A zombie attacking my car at Park Royal

This weekend it was Halloween again, and with 2 young kids that means lots of celebrations. The kids started the day with a Halloween Parade at school. In the late afternoon we went to the Park Royal shopping mall where many shops were handing out Trick-or-Treat candy. Scott and Elaine met many of their school friends and teachers there.

After a quick dinner at a Taiwanese restaurant we went on to King’s Avenue for trick-or-treating. We ended the evening in our street where the kids got a lot of candy from our neighbours as well. Scott and Elaine had a great time during Halloween and are now already talking about how they want to dress up next year. Below some pictures of the day.

Scott dressed up as an emperor, but he lost his crown sometime during the day

Elaine dressed up as her favorite Disney character Rapunzel, of course with a long hair braid

At school the kids started the day with a Halloween parade in which they had to tell the audience what costume they were wearing

Of course also our house was decorated for Halloween, both on the inside and the outside

Halloween decorations at home

Family picture with some friends in Park Royal. I went as King Tut and several people took pictures of me!

Trick-or-Treat on King’s Avenue

Trick-or-Treat on King’s Avenue, with amazing decorations at some of the houses

Despite the fact that it was pitch dark on the street, Scott and Elaine met several friends during the Trick-or-Treat

The partial result of trick-or-treating: a big bag of candy and other treats. 

View from Grouse Mountain this afternoon

I regularly do the Grouse Grind, a very steep 2.9 km hike with an altitude difference of 853 meters. Scott had told me a few times that he would like to join me, but I always thought it would be too hard and dangerous for him. The Grouse Grind was chosen last year as of one of the 10 most dangerous hikes in the world, and although I think that’s a bit over the top it’s certainly not a simple walk in the park. Each year many people have to be rescued because they underestimate the trail and some people have even died while trying to get to the top (either from heart attacks or because of slipping and falling down the steep slope).

With Scott before the start of the Grouse Grind

The Grouse Grind season will be over soon: once there is snow on the trail it will be closed right away because it would be too dangerous, and that will likely happen in the next 1-2 weeks. So when the Grouse Grind topic came up again yesterday I told Scott we would go on Sunday if the weather would be nice.

Well, today was a sunny day, so after lunch we put on our sports clothes and hiking shoes and drove to the start of the trail. Despite the fact that it was late in the season it was quite busy at the entrance of the trail, but it did not matter too much today because we would not go fast. If I do the Grouse Grind on my own I normally go much faster than the average hiker, so I keep on passing people on the narrow trail, which slows me down a lot.

Scott was very happy and immediately set the pace. For the first 10 minutes we kept up with all the other hikers, but when the trail became steeper I told Scott to slow down a bit and let people pass. After about 20 minutes we made our first stop to drink some water. I didn’t really know whether Scott would be able to make it to the top (I had some doubts actually), but I knew that the best chance of reaching the finish was by stopping frequently and by drinking and eating enough. So I encouraged Scott to stop regularly, luckily he did not mind.

The trail is well maintained and has a lot of steps that make it easier to climb. However, for Scott these steps were just a bit too high, so he climbed around the ‘stairs’ which made it even harder for him. But he did not mind, he even told me he liked the difficulty of the climb. After about 30 minutes we were at the 1/4 mark and we made another stop. Scott was talking a lot during the hike, so he did not seem to be tired yet.

We hiked on and Scott kept on setting the pace. We let some people pass, but the pace was such that we even passed some people! The last thing I wanted was for Scott to blow up halfway the course, because walking down is even more difficult than going up (next to the fact that it’s not allowed to hike down), so I forced him to make another stop before the halfway point. He did not see why that was necessary but he did not mind and after a banana we hiked on to the 1/2 mark.

From there Scott seemed to be getting wings and between 1/2 and 3/4 he did not want to stop at all. He asked me a couple of times if we were almost there, but he said he was not tired. At 3/4 we stopped for some more water and a Twix bar and then we climbed the last part to the top.

After 1 hour and 53 minutes we reached the gondola station and I high fived Scott to celebrate his first Grouse Grind. He was happy as well and was still full of energy. We had a hot chocolate in the restaurant and then we walked around on the mountain for another 30 minutes before taking the gondola down to the parking lot. I am very proud of my little boy, he is quickly growing into a big boy and I am sure we’ll do this hike more often together. Congratulations on this achievement Scott!

