Future Money

“I prefer hard cash. If you can’t scratch a window with it I don’t accept it”.

Roosta: The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. (Fit the Eighth)

            Regular readers will know that on Fridays blog posts here tend to stray a little from the usual topics of self-defence and preparedness. Today is no exception and probably diverges even more than usual. It is, however, a logical progression from the recent post on the design of money.

            Recently I was watching a certain sci-fi series and two of the characters offered another character a bribe. What was notable about this is that you saw them physically offering money. The money offered was only seen at a distance and appeared to be coloured plastic cards. While money is often discussed in science fiction shows I cannot recall that many incidences when you actually see the physical cash. (One exception to this that springs to mind is Pluto Nash and “the Hillarys”)

            What kind of form might a future hard currency take? The above example did illustrate that cash did not have to be paper, or even flexible polymer. When you might be on another planet to the mint there is something to be said for an exchange medium that is more durable.

            Coins are one of the oldest mediums of exchange. The Chinese seem to have used the same basic design for more than a thousand years. The square hole in the centre seems to have been introduced as part of the production process, allowing a batch of coins to be threaded on a square rod for filing into their final shape. It had the added advantage that coins could be threaded on a string for easier bulk handling. This also resulted in the wide use of coins as ornaments or charms. Coins from other countries show more variety but nearly all are circular or circle-like equilateral polygons. Coins are convenient to carry in a pocket or pouch and can be stacked for bulk handling. Their shape also makes them suitable for vending machines and other coin-operated apparatus. On the downside, coins are relatively heavy, which can be significant if handling large quantities. The US military uses paper coins (technically “gift certificates”) in certain deployment areas. The use of these “Pogs” is to avoid the need to air-transport large quantities of coins. (The military might like to also consider removing chewing gum from the MRE packs and inventory in general as a non-productive item to save air-lift weight).

            The weight of coins might not be a problem in an environment where most transactions are conducted electronically, since there would be less need to handle large quantities of physical cash. I will discuss the implications of “e-cash” further in a moment.

            A money exchange company designed some “space money” as a publicity stunt a few years back.

            “The Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination – or Quid for short as interplanetary vernacular demands – had to be completely free of sharp edges, such as would be found on coins. Magnetic strips and electronic chips such as are found embedded within our credit cards would be also prove useless as they would be fried by cosmic radiation.
            In addition, the currency had to be completely independent of itself, unlike electronic banking, which would be useless in space due to the great distances signals would have to travel for confirmation, making for some rather lengthy check-out times.”

The Daily Galaxy

            Very attractive, but somewhat bulky and they do not look like they will stack.

            An alternative or supplement to coins might be a card-shaped currency as shown in the TV show I was watching. Casino chips, for example, are supplemented by “plaques” for high denominations. Does a card-shaped currency need to use something the size of a credit card? No, it doesn’t. A smaller card would allow more to be carried. The optimum size might be something like a stick of chewing gum, or more conveniently, the size of a Kimball tag, approximately 1” x 3”. For want of any better term, let us call this format a “Kimball note”.

            A small plastic card along these lines would offer a number of advantages. The obvious one is that it was inspired by a punched card and would readily lend itself to various types of mechanical handling ranging from counting machines to vending devices. If you have ever tried feeding a bank note into a ticket machine you will know that they can be rather fussy in their diet. A rigid plastic card would be much easier to use. The vending machine industry has sometimes suffered because their machines could only take small denomination coins. This new format of money would prevent this problem.

            Like a punched card, a Kimball note has one corner cut off so mechanical devices can detect its orientation. The other corners would be rounded to facilitate being carried loose in a pocket. Adding a few holes to distinguish denominations is a tempting idea, but it might be more useful to place raised bumps on the note too for the convenience of the partially sighted. Notches in the edge of the note might be another identification feature and would allow one to verify at a glance that all the notes in a stack were of the same value. A barcode embossed on the surface might further increase the ease with which machines can handle the cash.

