A group of Russian programmers decided to set up a new blockchain platform. The new platform would improve on Bitcoin by allowing arbitrary contracts to be specified, rather than just the simple transactions supported by Bitcoin. It would have its own cryptocurrency, which people would be able to purchase with real money. The platform would be called ‘Ethereum’, the currency ‘ether’. Initial purchase of ether started in 2014, and by earlier this year more than a billion dollars of the virtual commodity had been sold. ... Read more

David MacIver on Twitter remarked that questions of the form “Is X a Y?” tend to be problematic when controversial topics are involved. Consider: “Is Donald Trump a fascist?” “Is string theory a scientific theory?” The remark reminded me of E-Prime, a modified version of English which attempts to avoid philosophically problematic statements by banning the verb “to be”. The idea is to discourage rigid and dogmatic speech based around statements of identity, like “You are an idiot”. ... Read more

The thing that has amazed me most about the Stanford rape case is that a fairly long list of people were apparently persuaded to write to the judge to ask that Brock Allen Turner be forgiven. Did his father call around to drum up support? I’m imagining a Bob Newhart style telephone call… Hi, It’s Dan Turner here. … Oh, pretty good. And you? … That’s great. Look, I’ll cut to the chase, I was wondering if I could ask you a favor. ... Read more

Stanford student Brock Allen Turner raped a former student and was found guilty. He faced a sentence of up to 14 years in prison — but was given a 6 month jail sentence and probation instead. “A prison sentence would have a severe impact on him … I think he will not be a danger to others”, said the judge…

Part 1: Included in the 881 emails published Friday night are messages highlighting Clinton lobbying for a controversial Colombian trade deal she previously pledged to oppose. During her 2008 presidential run, Clinton said she opposed the deal because “I am very concerned about the history of violence against trade unionists in Colombia.” She later declared, “I oppose the deal. I have spoken out against the deal, I will vote against the deal, and I will do everything I can to urge the Congress to reject the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. ... Read more