A couple of months ago Rutger van Zuidam told me he was working with some friends on a project to create a short animated video that would explain the concept of Bitcoin to people new to the technology. I liked the idea immediately, because understanding the basics of Bitcoin is hard and most resources on the Internet assume that people know what Bitcoin is and what it can be used for. Today the video was officially launched, you can see it here in English and here in Dutch (both links on YouTube).

The result is great and will send it to friends or business relations who ask me about Bitcoin, something that happens several times per week. The video explains that Bitcoin is much more than just a currency (Bitcoin as money is actually just the tip of the iceberg), how it works and what the technology can be used for.

There are some great examples in the clip, among others about using Bitcoin technology to reduce healthcare costs (by assigning some bitcoins specifically for certain care), and about Bitcoin trust that allows a vending machine to order new goods on its own when they run out and even pay for the products itself.

Even if you know a lot about Bitcoin already it’s an entertaining video. And if you’re new to Bitcoin this educational video is a must watch. Enjoy and spread the word!

More information: http://www.bitcoinproperly.org/

On Facebook I came across this (English language) video about robot suits. Coincidentally I had a discussion about exactly this topic last week, so I have been thinking about the impact of robots and robotic equipment quite a lot over the past days.

My personal belief is that robots will make our life a lot easier, but that they will also lead to mass unemployment. I am generally an optimist and I like technological progress more than most, but I do believe that within one generation most people’s jobs might be replaced by robots. And not just almost all low-end jobs, but also many higher-end positions like those of doctors, cooks and teachers.

Scary? Yes, especially because I don’t see how other jobs can be created to offset the loss of jobs within this short timespan. If 50% of the adult population is unemployed this will cause mass unrest, even if we can find a way to provide these people with a basic income. Most people only look a few years ahead and think this will sort itself out, but I am not too sure about that.

Robots get exponentially faster, smarter and cheaper, and things that now seem impossible will be possible very soon. One good example are autonomous cars. Just a year ago most people that I talked to did not believe my vision that they would see them in their lifetimes. My prediction was that Scott (who is now 6 years old now) would not need to get a drivers license anymore because he would be able to get a self-driving car.

People laughed at that idea, but see how far we have come in just one year: Tesla is now launching a car with an autopilot and that’s the last step to a real self-driving vehicle. My prediction: within 5 years the first cars without drivers will hit the car showrooms in California. The main hurdle won’t be technology but outdated government legislation.

Robots will not necessarily be independently functioning objects like cars or humanoids, but can also be something like the suit in the video. They can make humans into super humans and that will lead to interesting new possibilities. This will also cause the loss of jobs, but to me it feels less scary than the ‘normal’ robots. Take a look at the video and think about the possibilities. Maybe one day I will be able to run the marathon in less than 2 hours because of a robot suit!

I like nice watches and I am a big fan of Bitcoin, so when I read in a Chinese WeChat group about the first watch for the Bitcoin aficionado I immediately decided to check it out. Normally I don’t buy watches off the Internet (I want to see and feel them first, especially more expensive ones), but this one is so special that I ordered it right away after seeing it online.

The watch, called the Cryptomatic, is available in 4 different colors (red gold, silver/red gold, silver, and black) and I immediately liked the black one. The timepiece ships from Hong Kong and took about 3 days to arrive in Canada.

What’s I like about the watch is not only the fact that it prominently shows the Bitcoin logo and has the 1-12 numbers in binary format, but also that you can only buy it with Bitcoin. Luis Rosende, the designer and watchmaker, is also a big Bitcoin believer and said in the group chat that he refused several orders because people wanted to pay in fiat currency. If you want a watch like this and you can’t to pay in Bitcoin you don’t ‘deserve’ to own one yet. Hint: If you don’t have bitcoin yet and want this watch, go to Circle.com and set up an account. It’s very easy and takes less than 5 minutes to set up and fund a bitcoin account.

The packaging of the watch looks great and opening the box for the first time was part of the experience for me, it reminds me a bit of how Apple packages its products. The watch itself is as beautiful as the pictures on the website. It’s quite thick but not too heavy, and it comes standard with a black metal chain and an additional black leather strap. The chain can easily be shortened with the tools that come with the watch.

