With bitcoin topping an unprecedented $2,400, LinkedIn Senior Software Editor Greg Leffler called bitcoin “the currency of criminals” in his video, “Bitcoin: What You Should Know“. This opinion was already outdated when LinkedIn Learning released my video series “Learning Bitcoin” three years ago. My “What is bitcoin” video from that course summarizes its history and then-current uses.

With that out of the way, I’d like to address a few of Mr. Leffler’s statements:

“Bitcoin is the currency of criminals”

He repeats variations of this throughout the two-minute video, along with sarcastic assertions that its legitimate uses pale by comparison. He lists its main uses as: to pay malware ransoms (although the recent worldwide “WannaCry” attack netted under $100,000 in bitcoin); to buy drugs (where? Silk Road and most of its bitcoin-fueled ilk have been closed for years); to buy fake I.D.s (same) and assassinations (same… also, probably only in his mind. If he has some figures showing how murderers are getting paid, I’d like to see them).

How do these “realistic” uses of bitcoin compare with the legitimate ones Mr. Leffler dismisses? It’s hard to find percentage figures for bitcoin sales, but some companies that accept payment in bitcoin include Steam ($3.5 billion gross revenue in 2015); Overstock.com (1.8 billion in 2016); and Newegg ($2.6 billion in 2015). If .000013 of their revenue comes from bitcoin, that beats the $100,000 number.

“Bitcoins don’t have any intrinsic value. It’s not a thing you can hold. It’s not worth anything in and of itself.”

That… actually describes most financial instruments. All “money” (except commodity money) is based on the value that others will trade for it. And just because you can hold something, that doesn’t mean it has value. (I offer a stack of worthless hundred-trillion dollar Zimbabwean banknotes as proof.)

“Everybody promises that the blockchain is going to be the next big thing in technology… it’s not.”

Well, Mr. Leffler is a technologist, and he’s right that the blockchain (on which bitcoin’s security is based) hasn’t changed technology in a grand way. It’s introduced a relatively small idea into security tech… which has had triggered fundamental changes at the highest levels of government and corporate finance. Check out blockchain enthusiasm in the last few days from: the Monetary Authority of Singapore; Walmart; and Fidelity. An apt comparison is public-key cryptography, a small idea from the 1970s that now underlies damn near all online security.

“If you want to move any remotely large amount of bitcoin, it’s going to shift the market.”

Well, let’s look at the numbers. The total market value of bitcoin today is $60 billion. About 200,000 bitcoins (not 2,000, as he claims) went through exchanges yesterday, with a market value over $400 million. Just the top three largest transactions today have a value of $10 million — with no visible impact on the market. (And it’s only noon where I am!) Transactions of this size regularly get market value. How “remotely large” is he talking about?

Takeaway: Don’t take vaccine advice from actresses whose knowledge comes from discredited 20-year old studies. And don’t take bitcoin advice from technologists whose knowledge comes from 2010 news media.

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-bitcoin-really-four-ways-greg-leffler-wrong-tom-geller

I’ve been busy working on a 45-second teaser trailer for my documentary-in-development, Almost a Brain. Here’s a 10-second sneak peek of just the tagline.

This trailer is taking a lot longer than expected. Last night I realized why: I want to set the project’s entire tone from the beginning. That’s a tall order! In the process I’ve learned been forced to learn new techniques to make it look, sound, and feel as I want. For example: Some of the lighting effects looked great in After Effects and Premiere, but terrible with my usual export settings. Video is a fickle mistress!

This is actually the second trailer I created. The first was somewhat rushed, as if meeting a short deadline, and done in a style familiar from my ACM videos. But then I threw the whole thing away and started again. My entire process has had to change for this project — I think it’s for the better, and hope the results demonstrate that.

The process has served as a reminder that new projects need extra time. It’s a corrollary to the old saying, “Practice makes perfect”: When you do something for the first time, you’ve never practiced it before. So expect imperfections — and then plan time to sand them away. The payoff is twofold: First, you’ll be proud of your project. Second, you’ll add new skills that make you more dextrous, flexible, and marketable.

