Understand the facts behind the bitcoin hype, discover how Japanese women came to be the world’s first novelists and learn how maths can predict the life expectancy of your love life at Nerd Nite London on 21st May 2014.
Nerd Nite London is a bi-monthly event where three speakers give 18-21-minute fun-yet-informative talks across all disciplines – while the audience drinks along.
Address: Nerd Nite, Paper Dress Vintage, 114-116 Curtain Rd, London, EC2A 3AH
Details : Wednesday 21st May 2014, Doors at 8 pm, Tickets £6. Early nerd tickets £5 (limited availability).
Tickets: http://billetto.co.uk/nerdnitelondon
Nerd Nite London is back with another fantastic line up of speakers. If you want to know whether bitcoin is the currency of the future or another tech fad, find out what happened when Japan imported another country’s language, or learn how equations can help us to predict the future, then Nerd Nite London is the place to be on Wednesday 21st May.
Nerd #1 Jason Navon: Bitcoin or Bitcon? Should we be paying attention to the rise of the crypto-currency?
No self-respecting nerd can have avoided Bitcoin and the raft of rival crypto-currencies it’s spawned. In 2013 the attention was on its meteoric rise in price peaking at $1200 per bitcoin and the growing interest from libertarians, financiers and etailers. This year it’s been more about the woes: the collapse of a leading exchange, theft of coins and a large fall in price.
So is it a real phenomenon or just another digital dead-end? Jason will look at why it has the potential to offer radical change and the obstacles to be overcome if digital currencies are to live up to their potential.
Bio: Jason is a marketer and entrepreneur. After 10 years spent in digital agencies he set-up his first business in 2008 and last year co-founded a new communications agency Clarity. His wife and colleagues would describe him as a geek citing his interest (though some might call it an obsession) in bitcoin as evidence.
Nerd #2 Jane Harris: How the Japanese learnt to write
All of us learn to read and write and it changes our lives. But what happens when a whole nation imports its alphabet from a completely different country with a different culture and language? Find out how adopting someone else’s alphabet led to Japanese women writing the world’s first novels, ensured that tempura became an international hit and what it means for Japan today.
Bio: Jane works for disability charity Leonard Cheshire, which luckily has a branch in Japan. Before working in charities, she taught English in Japan. This included deceiving an entire village to believe that ‘next next Thursday’ is an acceptable alternative to ‘in a fortnight’. Sorry, Japanese village.
Nerd #3 David Karp: I Give It a Year
Wouldn’t it be nice to know how long your relationship is going to last? Or to have a better idea of just how many German tanks have invaded your neighbourhood? With the help of a crystal ball modern statistics, David will reveal the answer to these and other everyday questions! He can’t promise there won’t be any maths but mostly we’ll talk about how the intuitions behind these puzzles make everybody’s head hurt. A lucky few of you may go home with a goat.
Bio: David is a trader for a hedge fund in the City, where he alternately does interesting math to solve boring problems and boring math to solve interesting problems. A native of Philadelphia, he enjoys baseball, Bruce Springsteen, burgers, spaceships, road trips, and the American Dream. Actually.
All profits from the night go to charity. This month’s charity is the National Aids Trust. More information about Nerd Nite London can be found by following us on Twitter @nerdnitelondon or liking us on Facebook www.facebook.com/NerdNiteLondon