The Cryptomatic itself is self-winding, just like most other high(er)-end watches, so you’ll need an automatic watch winder in case you don’t wear it everyday. If you don’t have one you can buy one here with Bitcoin. The watch is a limited edition watch, each of the 4 colors is only produced 200 times. Your watch will be numbered, mine was 003 out of 200 (it’s engraved on the side of the watch).

The Cryptomatic watch costs CHF 888 (about 2.5 bitcoin on the day that I ordered it), so it’s not super expensive but it’s certainly not a low end watch either. If you believe in Bitcoin and want to spread the Bitcoin gospel, this is a great product to own. I am sure it will be a conversation starter at many dinners, meetings or parties!

One thing I realized this summer while sailing the Gulf Islands on my boat Liberty, was that I had no idea how to operate my radio. I was able to listen to conversations on channels, but I had no idea what channels to listen to nor how to initiate a conversation myself. So when I was back I did some research and found I actually needed to be licensed in order to operate my yacht’s radio.

The easiest way to get certified was through a one-day course, which is offered a few times a year at the West Vancouver Yacht Club. Today was one of those days, so at 8:45 AM I showed up in their classroom overlooking the marina. It turned out to be a rainy day today, so it was perfect for spending it inside and learning a lot. I had not prepared much, except for revisiting the phonetic alphabet (Alpha, Beta, Charlie, Delta etc.) and some common abbreviations.

There were 11 students for today’s course, most of them experienced sailors and several of them with prior radio experience. Alll students received a book that would be the basis for the exam at the end of the day. We could have picked up book at the instructor’s house a couple of days before the course, but I had been too busy at work to study, so I hadn’t done so. During the first 30 minutes of the course I regretted that, because the level was a bit higher than I had expected, especially when listening to the questions that some of the students asked and that I did not even understand.

But after a few hours of listening intently and taking tens of pages of notes everything came together and I felt I understand most of the theory. It’s really not that hard, but if you don’t even know the difference between a traditiona VHF radio and a DSC (digital selective calling) device it is a bit overwhelming at first.

The course was very interesting actually and I enjoyed taking part in it. Everyone who has a boat with radio (most boats these days have one) should probably participate, not only because it’s obligatory and will make you a better sailor, but also because you learn a lot of interesting facts (did you know that almost anything you hear over the radio should be treated confidentially? You can’t just blog about it for example…).

After doing theory until about 1:30 PM we started on the practical (oral) part. We similated several situations in which we needed to communicate with other ships or with the coast guard. Very useful, because if you need to do this for the first time on your own boat it can be quite stressful. Now you could make mistakes without all other boats around you listening in.

A class room with a view!

The day ended with a 1-hour theory exam which was not very hard (it was multiple choice!), I finished it in 20 minutes or so and passed easily.  The oral exam that followed was quite easy as well, I had to use the phonetic alphabet to spell some words and boat IDs, and then I had to do a simulated radio call in a security situation. Also this I could do without many problems and now I’m the holder of a restricted maritime radio operator’s certificate.

Looking back it’s interesting how much you can learn in one day if you fully focus on it. This morning I still did not know much about radio communication and now I know quite a lot about radio channels, protocols and equipment. I look forward to using my maritime radio for the first time to talk to the coast guard and I may actually take one of my boat’s handheld radio sets home to listen in to some of the maritime conversations that take place on the ships that pass by our house.

When I got home the rain stopped, the sun broke through the clouds and the sky was almost blue. I love Vancouver’s weather!

During a strategic session in our office this afternoon we brainstormed about new business models that would only be possible with Bitcoin technology. One thing we discussed was a business idea that I had read about last night in a post from Twobitidiot (a well-known Bitcoin blogger). His idea was to set up a company that would allow employees to be paid on a daily basis instead of monthly.

When I read this yesterday I did not think about it t0o much, but it’s actually a very feasible idea. One reason why most people are paid on monthly instead of daily, is because it’s too much of an administrative effort to do this every day. If you give people a check you don’t want to write new ones every day, if you pay cash it’s too much work to count money on a daily basis, and if you pay by bank transfer transaction costs would be much higher.

I wonder what would happen if companies would offer people the choice to either get paid on a daily basis in bitcoin or monthly in fiat currency. Especially among people who are not paid so well a large group may prefer to get daily payments instead. It would for example mean that people who now go to payday loan companies before the end of each month don’t need to do that anymore and can save the (high) interest that they are being charged there.

