Bits and bob

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Wed, 15 Jun 2011 23:50:24 GMT  <== Digital Money ==> 

J.P. and G.T. at The Economist - a high-level description of how Bitcoin works. I haven't grokked the spec yet, to be able to judge how good a job this does, but it seems about right. One day, I'll write my own Bitcoin client, just to be sure I understand it, but for now, Lisplog is my top priority personal project.

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Comments (2):

Head spinning like Linda Blair

Submitted by Underground Carpenter on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:16:07 GMT

Hi Bill,

I hate to show my ignorance, but what are Quicklisp and Lisplog, and what do they do? What thing happens when one has "grokked the spec?"

I tried to read the bitcoin link, but midway through the page my head started spinning. It sounds even scarier, if that's possible, than Federal Reserve Notes.

Dave

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Heh. And that Economist

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 11:04:51 GMT

Heh. And that Economist article is greatly simplified from the actual Bitcoin spec. Guess you're not a programmer, or a cryptographer.

"grok" is a verb from Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. To grok something is to understand it with your whole being.

Lisplog is my new blogging software, running this site right now. Quicklisp is a lisp library manager, of interest only to Lisp programmers, like yours truly.

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