May 22, 2010. Maybe you know that date, maybe not. In crypto circles, it’s a day that lives in infamy. That’s the day when a Florida programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz initiated the very first purchase using bitcoin. He bought two Papa Johns pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins. At the time, those bitcoins were worth a combined total of about $41. Today…well, they’re worth slightly more. How much [Read More] …
Europe vs. California—Why I Don’t Miss Living in Long Beach
I forgot the flour. In the grand scheme of things, trivial really. In the grand scheme of the lasagna I was making from scratch, it was a significant annoyance relative to the bechamel sauce I needed to whip up. And relative to today’s dispatch, it’s everything. The story goes like this… I ventured out to [Read More] …
Weekly Digest: Businesses Are Using QR Codes to Track Us
Plus the EU Goes to War With Big Tech Welcome to your Sunday digest…my weekly breakdown of the things we’re thinking about and talking about in the Global Intelligence world. First up this week…privacy concerns around QR codes. QR codes—those pixelated black-and-white squares that look like barcodes—have become a common sight in bars, restaurants, and retail businesses since the start [Read More] …
The Fed Admits It’s Been Lying About Inflation
Apparently, it was all just a lie—this whole “inflation is transitory” caca-doo the Federal Reserve has been feeding the world for the last couple of months. So, before I forget, if you take away anything from today’s dispatch, let it be an urge to pad your financial life with more gold and silver. But first we return to the scene of the crime… [Read More] …
Why I’m Super-Bullish on Crypto
I pulled out my magical Way Back Machine for today’s dispatch. Our destination: June 29, 2007. It’s a Friday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 closes in the red. In reports wrapping up the day’s trading, most financial news sites don’t mention that one of the biggest events in modern history is slated for 6 p.m., out on the West Coast: Apple [Read More] …