In the course of my online discussions, I have been tempted to provide a treatment of Bitcoin and related subjects (Modern Monetary Theory, "Fiat" money), etc. But, on examination, I seem to have already written enough on the subject. Check here . I have changed my opinion that crypto is a "zero-sum" game. The reason is that some players are happy to lose money, which changes the whole picture. There are major players who are glad to lose money in this market. If you are a criminal enterprise or a terrorist organization wanting to launder millions of dollars, a "loss" of 10% is totally acceptable. Crypto is, in other words, a godsend for organized crime. Among other reasons, these are one reason that governments of the world will soon consign all this crypto-crap to the trash bin overnight. I note that crypto-nerds regard this as impossible with almost religious fanaticism, nor are they willing to even discuss the fact that "winners" in this ma...

  Our ability to experience "virtual" worlds is not something new. Evolution has provided it as basic equipment along with our opposing thumbs. It's not a bug. It's a feature. On the most fundamental level, we are constantly experiencing the future and the past: the flow of time. This ability is essential to what we call purposeful behavior. We love to debate whether or not other animals have this ability and to what degree, but it's clear that we have it in spades. It is essential to who we are as humans. I am fascinated by how the brain produces the virtual world that we call "consciousness". It turns out to be quite a trick. Sense information arrives at different times. For example, sound and smell arrive with very little processing, but virtual information goes through massive complex analysis. Yet we experience it all at the "same time". We experience the decision to move after the brain has sent signals to move. Our experience slightly p...

  "Virtual" used to mean something like "exactly" but now it means something like this . Essential Meaning of  virtual 1 :  very close to being something without actually being it The country is ruled by a virtual dictator. [=by someone who is not officially a dictator but who is like a dictator in every important way] Her victory is a virtual certainty. [=she almost certainly will win] The species is nearing virtual extinction. [=it is almost extinct] 2 :  existing or occurring on computers or on the Internet a virtual library virtual shopping Creeping into the science of computer systems, "virtual" became a powerful concept as early as the late 1960s. Programs were assigned "virtual memory" that "looked" like real memory but could be moved around or swapped out to disk according to the needs of the operating system. The idea grew from there, underpinning the architecture of "mainframe" computers and when I last worked fo...

DOROTHY, THIS IS NOT KANSAS ANYMORE The thinking behind this post started with a discussion about "Virtual Reality" (In Oculus / BigScreen) and widened almost out of control. There are so many issues it's hard to know where to start. As far as I know, the term "Virtual Reality" was coined by Jared Lanier  - a very smart guy who is still very much around. However, once it's out there, the word entered the public domain and tended to change meaning very rapidly, especially when commercial entities get ahold of it. There is now very little similarity between "VR" and what Lanier was thinking about. So, goodbye, for now, Jared. I will surrender to the common usage , more or less co-opted by the makers of "VR" headsets, so, when I talk about "VR" I am regrettably talking about what you experience with a headset, such as Oculus (the one I use). Sadly, this leaves me without a word for whatever is happening in Second Life - a "w...

 I promised to put up a few quick shots of Second Life for my VR friends who are enthusiastic about VR Chat. The VR Chat enthusiasts were talking about howVR Chat is "photorealistic". These examples show what that means in Second Life, along with Second Life's poses, dances etc. "Me" with a friend Close-up of Friend Here is the Flikr site of my oldest Second Life friend (over 10 years). She does choreography and movies in Second Life. Dancing in popular Blues Club - approximately 50 avatars in the scene. All custom avatars, dancing independently. This pushes the limit of Second Life's ability to deal with "lag". This ability seems to be far in advance of anything Oculus can serve up, especially when you consider that the entire environment is user-created, unlike the "canned" environments we encounter in Oculus VR. I will add more pictures and details, depending on the questions I get in VR.