open source

Cryptocurrencies' crowd source incentives prevent collapse into one crowd

5 August 2017 by Steve Blum
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The disruption in cryptocurrency markets this week, when Bitcoin sorta split into two, was the result of disagreements between different interests about the technology and crowd-sourced methods used to run it. It was also inevitable and purposeful – cryptocurrencies are intended to rise and fall according to the cumulative decisions of millions – eventually, billions – of sovereign, individual users, who won’t always agree with each other.

Bitcoin’s underlying software can’t keep up with the growing number and speed of transactions between its users.… More

Mega-banks prepare to take bitcoin tech mainstream

19 September 2015 by Steve Blum
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The basic blockchain technology that underpins bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could find its way into the basic infrastructure of the global financial system. A group of nine of the world’s biggest banks is taking the first steps towards adopting the blockchain concept, initially as a way of recording transactions. According to a story on Reuters, the group has engaged a financial technology company, R3, to develop a common blockchain-based platform…

[R3’s CEO David ] Rutter said the initial focus would be to agree on an underlying architecture, but it had not yet been decided whether that would be underpinned by bitcoin’s blockchain or another one, such as one being built by Ethereum, which offers more features than the original bitcoin technology.

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Open data standards should be the first step toward open government

19 March 2015 by Steve Blum
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Welcome to Sunshine Week. No, it’s not about the vernal equinox or the proper SPF level to use. It’s about open government and access to data. Several meetings and events were held in Sacramento to mark it. Yesterday, I went to Data Summit 2015, organised by California Forward.

San Francisco assemblyman Phil Ting was the first of more than a dozen speakers, talking about the need for consistent and timely release of public data in a useful way, and the bill he’s sponsoring to encourage it.… More

CTOs say big companies need to support and be supported by the open source community

9 January 2015 by Steve Blum
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If there’s going to be 50 billion connected devices by 2020 – which is the goal set by Ericsson – then interoperability and interconnection standards will be necessary, according to Ulf Ewaldsson, the company’s CTO. He was speaking at a CES panel session on corporate research and development. Those standards aren’t there yet, but the likeliest path will be through open source collaboration, rather than propriety technology.

“Open source creates both standards and it creates a more rapid development process than before”, he said.… More

Leaving CES, entering the future


Developers jump on a new mobile platform.

If mobile, desktop and other devices like TVs converge on a single operating system, it'll be a Linux variant. When processing, display and input technology get to the point that the size and form factor of a device is irrelevant, an open source ecosystem will provide a cross-sector point of convergence for developers and manufacturers. Service providers will follow. It's an entrepreneurs' world.

Windows 8 will survive as a mobile operating system.… More