            “What about electronic transactions?” some of you may be asking. You might regard the above suggestions are somewhat superfluous because in the future we will be in a cashless society. We seem to be advancing along this route. In many cities buses and other public transport no longer accept cash. Instead you present a travelcard to an electronic reader. In the past few years it has been possible to also pay by touching a “contactless” credit/debit card to the same reader. You can also now use your phone instead of a credit/debit card. Banking apps allow you to use your phone to send money directly to someone’s bank account. Nearly everyone now carries a phone or similar device so it is only a matter of time before it will be commonplace to transfer money “phone-to-phone” in face to face transactions.

            A “cashless” or “e-cash” society could have some interesting potential aspects. As you transmit payment to the street hotdog vendor is someone “eavesdropping” on your signal and duplicating the debit, effectively an electronic pickpocket? Of course, your unauthorized payment to a person unknown is going to show up on your bank records. Your banking AI may even be keeping a tally of who you have interacted with and know you did not make a payment to “XXX”. Can you mug someone in an “e-cash” society? You can take someone’s phone by stealth or by force but that will be of little use without a way around the security protocols, which may involve biometrics and AIs. There is the option of kidnapping someone and forcing them to disable the security, but this is rather involved for many petty criminals and likely to attract significant police investigation. Protocols to prevent this will soon become common. For example, a freezing of all transactions should the bank customer disappear for any length of time. Essentially we are considering the electronic equivalent of the dye-packs that have now made bank robbery a much rarer occurrence these days. In all these cases, once you have the e-cash, what do you do with it? Sending it to your own bank account is effectively a confession. Electronic money laundering will probably be quite involved and leave the thief with very little, if anything for himself.

            Bribery also becomes somewhat difficult in an e-cash society since the sudden unaccounted for debit in your accounts will be plain to see. Likewise, if you steal goods or other materials you do not really want payment in e-cash.

            It seems likely that in a cashless, e-cash society some form of hard currency system is likely to manifest eventually. This may start as a barter system, using some medium of exchange of mutual value, such as narcotics. Inevitably the bulk of materials involved will give rise to some form of exchangeable token system, or in other words, hard cash.

            We are used to thinking of governments issuing money but there is ample precedent for commercial and non-government organisations creating mediums of exchange, particularly when official coins and notes are in short supply in an area. It is not a far stretch of the imagination to envision a future society where organized crime or corporations produce their own hard currency.

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Night Demons, Sleeping and Yoga.

             Regular readers will know that this blog is mainly concerned with survival and self-defence. The blog does allow me to occasionally address more diverse topics that I like to think of as ways of surviving the rat race or defence against the perils of modern life.

             The night before last was unpleasant. I awoke in the early hours and experienced an episode of sleep paralysis. (Somewhat misnamed I have to observe). As I awoke I was disorientated and struggled to recognise where I was. I had a feeling that I might not be alone. I tried to make a noise but no sound came out and I was unable to move. The feeling pasted and I regained movement. I tried to sleep again. As I lay there a wave of “immobility” affected my feet and began to move up my body. I felt myself dropping off into sleep but also had the feeling this was something being imposed upon me so fought against it. The rest of the night I had difficulty remaining sleeping.

             The next day I read up a little on sleep paralysis. Very interesting stuff. Most people will experience a couple of episodes of sleep paralysis during their lives. It appears that as the body’s physical motion is inhibited one’s paranoia goes into overdrive and familiar surroundings and sounds will be interpreted as potential threats. Hence the feelings of fear and that there is another presence in the room. A friend told me he had an episode of sleep paralysis where he heard a demon whispering unintelligible words into his ear. The same friend is a long time sufferer of tinnitus so it seems likely this was his paranoia perceiving the usual background noise differently.

