October 2019

Bit by Bit, It Will Be a New World

We’ve all heard of bitcoin. Some people even understand it. After reading and watching stuff online about it lately, I think I’m starting to get why it represents something absolutely new…a breakthrough. 

The cryptocurrency bitcoin was unveiled by an obscure, possibly fictitious, character known as Satashi Nakamoto 11 years ago in October 2008. 

And it HAS changed the world in ways beyond the common explanations:

• not because it will completely replace ordinary currency.
• not because it’s the first online way to hide transactions for nefarious activities
• not because it will continue to be the best speculation of the century (Worth under a penny in May 2010, went as high $19,000 in December 2017 and was trading yesterday at $8,026 (down 20% in the past month.)

The impact is broader than bitcoin.  It’s the first olive out of the jar for global use of blockchain technology…the emerging online world called the cryptocosm.  The basic idea is that data of all participants is decentralized from any comprehensive and easily targetable central hub and is held by each individual. 

Without getting into the details of mining and ridiculously complicated algorithms, let’s just accept that everyone has two keys: one public and one private.  All public activity is traceable to the public address of the participant, much like an email name. The private identity is not known to anyone other than the person whose signature it is.  At least so far, it has not been able to be hacked.  With each set of communication/interaction, proof of work is formed, which time-stamps the block that’s been built.

All the blocks are connected in a chronological public chain called a blockchain. Each block has a different fingerprint and leaves traces in all succeeding blocks, meaning that anyone can trace a bitcoin’s trajectory back to when it was first made.  It’s mathematically impossible for anyone to figure out someone’s private key.  So, for practical purposes, it’s unhackable, and every transaction is therefore quite secure.

It’s no wonder that so many businesses are jumping onto this technology, not just for bitcoin.

And it’s likely to eventually replace massive servers and data collections (“the cloud”) like Google’s. George Gilder, a leading theorist and author of Life After Google: The Fall of Big Data and the Rise of the Blockchain Economy (you can watch his explanation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cidZRD3NzHg).

It’s definitely heady stuff, but on a level that matters to us, Gilder has said that we will never have to remember a password again once the blockchain system becomes the way we all use the Internet.  Cybersecurity as we know it won’t exist.

It’s not clear how long that will take, but I for one can’t wait until I don’t spend an hour or so every day just trying to be able to use a website that ought to know who I am by now.

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Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

In 1957, my dad frequently included puzzles in Lou Weinberg’s PY-O-MY House Organ. Here’s one that was popular—maybe because many readers could solve it.

I’ll answer it in the November 1 edition, but if you want to be included in the list of winners, send your solution to me via email.

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That Thin Line of Greatness

Michael Jordan. I do not like him anywhere (except when he was on the basketball court for the Bulls). But, he did say something I expect you will relate to as I do. MJ defines success:

I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

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Look Familiar?

If so, you gotta be a senior. Like me, I hope you’re not ready to let it define you…yet!

(Courtesy one of those emails circulated to me by Fred Lane)

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Listings

1.) We Are Columbine, Laura Farber’s stunning documentary about her classmates before during and after the horrible shootings in 1999, is available on several platforms.

As most of you know, I was involved with Laura’s prize-winning film for all of the 12 years from inception to release and credited as Executive Producer.  It’s not grim. It’s about what it takes to heal and there’s humor and humanness throughout.  Go and watch and let us know your reactions.

The online description:

We Are Columbine highlights the stories of four freshmen students who experienced one of the deadliest school shootings in United States history at Columbine High School in 1999. Director Laura Farber, who was also a freshman during the shootings, sensitively captures her classmates’ deeply personal and unique perspectives during an unprecedented walkthrough of the school itself, shedding light on the complexity of a life impacted by violence and loss at a young age nearly 20 years after the tragedy.

Watch the trailer here.

2)  R.D. Rosen’s new book

Tough Luck: Sid Luckman, Murder, Inc. and the Rise of the Modern NFL is one of the most absorbing stories ever. I’ve known R.D. (Richard) since we were single digits in Highland Park, IL and the previously unreported story about the great quarterback and his mobster father is a terrific read, especially so because we’ve known the legendary Luckman family for over 60 years. Buy it. You’ll like it.

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Haunted by Miss Georgia O’Keeffe

We spent a few days in Santa Fe and environs three weeks ago. For me, it was a sentimental journey, personal and spiritual.  My mother, Jane Weinberg was an artist who was inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe, particularly her abstracts.  In October 1954, our dad asked our mom what she wanted most for their 15^th anniversary.  It was a Georgia O’Keeffe painting.  We had the Green and Grey Abstraction (1931) in our living room for the next 50 years or so (until she donated it to the Art Institute of Chicago).

The special relationship and feelings mom had with her great inspiration were documented in print in the Chicago Reader on March 3, 1988. I think it was the first and possibly only personal article she ever published. The title: First Person: Me and Georgia by Jane Weinberg. The subhead was:

She asked me about the painting: Did I have it at home now? Why did I like it? I asked if she would tell me about it. She froze and said only, “It’s all there.”

We visited O’Keeffe’s home in Abiquiu, and her Ghost Ranch, amid some of the most gorgeous and varied color and shaped landscape I’ve ever seen, and the museum of her work in Santa Fe. The more we got immersed in her world and work, the closer I felt to my mom and to the deep roots she planted in my consciousness and awareness.  And the more I appreciated her gifts.

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What’s It Worth?

The most easily quantified dollar values (and some of the most relevant these days) are the asset values of the internet/digital stocks. The market cap is determined by the price of the stock times the number of shares outstanding.  Here’s a summary:

Market capitalization of selected U.S. tech and internet companies
in 2006 and 2019 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Interesting, huh? Draw your own conclusions, but it seems like both the market and the Department of Justice will figure in determining the value in the months and years ahead.

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My Favorite Conversation

It goes like this:

“Grampa!”
“Charlie.”
“Grampa!!”
“Charlie!!!”
(softly) “Grampa”
(softly)  “Charlie.”

and on and on.

It’s so wonderful and amazing that one of the first 15 or 20 words he’s saying is “Grampa.” I’m thrilled (but I’m pretty easily thrilled by the grandkids).    

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Bottom line (as they say in Silicon Valley and in other citizen corporations): I’m happy to be alive, healthy and surrounded by love, despite the fact that the world seems to be off its axis these days.

Best to you for a colorful, healthy October,

P.S. The comment section is open below, so write there to share your thoughts, opinions, or questions.