Earlier this year I came across a blog post that confirmed something I had long held to be true. The article in question discussed the lexical distances between Europe’s languages. While it wasn’t the first time I’ve seen the topic discussed it was the first time that I had seen the languages put into a diagram: essentially a map with abstract units of distance. The overall layout was something I had already suspect to be true and in particular confirmed…
London Ethereum Meetup 69th Edition In this article I provide a brief summary of the ideas presented at the Ethereum London Meetup held in London on 16th June 2017 in the Sir Alexander Fleming building of Imperial College London.
This is an updated version of an article I wrote in 2012: The similarity between Scottish and Scandinavian words. Introduction I’m reposting it as it is one of my favourite topics and I think it deserves to be presented in an updated under the new area of my website. The old part of the website (the archive) dates back to a time when I used different software. These articles are preserved for posterity but the formatting is lost (would be…
On the back of the recent cryptocurrency boom I decided to try building a mining rig. This guide takes you through that process from beginning to end. This guide has Ethereum in mind but it could be almost any cryptocurrency. Be aware: proof-of-stake is coming soon to Ethereum so mining may no longer be profitable by the end of 2017. The steps in brief: Build / purchase a rig Install an operating system Install latest drivers for graphics card Download…
A blockchain is a set of data blocks which are linked through certain mathematical formulas. In most blockchains that currently exist the blocks of data have contained information about transactions. Bitcoin is an obvious example of this. Each block of data in the Bitcoin blockchain contains information about transactions in a 10 minute period. This description tells us what’s inside each block of data and that the blocks are linked but not how they are linked. In simple terms, that…
With the recent boom in Cryptocurrencies (and all things blockchain) I decided to create a new post to link back to my old posts. They cover Bitcoin, Litecoin and some general cryptocurrencies comments. The earliest post is from 2012 although some others are from 2013. It is interesting to re-read these. In the first post the price of Bitcoin was $12 and in a later post the price was $750. FYI, these posts are preserved in the Internet Archive (Way…
Now that I’ve managed to restore most of my old articles on to this new server I’d like to link to a few of my favourites which are perhaps my the best that I’ve written. The articles cover a wide variety of different topics and in many cases show originality of ideas. I’d even contend that I’ve suggested some ideas before anyone else has; unfortunately, this hasn’t lead to fame. 😛 The similarity between Scottish and Scandinavian words Link: Similarity…
New year and new website. The old website went down in late 2016 as the old hosting provider was acquired by a larger company. The web technology used on the old site was massively out of date and no longer fit for purpose. The new website is using newer software and now uses HTTPS. The content will be along the same lines as before (personal interests. See: About) and the intent is that the new website will feature new content…