Today around 3:15PM, local Toronto time and in Buffalo where the path of totality takes place, there will be a total eclipse of the sun, which is the first time since 1925 for our region. This is regarded as a once in a lifetime event for these parts. The next eclipse doesn’t happen until 2044, but is mostly in Alberta and western States. So if you are reading this in the morning, then you may want to be prepared to pause and see it first hand, although of course with proper eye protection. So enjoy this historic event.
BitConned: There is a new documentary that speaks to the BitCoin phenomenon from just a few years back. By a few years back we are talking about 2017 and the eventual explosion of BitCoin as an alternate currency and means of monetary exchange between people. Enter some young men with sketchy backgrounds who look upon the unregulated BitCoin world as an opportunity to make money out of thin air, while profiting from the hype and human desire to win the lottery.
Specifically these young men, native New Yorkers but living in Miami, are looking to find a way to address the problem of spending the value one has stored in the bitcoin that they have accumulated. One of the challenges of course is monetizing a volatile value as it fluctutates dramatically from day to day and hour to hour.
These three guys pictured here basically borrowed an idea they heard from an Asian company about creating a debit card that allows the card holder to use their bitcoin to purchase whatever they choose. Once purchased, the proper amount of bitcoin is deducted from their balance. The concept was intriguing as the value of bitcoin was increasing dramatically, and more everyday people began to hear about it, and look to invest in it. So what did these guys do? They started off by shedding a failed Miami Exotics car company, and then starting up Centra Card which according to their website was backed by VISA. Also Bancorp. Each of these three men pictured here had LinkedIn websites which showed them as coming from Harvard Business School, and they had a CEO as a silent investor with extensive banking experience. The story unfolds as the celebrity endoresements roll in from people like Floyd Merriweather. With another positive article written by a different source, the money through an ICO (Initial Coin Offering) started coming in. However much these three wanted to pursue a legitimate company, they seemed to get sidetracked with the money.
For me, what is shocking, really is the whole US (and North American) judicial process and when charges get laid through the SEC, and the trials begin the ultimate results. It was shocking to be sure, but it isn’t surprising. One wonders about sentencing and how an informer with a tattoo of the word “loyalty” on his body is then treated through the judicial system. As a lawyer, I am saddened with the results.
Three Body Problem: Apparently this is the most expensive Netflix series ever. This is Season 1. There are eight episodes, each approximately one hour each. It is from the book from Chinese author Chixin Liu. Overall, I enjoyed this series which was written by the Game of Thrones pairing of David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. You will see many Game of Thrones actors making appearances. This is a remake of a thirty episode Chinese series named Three-Body.
I went into watching this not knowing the background nor the story. The early episodes begin with a premise of well known scientists ending their lives under bizarre circumstances. One has writing on his premises wall much like the scribblings from A Beautiful Mind, or Knowing with Nicolas Cage. It is all very mysterious. There is one Saul Durand, a brilliant scientist who is perplexed by his scientific work no longer providing the same results as one would expect (contrary to all scientific theory with repeatable data). A manager and colleague later ends up taking her own life. Naturally there are police that are curious about these deaths and one in particular is looking to put the pieces together. Friends of scientist Durant gather and want to discuss the bizarre circumstances. In yet another parallel story to this there is a story about one of the scientists who shortly before her death was playing a video game. Such a game involves wearing a silver helmet-like device for those who are invited to play and involves a realistic world and technology that currently doesn’t exist in gaming. As the story moves on, this then takes on a new flavour with flashbacks of happenings in China in the 1960s which have had substantial and material impact on where the story goes. I was not expecting the direction in which it was taken. There are some parallels with Game of Thrones in that you don’t know where it will go, and what will happen to some of the characters, both good and bad. Obviously there are more books and more story to be told. This is still early days. I will continue to watch and see where this goes.
Mondays With Robbie 