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/untried-techniques-budget-extra-time-tom-geller

I got the idea from “Almost a Brain” after learning that the world’s top supercomputers are nearing the level of raw power in our brains — about a billion billion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000) operations per second (an “exaflop”). I’ve since come to recognize that there’s a lot more to brain modeling than power, but supercomputing still has a special place in my heart.

It’s a topic I first covered in 2011, when the fastest computer could reach achieve about 1/120th an exaflop. I wrote a few more articles on the subject, then created the following four-minute video. It features Daniel Reed, who’s a pretty interesting guy: He’s both a computer science professor and a college Vice President at the University of Iowa. (And he helped create the first web browser in the early ’90s!)

Exascale Computing and Big Data from CACM on Vimeo.

Somewhat related to supercomputing is quantum computing, which has the potential for much more power (in some respects) than traditional supercomputers can offer. University of Arizona Professor Stuart Hameroff has put forth some intriguing theories about quantum computing in the human brain: I look forward to digging deep for his Almost a Brain interview.

But for a bit of background in the meantime, enjoy this video I did with Professor Benoît Valiron about how to program quantum computers.

Programming the Quantum Future from CACM on Vimeo.

(This post is the first in a series of four. Soon to come: insights from research in artificial intelligence, human behavior modeling, and computational biology.)

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/supercomputing-quantum-computing-documentary-almost-brain-tom-geller

They’re big and well-established, but they need our nimbleness

On Thursday, LinkedIn released its list of 50 “top” U.S. companies, based on site engagement, job applications, and employee retention. (There are also lists for Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, India, and the U.K..)

LinkedIn mostly focuses on salaried employees, but there are also freelancing opportunities at these companies — if you know where to look. Here are some tips I’ve collected from freelancing at such companies as Apple, Wells-Fargo, and Qualcomm. (I cover many of these topics in my LinkedIn Learning course, “Freelancing Foundations“.)

  • Target departments, not companies. Only companies with at least 500 employees made the LinkedIn list. That’s way too many people for the H.R. department to know what everybody’s doing, so a pitch sent there is likely to get lost in the shuffle. Instead, target your efforts at departments that are likely to need your skills. That takes research — and possibly sending a few InMails.
  • Get your house in order. Companies often turn to freelancers to complete short-term projects: They want straightforward professionals ready to just walk in and do the job. The more you can show that you’re such a person — for example through a web portfolio, business cards, and client endorsements — the better your chances of attracting their attention.
  • Be prepared to do paperwork… and wait. Big companies have big bureaucracies. They might require freelancers to have business insurance, or be contracted via purchase order, or submit expenses through some arcane system. Then you might have to wait for all that paperwork to be processed before you ever start work (or see a check).
  • Be diligent and patient. Approach large companies as long-term investments of your time. But in turn, they can turn into clients who come back to you for years. (They don’t want to go through all that paperwork again for someone else!)

Are you a freelancer who’s had success with big clients? Share your tips in the comments below.

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/freelancers-you-too-can-work-linkedin-top-companies-tom-geller

Artificial intelligence and supercomputers provide the power. What happens next?

ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS, May 12, 2017 — 100 billion neurons. 100,000 billion connections. A billion billion operations per second. The numbers are incomprehensible. This is your brain. And soon, computers will be able to mimic its operations on the most fundamental levels.

What happens then? Will these new brains understand themselves as we do? Will they feel? What aspects of human thought will remain the province of humans alone? How will we revise our ideas of humanity?

These are questions the documentary “Almost a Brain” will explore through archival research and original interviews with neurologists, computer scientists, and leaders in philosophy. The project is led by Tom Geller, a technology journalist who has produced videos and articles on related topics for The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Nature.com, and others.

