What You May Have Missed This Past Week and What's Upcoming.

Xbox finally extended its Games With Gold program to the Xbox One and released their big update which no longer requires a gold membership for its most popular apps. The biggest news of the tech world this past week involved Apple and their WWDC, because it garnered such widespread interest a few important, or at least noteworthy, items may have been missed in the process. 

• Miami-Dade police impound three Lyft cars in two days.
• Tesla wins back the right to sell directly to consumers in New Jersey.
• Apple CEO Tim Cook tweets a photo of an Apple assembly line running Windows.
• Facebook approved, and is now running, a Dogecoin tipping app.
• A computer has passed the Turing Test for the first time in history. Debunked
• Netflix lets users know it's Verizon that is impairing streaming quality, Verizon files a cease and desist letter.
• A patent troll is ordered to pay up for the first time.
• Telecom companies are to blame for you not being able to get Google Fiber.
• John Oliver asks internet trolls to tell the FCC they are against net neutrality, FCC's website gets bogged down.

This week I will touch on what exactly torrenting is including how to get started, if such a thing might interest you. I also plan on writing about getting started with animation and how I started the process of beginning a website. I would like to extend a Thank You to all of my readers in an amazing thirteen different countries in just two weeks.

PC vs Mac: Why You're Wrong and Why it Doesn't Matter

I would like to preface this by saying that I use Windows 7 and I most likely will not change my preference in OS until I am ready to, before Windows 7 I used Windows XP and completely skipped Vista. I am not opposed to Apple products nor do I hate Apple products, I just know that they are not for me. I build my own desktop computers so I can make my desktop bigger, stronger and faster than any Mac on the market and save money in doing so, I understand that these are not skills that everyone has and I am firmly in the minority here. There is a healthy percentage of people that just want to use their device for the internet and I am not going to look down on them for not spending hours researching/shopping/building a desktop to accomplish that task, again I find myself firmly in the minority. As it stands only religion or politics can bring about a more heated debate than Mac vs PC.

In case you weren't on Twitter, Facebook or the internet yesterday, Apple had their Worldwide Developers Conference and instead of printing out everything that was discussed, I will let Forbes do that. Now I don't expect anyone to sift through that wall of text, so thankfully Gizmodo put together a much shorter list. Does anyone actually believe that Apple "borrowed" their new iOS8 additions from any of the existing companies? Well, at least one of those companies' CEO's does. Apple also discussed their increase in overall computer market share yesterday but let's take an unbiased look at the numbers from companies that don't have a dog in the fight. It should be noted that though Apple is losing control of the smartphone market, from an application developer standpoint they are a more profitable option. Personally I am more impressed with the iOS8 features that Apple didn't address in yesterday's WWDC as well as the addition of cryptocurrency apps. I should also note that in my experience with Mac OS' I have found them to be very user friendly but I am a creature of habit. I will say that when I started programming I found it odd that Windows was the only OS that did not come with Python pre-installed.

Which OS is better? Which computer is better? Which smartphone or tablet is better? I belive Eddie Murphy's Coming to America put it best...

 

Dogecoin, A Currency of Community

I have been getting asked about Dogecoin a lot recently due to its mainstream attention regarding NASCAR driver Josh Wise, mentioned in The Washington Post, NPR and The Wall Street Journal to name a few. Dogecoin is similar to Bitcoin in the sense that they are both forms of cryptocurrency, and that's where the comparisons end. In August 2013, doge memes were spammed onto Reddit's r/MURICA by 4chan's /b/. A search of the term doge on Google Trends shows an explosion of popularity occurring in October 2013, and more so in the following month. Not long after in December, Dogecoin was created by programmer Billy Markus who hoped to create a fun cryptocurrency that could reach a broader demographic than Bitcoin. At the same time, Jackson Palmer, a member of Adobe Systems' marketing department was encouraged on Twitter to make the idea a reality.

I recently turned to the mods at /r/dogecoin to ask them if they would be willing to answer a few questions that I had regarding the currency, they told me that there was nothing they could tell me that the community(shibes, a reference to the Shiba Inu breed used for Doge and Dogecoin logo) couldn't better explain and encouraged me to make a post. In the comments I was met with people that were not only pleasant but also very knowledgeable and willing to answer any and all questions that I had. Here is a link to that thread , not once was I met with anything other than what very well may be the nicest community that I have encountered on the internet and that is what sets Doge apart. The following is taken from Dogecoin's wiki:

• On January 19, 2014, a fundraiser was established by the Dogecoin community to raise $50,000 for the Jamaican Bobsled Team, which had qualified for, but could not afford to go to, the Sochi Winter Olympics. By the second day, $30,000 worth of Dogecoin was donated, and the Dogecoin community also raised funds for a second Sochi athlete Shiva Keshavan.
• Inspired by the Winter Olympics fundraiser and smaller charity fundraising successes, the Dogecoin Foundation, led by Eric Nakagawa, began collecting donations to build a well in the Tana river bassin in Kenya in cooperation with charity: water. They set out to raise a total of 40,000,000 Dogecoin (~$30,000 at the time) before World Water Day on March 22nd. The campaign succeeded, collecting donations from more than 4,000 donors, including one anonymous benefactor who donated 14,000,000 Dogecoin in what news media dubbed "the most valuable tweet in history".
• On March 25, 2014, the Dogecoin community successfully raised 67.8 million Dogecoins (~$55,000 at the time) in an effort to sponsor NASCAR driver Josh Wise. Wise ran with a Dogecoin/Reddit-sponsored paint scheme at the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. On May 4, 2014, Wise and his car were featured for nearly a minute, during which the race commentators discussed Dogecoin and the crowdfunding effort, while finishing 20th and narrowly avoiding multiple wrecks. On May 16, 2014, Josh Wise won a spot at the Sprint All-Star Race through an online fan vote beating household name Danica Patrick, largely due to the efforts of the Dogecoin Reddit community. He finished the race in 15th. 

