The Electronics Guru

If you’ve never heard of bitcoin, you’re certainly not alone.  It has been around for several years, but until recently, has received very little publicity.  So what is Bitcoin, and why are people using it now?

Bitcoin was started by a Japanese computer science major.  The idea behind it is pretty simple.  To create a currency that cannot be manipulated.  No matter how much faith you have in currencies such as the dollar, Euro, or yen, these currencies are under the direct control of central banks.  These banks can decide to increase or decrease the money supply denominated in this currency at any time of their choosing.

Japan is a great example.  For over two decades Japan has had a problem of deflation.  Deflation is the decrease in the price of goods or services.  It can happen for a variety of reasons.  Central banks and governments in general don’t like deflation.  And most central banks have a policy of inflation.  This includes Japan.  They are attempting to drive the prices of their imports up by devaluing their money.  They do this by printing more and more money.

The same thing is happening in the U.S. right now as well.  Because the U.S. has so much debt, they can make servicing this debt less expensive by creating more money with which to pay for it.  Of course for anyone holding dollars this is bad news as each of their dollars becomes worth less and less.  In good times inflation is generally around 2%.  This is a small enough number that most people don’t notice the increase in prices that is taking place.

So how do bitcoins fit in to all of this?  Bitcoins are a currency that is beyond the control of any central authority.  Therefore bitcoins cannot be created beyond what is allocated in the  design of the currency.

As a result of this, citizens in countries that are experiencing high inflation rates are turning to bitcoins to preserve their wealth.  Traditionally this was done with hard assets such as gold, silver, or even real estate.  These types of assets generally increase in value as the value of currencies decline.  This is because they are strictly limited resources.  You cannot create more gold, silver or real estate out of thin air like you can dollars.

But getting your hands on gold and silver can be expensive.  And then you have to store these assets somewhere safe.  Bitcoins are all online, and they are protected by the same encryption systems that banks use to protect their financial transactions.  And since they cannot be created, only traded for money, goods and services, their value is not dependent upon the whim of a central bank or any other authority.

More and more businesses are accepting bitcoins as payment.  And as this increases, their value and use will grow.  If you live in a country that has made inflation part of their fiscal policy (like the U.S. and Japan) you might do well to take a look at bitcoins yourself.

For many people one of the best parts of owning their own home is the weekend projects they get to perform when they want to update or repair things around the house.  And one of the best parts of performing projects is acquiring the tools necessary to successfully accomplish said projects.

If you’re one of those people that love browsing the isles of your local home improvement stores, here are a few tools you should check out on your next trip.

Plumbing Issues

If you have a toilet, sink, or drain, and most homes do, you will at some point or another have need of some sort of plumbing repair.  In our house, there are four girls.  So on a regular basis this means pulling out the power drain snake to clear out the big gobs of hair that get combined with soap and other materials and then lodge themselves firmly in our pipes.

There are lots of options when it comes to cleaning out your drains.  Some opt for the liquid approach.  This website offers some helpful information.  But sometimes when the works truly get gummed up you need a power tool.  Nothing less will suffice.

The nice thing about a drain snake is that you can use it on both drains and toilets.  There’s just about nothing they won’t tackle.

Drywall Repairs

Another fun activity that you might get involved with when you own a home is drywall repair.  Homeowners with kids can especially appreciate how quickly a new house can start looking more like an old house when kids bump into walls and poke holes in ceilings.

And if the kids don’t get you, forces of nature will.  Even new houses are subject to occasional roof leaks from inclement weather.  Over the last couple of years we have seen an increase in violent and dangerous weather across the U.S.

Having the right tools can help you quickly and efficiently repair these types of damage, no matter their source.

One of the best tools you can have in your tool belt for repairing walls and ceilings is a drywall knife.  This piece of hardware allows you to quickly cut holes and patches for any sort of repair.  All you have to do to perform a patch is cut the damaged area into a square shape.  Then you can cut a new piece of drywall into a square that fits into this hole.  Using drywall repair clips, you can then hold the piece in place while you apply the mud to cover the edges of the hole.

Once that’s done, all you have to do is sand and repeat.  This cool trick to ensure that you get a smooth finish is to hold a flashlight up to the wall at an angle.  If it casts a shadow where you just patched the wall, you need to perform some more sanding.  Once the flashlight casts no shadow, your patch will disappear under any lighting conditions.

Another item to keep handy when performing sheetrock repairs is a bucket.  This gives you a place to put all of that annoying blow in cellulose insulation when it comes tumbling out of the wall or ceiling.

These are just a couple of the cool tools you can use for basic repairs and maintenance around your house.  Check back to this website on a regular basis, as we regularly update our content.