“Computer models of the human brain are already sophisticated enough to help figure out and treat disorders such as epilepsy,” Geller said. “Now, projects like the Human Brain Project in Europe and the BRAIN Initiative in the United States are filling in the gaps. I believe it’s only a matter of time before something resembling ‘thought’ emerges from such models, whether unexpectedly or through concerted efforts. How it differs from that of biological humans, and how we react to it, will fundamentally change how we see ourselves.”

With bases in The Netherlands (Rotterdam) and the U.S. (Oberlin, Ohio), Tom Geller Productions has secured interview commitments with experts including AI pioneer Eric Horvitz, Microsoft Technical Fellow and Director of Microsoft Research Labs; and Professor Jack Dongarra, who tracks the world’s fastest computers through the semi-annual TOP500 reports.

To participate or learn more, visit almostabrain.com.

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Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/documentary-almost-brain-explore-how-computers-nearing-tom-geller

And why they won’t be featured in “Almost a Brain”

Last Friday I announced my upcoming documentary about computers that model the human brain, “Almost a Brain“. And I’ve started talking about it to everyone I can. I practice my pitch on them while watching their faces for signs of interest, skepticism, and outrage. This is market research; it’ll affect what the documentary covers, and how.

But there’s one reaction that I’m basically going to ignore: “When computers are smarter than us, won’t they take over?” It’s an old fear that’s gotten a lot of attention in the last few years because of advances in artificial intelligence (AI) — and the concerns of famous “smart people” including Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk. It’s a tale perfect for the anxiety-addicted U.S. media, featuring celebrities, strong opinions, and imminent danger.

And I don’t care.

Well, that’s not completely true. I care in the sense that I believe that any new, powerful tool demands caution and respect. We can expect a period of unbounded possibility and lawlessness, followed by a settling down as society decides what costs are worth the rewards. This consensus is never pretty: Consider the million-plus deaths per year we accept in exchange for the benefits we get from driving cars, for example. It’s wise to start the discussion now.

For the purposes of my documentary, though, the apocalypse argument isn’t interesting. First, because it’s unlikely, at least in the general sense described in the media. Second, it’s already well-covered: I have nothing new to add. Third, and most importantly, it’s a technological discussion of something that’s ultimately a human matter. The doomsday scenarios require human cooperation to build, spread, and apply the technology, in the face of (human) opposition. That’s a much bigger nut to crack than the technical ones.

These human matters also lead to more interesting questions. Such as: What is human thought? Will we recognize it when we see it? How will we then differentiate ourselves from our creations?

These questions are at least as old as biblical stories of golems. They have new importance now, as supercomputers approach the raw processing power of the human brain; neurologists can map and better understand the relationship between brain and thought; and artificial intelligence opens new windows into how we learn, and ultimately create. So the stimulus to make this documentary now is technological; its motivation, however, is human.

That’s why I’m actively pursuing sources in the areas of philosophy and human neurology for the documentary — areas outside my own field of computer science. As Wavy Gravy often says, “It’s all done with people.” So Almost a Brain is ultimately about people — old and new.

 

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-killer-robots-dont-worry-me-tom-geller

Thank you for your outstanding contribution to the world of writers through LinkedIn Learning. I must say, it inspired me to keep writing.

To get something accomplished, first make sure you’re in the right country. According to an article in the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad yesterday, some protesters missed that point when they accidentally put pressure on the rural government of Rotterdam, New York (population: 30,000) instead of The Netherlands’ second-largest city.

Such errors happen surprisingly often, even among business travel professionals. Years ago, I was planning travel to Santa Ana and asked the company’s travel agent if I could stay at a certain hotel chain. “I’m afraid it’s not available,” she said. “How about the one in Sacramento?” (Note: The two are a seven-hour drive apart.)