Companies may not like it of course, because their cash flow would look a bit different (at the end of the month it will be the same, but during the month they need more cash on hand to pay) and they would lose interest on the salaries that need to be paid earlier.

Employees might be scared because of the high volatility of bitcoin, but with services like Bitpay or GoCoin it’s easy to change the bitcoin to dollars right away, so there is no exchange risk. Once bitcoin will be less volatile (which will eventually happen) they can keep the money in bitcoin until they use it. By that time they can buy a lot more products in BTC anyway.

You could set up smart contracts that pay out right away the moment someone checks out from work or leaves the building, and even overtime could be paid out immediately. It’s actually a much fairer system for workers.

Right now there is no full cycle in the bitcoin economy: you can buy goods with bitcoin, but merchants will immediately sell their bitcoin for fiat currency to pay their salaries and other costs, leading to a downward pressure on the bitcoin price. If salaries would be in bitcoin as well there is less pressure for them to sell all their coins, because they can use them. Next to that, if more people would earn bitcoin it’s likely that more companies will accept bitcoin. These companies in turn may use them to pay their employees, and then there is suddenly a full cycle possible.

Embracing Bitcoin technology can make life a lot easier for people but also for companies. We identified quite some opportunities for start-ups to use the blockchain and smart contracts. The ideas we came up with don’t exist yet because entrepreneurs only go for the low-hanging fruit in a new market segment or because they don’t think out of the box (yet).

The world as we know it will change a lot over the next years because of Bitcoin, that’s for sure. It’s fun to be at the forefront of these changes and to try to predict what to focus on in our investments.

Picture source: Flickr (under creative commons license)

I have been using the iPhone 6 for about 10 days now and I have mixed feelings about it. Normally when a new iPhone comes out I buy it straight away and hardly ever touch my last phone anymore, but this time it’s different.

The phone looks decent, but it reminds me of an ancient Galaxy S3 that I still use as my Chinese phone (it’s an early 2012 model), the size and the design are quite similar. The only design part I do no like about the iPhone 6 is that the camera lens sticks out. I don’t believe that’s something that Steve Jobs would have allowed, it just feels awkward and the phone is always tilting a bit when you put it on the table.

The screen of the iPhone 6 is great and after some initial problems of setting up the phone (for some reason the full back-up I made of my 5S did not make it completely to the new phone) I enjoyed using it. The camera is better that the 5S, especially in low light situations and the extra row of apps on my home screen is an advantage when you constantly have to decide which apps come on the first screen.

However, the bigger screen is also its biggest disadvantage, because it is much harder to use the phone with one hand. Over the years I got used to handling the phone completely with one hand, including typing. But with the iPhone 6 the screen is just too big to that comfortably. I already dropped the phone once (luckily the screen did not break this time) when trying to reach the top right app with my right hand thumb and I am sure that will happen more often in the future.

This weekend I was in Las Vegas for a 3-night bachelor party (no blog post about that trip, what happens in Vegas…) and when I’m in the US I use both my Canadian and my US phones. Because I use my US phone more than my Canadian when in the US I normally switch SIM cards, so that my Canadian phone becomes my US phone. However, this time I did not do that right away and I used my 5S with my US SIM card. And guess what, it felt much better to use the 5S again. I actually kept on using the 5S during the whole trip and only took my iPhone 6 with me for taking pictures.

I would not be surprised if a lot more people will soon realize that they have the problem that they can’t use the phone with one hand anymore. I had assumed that this problem might occur with the iPhone 6 plus, so I did not buy that one, but I had not imagined that the 6 would also be too small. With iOS 8 installed the 5S may actually be a better phone than the 6, except for NFC and the camera.

I will likely use the 6 for a while again now that I’m back in Canada, especially because of the camera (I take tons of pictures every day). It’s possible that I will get used to it after a while but if I keep dropping it I may switch back.

First world problems, I know, but it shows that Apple may have lost some of its magical touch by making products that are not exactly what you wanted to have. I actually believe that if the iPhone 5S had come out after the 6 people may have raved about it that one (“the smaller size is just amazing, it’s so much more convenient etc.”), just like they now rave about the 6. Well, I am glad I did not buy the iPhone 6 plus!