Visa can currently process.

Bitcoin Cash was launched in August 2017 and has since become Bitcoins most successful offshoot.

The one MB limit for the size of every block was originally implemented to lower the possibility of potential spam and DDoS-attacks. While there were not that many transactions happening in the network, the limit wasnt affecting anything at all.

As Bitcoin grew more and more popular, the limit started causing blocks to pile up, which unnecessarily extended the transition times. The situation got out of hand around May 2017, when some users reported having to wait for confirmation for up to four days.

Users had a chance to pay higher transaction fees to speed up the confirmation, but this approach basically rendered Bitcoin useless as a payment method, especially when it came to smaller transactions. For instance, paying for a sandwich or a cup of coffee with BTC just simply wasnt viable, as a $3 cup of coffee will incur a transaction fee of more than $15. Otherwise, the seller will receive an unspendable dust amount.

The Bitcoin community came up with two possible solutions to this situation: Bitcoin Unlimited and Segregated Witness (SegWit).

Bitcoin Unlimited would scrap the block size limit altogether. Many miners were in favor of this solution, as the lack of block size limit would not only prevent blocks from piling up but also raise the overall miners fee for every block.

However, a lot of developers were against this proposal, thinking that its implementation will lead to small miners going out of business, which, in turn, could lead to a centralization of the entire network by massive mining corporations.

A Segregated Witness solution implied storing some of the information in separate files outside of the Blockchain. Developers claimed that it would free up a lot of storage space, the blocks will fit in more transactions and the confirmation time will significantly decrease. But, many people believed it was just a more complicated temporary stopgap when compared to the Bitcoin Unlimited approach.

As a result, a compromise protocol called SegWit2x was developed. Launching this protocol meant storing some of the information outside of the Blockchain as well as increasing the block size limit to two MB. The protocol was implemented on Aug. 1, 2017, after 95 percent of miners voted for the proposal. However, the network didnt see the immediate increase in the block size limit. To a lot of people, this meant postponing a problem instead of solving it.

Moreover, this decision seemed to cater for those who treat Bitcoin as an investment opportunity and not a payment system it was created to be.

Then, during the Future of Bitcoin conference in Arnhem, Netherlands, the first implementation of the Bitcoin Cash protocol called Bitcoin ABC was announced by Amaury Schet, a former engineer at Facebook.

Schet and his team of developers decided to abandon the SegWit2x protocol and increase the block size limit to eight MB. As such drastic changes required their creation to split from the original Bitcoin network, it was announced that a hard fork will take place on Aug. 1, 2017.

For those that dont know, a hard fork is the only currently known method for developers to update Bitcoin software. Developers split the network and essentially create a new Blockchain with altered rules. The original and the forked version of the cryptocurrency have identical Blockchains all the way up to the block when the split occurred. From there on, the two networks exist independently.

After the split happened, everyone who held Bitcoins before the hard fork received the same amount of Bitcoin Cash tokens.

The new cryptocurrency was quickly adopted by investors, as by the end of the first day of its existence Bitcoin Cash became the third cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin and Ethereum in terms of market capitalization.

In short: yes. The ever-rising fees associated with Bitcoin transactions were one of the main reasons for the inception of Bitcoin Cash. A very hands-on test, conducted in December 2017, showed that a Bitcoin Cash transaction was 99.56 percent cheaper than the equivalent transaction on the original Bitcoin network.

At the very end of 2017, people were paying $28 on average in transaction fees to move their Bitcoin tokens. Someone has even claimed that they had to pay a $16 fee to send $25 worth of Bitcoin, which is a 40 percent commission.

In a cryptocurrency world, a hard fork is always quite a troubling event. Many people believe that it goes against the very principle of the immutability of Blockchain and contradicts the code is law principle.

When it comes to this particular hard fork, many critics are worried that the computer power required to process larger blocks will price out smaller miners, which might lead to the decision-making power being concentrated in the hands of large corporations that can afford more and better equipment.

Finally, as everyone who held Bitcoins before the split received an equal amount of Bitcoin Cash tokens, some people voiced their concerns that the split was nothing but a money-making scheme. In fact, the hard fork did create a situation similar to a double-spending problem, as it made conducting two transactions from a single wallet using the same set of keys possible.

Roger Ver is a prominent investor and an early Bitcoin adopter. He invested over a million dollars into various emerging Bitcoin startups, including Ripple, Z.Cash, Blockchain.com, Bitpay, Purse.io and Kraken. He is also a CEO of Bitcoin.com and one of the five creators of the Bitcoin Foundation, to which he has also donated more than $1 mln worth of Bitcoin. Ver sees Bitcoin as a mean of achieving economic freedom. In the cryptocurrency community, he is also known as Bitcoin Jesus.

These days, however, Roger Ver is advocating for Bitcoin Cash. In a recent interview with Cointelegraph, Ver described Bitcoin Cash as the real Bitcoin, claiming it will have the bigger market capitalization, trade volume and user base in the near future. He has also been quoted saying that he holds the majority of his cryptocurrency funds in Bitcoin Cash, which is, perhaps, the biggest indicator of his faith in the asset.

Bitcoin Cash hasnt been around for very long, but it has already established itself as an extremely strong cryptocurrency. At the time of writing, its the worlds fourth cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, behind the industry stalwarts Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple. Its also a worlds second most valued cryptocurrency at $1,623 for one BCH as of Jan. 22, 2018.

To many people, Bitcoin Cash became an answer to everything that was wrong with the original Bitcoin, and it keeps getting new followers day by day.

Generally, every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Bitcoin Cash is a completely independent cryptocurrency, so its price is not dependant on that of the original Bitcoin. However, it is important to note that Bitcoin is still the worlds dominant cryptocurrency, so if it goes up or down, the absolute majority of other cryptocurrencies are very likely to follow its trend.

As Bitcoin Cash is a relatively new cryptocurrency, not every major exchange supports it as of yet. Below is a table of exchanges that operate worldwide where you can trade BCH for a fiat currency or another cryptocurrency. A complete list of every exchange supporting Bitcoin Cash can be found here.

Exchange

BCH-fiat trading pairs

BCH-Crypto trading pairs

Coinbase

BCH/USD

BCH/BTC

Bittrex (BCH is known as BCC on Bittrex)

BCC/BTC, BCC/USDT, BCC/ETH

Kraken

BCH/USD, BCH/EUR

BCH/BTC

Cex.io

BCH/USD, BCH/EUR, BCH/GBP

BCH/BTC

Poloniex

BCH/BTC, BCH/USDT, BCH/ETH

Bitcoin Cash is also supported by Changelly and ShapeShift, which are services that enable users to trade between various cryptocurrencies quickly.

LocalBitcoinCash is a peer-to-peer exchange which allows users to buy and sell BTH directly, both via their escrow service or via a meetup.