Bitcoin developers offer $10,000 virtual bounty to fix mystery Mac bug

“Price fluctuations and hackers aren’t the only challenge facing the virtual currency Bitcoin, with developers pooling funds for a virtual bounty offered to anyone who can fix a bug they fear could hemper take up.  Bitcoin developers and their counterparts backing the younger, rival virtual currency Litecoin have thrown together a virtual bounty worth around $10,000 for anyone who can figure out what’s causing a data corruption issue in certain Bitcoin and Litecoin wallets on Macs.  According to Warren Togami, a developer who contributes to both Bitcoin and Litecoin, the unusual step of offering a sizeable bounty has been taken because the bug is considered critical enough to stifle Bitcoin uptake.”

http://www.zdnet.com/bitcoin-developers-offer-10000-virtual-bounty-to-fix-mystery-mac-bug-7000023632/

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Bitcoin is a money platform with many APIs

“On the Bitcoin network, you can programmatically check your balance, or the balance of any Bitcoin wallet. You can create and consume transactions on a level playing field. You can operate a bank, a stock exchange, a wire transfer service or an escrow service without anyone’s permission or accreditation. The Internet made every blogger able to reach an audience as big as that of the New York Times. Bitcoin makes every node, even that running on your cellphone, equal in capability to Wells Fargo or Bank of America.”

http://radar.oreilly.com/2013/05/bitcoin-is-a-money-platform-with-many-apis.html

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Cyanogenmod goes pro with Cyanogen Inc. and $7 million in funding

“Cyanogenmod is hitting the big leagues with the founding of Cyanogen Inc. The new company is up and running thanks to a $7 million dollar series A investment by Benchmark Capital and Redpoint Ventures.  Cyanogenmod is the most popular custom Android ROM. Unlike stock Android, which is only available on Nexus devices, Cyanogenmod brings a near-stock experience to users of almost every Android device.  Users willing to hack their devices can remove their default version of Android and install Cyanogenmod. Many make the switch to either remove bloatware and manufacturer customizations or for the plethora of custom-developed Cyanogenmod features.”

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/09/cyanogenmod-goes-pro-with-cyanogen-inc-and-7-million-in-funding/

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The secret second OS that makes every mobile phone insecure

“Take your smartphone, for instance. There’s definitely a primary OS — Android, iOS, Windows Phone — but there’s also at least two other operating systems: The baseband OS and the SIM card OS, both of which run on their own processor that’s separate from the SoC.  [..] REX OS automatically executes any commands that it receives over-the-air from the carrier’s base station — and yes, in case you were wondering, there are commands that perform a variety of heinous acts, such as turning on auto-answer, executing arbitrary code, or simply bricking your device. It goes without saying that, in theory, you could set up your own base station and cause a lot of havoc.”

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/170874-the-secret-second-operating-system-that-could-make-every-mobile-phone-insecure

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46 Bitcoin APIs: Bitstamp, Bitcoin Charts Markets and 50BTC

“Our API directory now includes 46 bitcoin APIs. The newest is the Btc.to API. The most popular, in terms of page visits, is the BitStamp API. Below you’ll find some more stats from the directory, including the entire list of bitcoin APIs.  In terms of the technical details, REST and JSON lead the way. There are 33 bitcoin REST APIs and 2 bitcoin JavaScript APIs. Our directory lists 36 bitcoin JSON APIs and 5 bitcoin XML APIs. The most common tags within bitcoin are 34 currency bitcoin APIs26 financial bitcoin APIs and 22 exchange bitcoin APIs.  Bitcoin APIs have only appeared in our directory relatively recently, with 39 having been added in the last calendar year.”

http://blog.programmableweb.com/2013/06/11/46-bitcoin-apis-bitstamp-bitcoin-charts-markets-and-50btc/

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Errant Code? It’s Not Just a Bug

http://freedomwat.ch/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/0809OPEDgreig01-articleLarge.jpg

“As a former software engineer, I laughed when I read what the SEC might be considering in response to the debacle of Knight Capital’s runaway computerized stock trades: forcing companies to fully test their computer systems before deploying coding changes.  That policy may sound sensible, but if you know anything about computers, it is funny on several accounts.  But, if Knight Capital and other firms were forced to pay back everyone — everyone — who got caught in their downdraft, just imagine what brilliant systems the companies would devise.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/opinion/after-knight-capital-new-code-for-trades.html?_r=2&ref=opinion

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