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Scoble gets it right on Tidal

Colin Henderson

I have kind of lost touch with Scoble since he published on different sites that forced me to follow him. However I still seek him out and fundamentally agree with his philosophy. His commentary on Tidal supports my early agreement with his views. “Who wants to listen to a bunch of rich people telling you they aren’t getting paid enough?” Love that. The signs of change. When the old guard (Jayz, Madonna, Usher and other no-name rich people) get together and honestly believe they can be King Canute, well go right ahead. Goodbye Tidal. What I like about Robert since … Continue reading Scoble gets it right on Tidal

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Wall-Mart Executive says Chip & Signature is worthless

Colin Henderson

Finally the voice of reason from a US retailer. Wal-Mart Treasury Exec: Chip & Signature is ‘Worthless’ Cook told CNNMoney that migrating to chip-and-signature is barely an improvement over magnetic-stripe cards, and said that Wal-Mart would have supported moving to a chip-and-PIN system. “The fact that we didn’t go to PIN is such a joke,” Cook said. Continue reading Wall-Mart Executive says Chip & Signature is worthless

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Identity – how can you prove you are you?

Colin Henderson

Identity is an interesting subject. How can you prove you are you? This is something that was a compulsive topic in the late 90’s but died down after the assumed solution of PKI was understood as too hard to implement. Recently a colleague re-opened the topic. It was noted that Dave Birch has been on about identity recently too through his exploration of how Government mandated free provision of API services to be delivered by UK banks resulted in alternative business model thinking. Dave has some interesting ideas particularly in the area of “attribute verification” whereby Banks could provide positive … Continue reading Identity – how can you prove you are you?

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Nadella is doing the right things but will it save Microsoft

Colin Henderson

Like many readers I have been following the rise of Microsoft in the 90’s to flatlining when browsers really important due to page speed, and finally when Google made the browser an operating system. Opening Windows | Economist Mr Nadella’s formula for reinvigorating Microsoft is to move as quickly and as far as possible away from being a Windows-only company to be a global network of giant data centres that provide a broad range of online services for companies and individuals. So far he has done well in beginning to turn round a supertanker of a company, with 123,000 employees … Continue reading Nadella is doing the right things but will it save Microsoft

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Lee Kwan Yew leaves a powerful legacy

Colin Henderson

Lee Kuan Yew has passed away.  The Strait of Malacca defined the trade route of that area from the 18th century until today.  Lee Kwan Yew took a strong appproach to managing Singapore and over three decades turned it into an economic powerhouse. Singapore patriarch Lee Kuan Yew dies  ft.com Foreign investment has flooded into Singapore, much of it by multinationals such as Procter & Gamble, Caterpillar and Google, seeking to use the city as a regional headquarters for operations in the fast-growing economies of surrounding Southeast Asia and, more recently, the wider Asia region itself. Singapore is the largest ship-bunkering port … Continue reading Lee Kwan Yew leaves a powerful legacy

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Bitcoin – what is the use case DEC_TECH

Colin Henderson

The lecture by Andreas Antonopoulos was highly entertaining with anticipated shots at banks.  In the audience of 400+ there were 6~ bankers so we were an easy target. Apparently banks are busy developing strategies he surmises for use of the blockchain without the currency, or with normal currency.  He poo pooed that idea noting that the bitcoins and the blockchain were inseparable. Having said all that and thoroughly enjoyed his talk I am still no wiser for the use case, let alone the business case for Bitcoin.  Some facts mentioned tonight are well known: bitcoin is unsupervised with no centralized authority Fintrac … Continue reading Bitcoin – what is the use case DEC_TECH

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DEC_TECH panel discussion

Colin Henderson

Bitcoin and Beyond – panel discussion at DEC_TECH William Mougayar inroduces the panel, and some concepts. crypto.silk.co bitcoin is a protcol;  a standard – blockchain exhanges wallets trading platforms Discussing ‘be your own bank’.  Jeff (Kryptokit) is highlighting the idea of deconstructing the math part from banks.  Kryptokit do not hold your bitcoins … their wallet abstracts the holding of the coins from the security around them.  <need to study this more> Amber (Chief AML Ninja) discussing consumer protection and ensuring their verification methods are valid.  There are no proposals that provide goverance over Bitcoin fiduciaries, i.e. exchanges holding your coins similar … Continue reading DEC_TECH panel discussion

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Initial speakers at DEC_TECH

Colin Henderson

Anthony Di lorio introduces the DEC_TECH event.   Gerald Cotten CEO of Quadriga, largest Bitcoin exchange in Canada.  They traded $25M last year.  They are going public in April 2015;  actual date not set. He mentioned their exchange eliminates coin value fluctuation. Next, Henry Chan from Deloitte – one of the sponsors tonight. Mat Cybula of Cryptic.   Amber Scott discussing the legal background in Canada.  I am hearing Fintrac a lot.  AML and KYC front and centre. Continue reading Initial speakers at DEC_TECH