Bitcoin has been around for going on five years now and most people involved in BTC are doing so for the gains (a loose conversion would be each bitcoin worth ~$500), Dogecoin on the other hand isn't worth more than $0.50 per 1000DOGE. So, why do people spend their time so invested in a cryptocurrency worth less than you can find in your couch? Because unlike Bitcoin, Shibes aren't in this for the money, not now at least. If you were to ask someone how to get BTC they would most likely direct you to a FAQ of sorts, ask someone how to acquire DOGE and you very well may get a dogetip, I went from no DOGE to over 875.00DOGE in my single post to their subreddit. Much like with any cryptocurrency Dogecoin is unpredictable, however shibes have no problem coming together for a common goal and that is what will prevent Dogecoin from going belly up.

A Shiba Inu, belly up

Mining, Blockchains, Value and Further Understanding Cryptocurrency

In Making Sense of Cryptocurrency I posted links for both Bitcoin and Dogecoin which showed How to:

• Get a Wallet
• Get coins
• Spend coins

Now that the basics have been touched on we can focus on learning more starting with coin mining. Mining is not for everyone, it takes particular hardware specifications and may cost more in electricity than you can mine and there are also multiple ways to mine. I've included a link to a Beginner's Guide to Mining Bitcoins which will pick up where my first post ended. This is a link to a Dogecoin Mining Guide which also shows you how to build a Dogecoin mining rig. Now that you (should) have a wallet the linked post will explain how to get a client, the author of the bitcoin Mining Guide does a pretty decent job of explaining why he recommends joining a pool as opposed to using the basic software to make coins. "...The reason is that bitcoins are mined in blocks of 50. You can’t mine just 1 at a time. So unless you have a massive mining machine, the odds of you actually discovering a block at the current difficulty is extremely low. It actually might never happen. That being said, it can still be done, but it would be an extraordinary lucky occurrence. In a pool, you are working together to discover a block and you will receive a lot of smaller payouts with much more consistency." Another resource you should consult when deciding if mining bitcoins is the best course of action for you is the Bitcoin Mining Profitability Calculator. Assuming you have your hardware up to par and your wallet, the next step would be acquiring mining software.
 
What are blockchains? The blockchain is a public ledger of all transactions in the coin network. Blockchain.info allows you to navigate the bitcoin blockchain and also operates Bitcoin's largest and most secure wallet service. Dogechain is branded "the official dogecoin blockchain".


What's it worth? That varies, Here is a converter for Dogecoin/bitcoin value.

Hopefully between the two posts you can see how to get started with digital currency. If mining is not for you than you can always purchase from the previous link provided or if you operate a business than you can accept Bitcoin/Dogecoin as a form of payment. There is also the option of receiving cryptocurrency from tips, something that I will get into more in tomorrow's Dogecoin feature. 

Making Sense of Cryptocurrency

I decided to give my take on Dogecoin but I think that would be difficult if a person didn't have a basic understanding of cryptocurrency in general first. Cryptocurrency is a form of online currency that has been around since 2009 starting with Bitcoin. In lieu of writing out a Getting Started with Bitcoin, I decided it best to link the guide created by weusecoins.com as well as a Getting Started Guide for Dogecoin. As you can see in the first guide multiple places exist where you can not only spend your Bitcoin's but also convert them into physical money. Cryptocurrency has a predetermined cap amount at which point no more digital coins can be produced, unlike physical money that is printed with no regard of how much is actually in circulation. Digital coins are also impossible to counterfeit, again unlike the dollar, so if there are said to be 1 Billion Dogecoin available than you can bank on that being the actual number.

Arguably, the two most newsworthy of the cryptocurrency bunch would have to be Bitcoin and Dogecoin. Bitcoin reports tend to switch between statements of how it's going to revolutionize the internet or how it's a dangerous scam that nobody can truly predict or understand. This report on Bitcoin replacing PayPal is an example of the former, with digital currency you have lower transaction fees than you would find with either a bank or specifically in this case, Paypal. An example of the latter can be found in this article, just like with physical money there are going to be unsavory individuals that want what you have and are willing to take it. Dogecoin's reputation is different, it seems most of what you hear about regarding Dogecoin is in its fundraising. I will talk more about everything Dogecoin has done in my post about it specifically so I'll just touch on its recent headlines. On March 25, 2014, the Dogecoin community raised 67.8 million Dogecoins, equivalent to ~$55,000 at the time($26,875 today), sponsoring NASCAR driver Josh Wise. The Dogecoin community has continued its support of Wise recently helping him to beat out Danica Patrick for a spot in the Sprint All-Star Race through an online fan vote.

Hopefully this will give a person an understanding of what cryptocurrency is, Dogecoin and Bitcoin may both appear to be the same thing on the surface but they are actually pretty far apart. At the time of this post 1000 Bitcoin, also read as 1000 or 1000 BTC is valued at $593,444.32 whereas 1000 Dogecoin, also read as Ð1000 or 1000 DOGE is valued at $0.40.