O.K., those are both extreme examples. But when you book a room, you’re balancing among a dozen criteria: room quality, parking, food options, exercise amenities, and so forth. For business travel, I believe you should consider location high on priority list. Here’s why:

  • Most business trips involve at least two main locations: Your hotel and the meeting place. The closer the two are, the less unproductive time you’ll spend in transit — and, more importantly, the fewer things likely to go wrong and make you late for appointments.
  • For trips around a group event (such as a convention), a lot of the real action happens “in the hallways” — those serendipitous times you see a high-value colleague in the hotel lobby or on the shuttle bus.
  • In city environments especially, one block’s distance can make a world of difference with regard to noise and safety. Unless you know the city already, you could pay with your sleep or comfort.

So what makes a good location? In short, it’s one that helps you fulfill the purpose of your trip. Although the examples above suggest that closer is better, that’s not always true. For example, you might be on a trip that requires you to travel to several places in a day: You might be best served by a place with good parking (regardless of location), or at the center point of public transit.

Such places might actually be outside of your target city, for example in a nearby suburb on the city’s “right” side. I’m a fan of Google Maps for figuring out travel times and neighborhood conditions. Its Street View is particularly helpful, letting me virtually walk around to suss out nearby eateries, walking conditions, and (perceived) neighborhood safety. You’ll also immediately see if you’ve made a grave mistake — like thinking you can commute from Sacramento to Santa Ana.

Did you stay in a location that helped (or hindered) your trip in unexpected ways? I’d love to read your stories in the comments below!

Tom Geller is the author of the LinkedIn Learning video course “Freelancing Fundamentals“. He serves American and European clients from his home in Rotterdam — the one in The Netherlands.

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/right-hotel-oh-so-wrong-place-tom-geller

Camerawork and interviewing for this piece was my first gig for Zoomin.tv. I grabbed my equipment after hearing the protests from my apartment, which is around the corner from the Consulate.

I’ve enjoyed your lectures/lessons on Lynda.com. You have a great delivery style as well as very interesting background! Thanks for the help, coach!

Two professors at the University of Bristol discuss how to apply artificial intelligence to improve the peer-review process for journals and conferences.

An interview with Frits Vaandrager of Radboud University (The Netherlands), on a system that probes unknown systems to figure out their inner logic.

A talk with RPI Professor Bülent Yener about a method that lets graph theory help identify diseased tissue.

On 5 December I’ll leave the U.S. to spend an undetermined period in what may become my new home in The Netherlands — Rotterdam. I’ll live in temporary housing until their immigration department finalizes my residency permit, which I hope will happen within a couple of months. I’ll rent out my house in Oberlin, Ohio for short stays and will continue to serve my existing American clients. However, I also plan to focus Tom Geller Productions on European opportunities.

I’ve lived mostly in two places since graduating from college, and left both for the same reason: I felt I’d gotten what I wanted from the place and was itching for something different. (I wrote three years ago about my move from San Francisco to Oberlin, Ohio.) This time is no different. I moved to Oberlin almost nine years ago to do some “adulting” and to enjoy a quieter, more-easygoing place. Now it’s time for me to be back in a city, and Rotterdam is a fun place that I know from two previous months-long visits.

I expect people to think I’m moving because of the current political climate in the U.S.. That’s not among my top reasons. Like a thinking citizen of any country, I feel pains and joys about my own. This is a topic for another time.

I’ll be back in the U.S. for a bit in April (and traveling in Europe sometimes before then.) For now, my Twitter account is probably the best way to keep up. More later.

Watching your course on Lynda, “Writing Articles” — amazing. Thank you!

A promotional video about the Heidelberg Laureate Forum, a week-long meeting of 200 advanced young researchers in math and computer science, together with about two dozen “laureates” who have won the world’s top prizes in those topics (Turing Award, Abel Prize, Fields Medal, and Nevanlinna Prize). Commissioned by the Association for Computing Machinery, which sponsors the Turing Award.

Very nice article! I think you did a great job integrating the various perspectives.

An interview-based news report about how automation is coming to large farm machinery (such as tractors) worldwide.

Matei Zaharia talks about his creation Apache Spark, a modular platform for performing calculations on big data.

I loved your Freelancing Fundamentals course. It gave me exactly the information I was seeking to move forward if this is the path I decide to take.