Hasta La Gadget!

It’s easy to see that the Bitcoin market is under stress when there’s rising overall activity and tighter oversight. However, it’s now so hectic that the Mt. Gox exchange has trouble fulfilling even basic transactions — and the institution is freezing US dollar withdrawals for two weeks to keep things in check. Mt. Gox’s team will use the downtime to upgrade its trading system and (hopefully) address the heavy workload. Deposits and transfers in American currency should still be good to go. Let’s just hope that Mt. Gox manages smoother transitions in the future — after all, not everyone can afford to leave their money in limbo during a tech refresh.

Filed under: Internet

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Via: Ars Technica

Source: Mt. Gox

With the Xbox One, Microsoft is killing off the virtual currency of Xbox Live — Microsoft Points are soon-to-be no more. But what of remaining balances? Apparently Microsoft’s taking care of transfers, and even turning those points back into real currency. “When the transition takes place, the balance of Microsoft Points in an account will be retired and the customer will be given an amount in local currency that is equal or greater in Marketplace value,” a Microsoft rep told our friends at Joystiq.

“That value will be stored in your account and can be used similar to Microsoft Points to make purchases in the Xbox Live Marketplace.” It sounds to us like you’ll be making a permanent move with your account’s currency from the Xbox 360 to the Xbox One — 80 MS Points are equal to $1, currently. Regardless, it sure is nice that those virtual bucks aren’t locked to a console that we’ll soon be retiring to the attic.

Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD, Microsoft

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Source: Joystiq

Americans like to tease Canadians about their colorful (and often animal-themed) money, but we think the tables might just have turned. When the Bank of Canada issues a new $5 polymer bill this November, one side will include both the Canadarm2 and Dextre manipulator robots in tribute to the nation’s work on both the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. Let that sink in for a moment: a country’s currency will reference space robots alongside the usual politicians. The only thing dampening the awesomeness is the irony of it all, as it’s an ode to technology in a format that’s being destroyed by technology. Still, we’ll consider the $5 note a victory for geeks everywhere when we’re buying a box of Timbits.

Filed under: Robots, Transportation

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Source: Bank of Canada

Five dollars does not always equal five dollars. Well, I mean, it does but you could definitely stretch your dollar better in another country. Take bananas, for example, $5 gets you 8.5 pounds of it in America but $5 in Ethiopia gets you a whopping 25 pounds of bananas! And more importantly: beer. In China you can get a 12-pack for $5 bucks. Try getting that in America (you only get 4 beers for the same Lincoln). At least we’re not as expensive as Australia, right? [BuzzFeed via FoodBeast] More »

What is a bitcoin? Like exactly? It’s digital currency and it’s been around for a while now so what’s all the fuss these days? It’s because more and more places are accepting bitcoins as real currency. If you’re still a little bit confused on where bitcoins come from (or how you can just invent digital currency), watch the video explainer above by Duncan Elms. Get to mining. [Duncan Elms via Digg] More »