             One of the things I learnt from the British NHS website was that if you are experiencing sleep paralysis you should attempt to wiggle your fingers or toes. I was also reading about related folklaw. Stories of supernatural creatures that sit on your chest during the night and stop you moving or make breathing hard are common to many cultures. Interestingly at least one tradition suggests you can drive the creature away by attempting to bite your thumb or wiggle your fingers!

             The NHS site yielded some useful information on improving sleep patterns. A useful tip was to tidy my bedroom to create a less chaotic and more relaxing environment. If nothing else I no longer trip over stuff as much when going to bed! Most of us are aware that drinking coffee close to bedtime is not a good idea but many of us will overlook the ingestion of other stimulants such as smoking or caffeinated soft drinks. Unusually for me I had drank a can of coke after dinner that night, so wonder if this might have contributed to my unpleasant night?

             Strenuous exercise close to bedtime is to be avoided, the exception being sex, the one form of exercise that can be both vigorous and sleep inducing. Not a particularly practical option for me currently so I looked at the second best option, relaxing using yoga. The yoga that I am most familiar with is the “Salute the Sun” sequence but it occurred to me a set of exercises intended to be performed in the morning might not be the best choice to relax me before bedtime. I came across this set of exercises which you can even do in bed! I didn’t do the full eight minutes for my first attempts but did find them quite effective. I had not expected to fall to sleep very quickly last night given how stressful the previous night had been but I did notice I did feel more relaxed and less restless while I was lying in bed. I will persist with the yoga and see how it goes.

             I hope that this information has been of some interest or help to some of you. Pleasant dreams!         If you have enjoyed this article or it has been helpful to you please

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The Medical Kit

         Some of you found my suggestions about sewing kits useful so I will continue this thread (!) with some details on the medical kit I took along too. I don’t have the kit with me at the moment but since I replenished the contents just three days ago I should be able to recall most of the contents.
         Some medical kit lists can get very exotic! Keep in mind the basis of a good kit is aspirin and plasters. Make sure you have enough of each and most bases are covered.

         The kit itself travels in a bag with two zipped compartments. The bag itself is kept dry by being carried in a “tuk-lok” freezer bag. This bag must be a good decade old but shows no signs of deterioration, nor have any of the seams opened. Freezer bags like this are worth looking into for stowing your gear.

         The outer pocket of the pouch has a pair of metal haemostats, one straight, one curved. I have never used these to clamp an artery, and hope that I never need to. They are handy items to have for other purposes, however. I have used them like pliers in the past or to clamp things together while I attempt repairs. With them is a pair of needle-tipped forceps, still in its plastic wrapper. This can be used for finer work than is possible with the tweezers on my penknife. The forceps can be used to remove splinters or ticks. Thankfully I have never had to do the latter. The final item in this pocket is a small bag of safety pins. These can be used to secure bandages (or broken flies!). They can also be used to drain blisters (flame the point for a second first).

         The main pocket contains a number of items, many of them individually bagged to keep them dry or counter leakage.

         One of the most useful items here is a bag of aspirin and similar pain-killers. Aspirin has multiple effects, such as reducing fevers as well as being an analgesic, so is worth carrying if you are not allergic. Some of the other painkillers contain paracetamol and caffeine.

         Equally useful is a bag of plasters of assorted sizes. Some alcohol wipes are worth including with these.

         There is a small bag of Imodium (loperamide) capsules for the more unpleasant kinds of stomach upsets. Also in the bag is a piece of the original box detailing the dosage and contents.

         In addition to the plasters there is a roll of bandage. I added this after I hurt my ankle on  a trip. Travelling often involves carrying a rucksac or heavy load. You may wear different footwear to that you are accustomed to and the ground may be uncertain, even within a town. (Historic cobbled streets can sometimes prove treacherous!) In short, there is an increased change of ankle injury and a roll of bandage can prove to be useful support if you do injure your ankle.

         My medical kit also includes a lice comb, added when I was contemplating a trip to India. I’ve been bitten by a few cat fleas over the years but have never had lice. The comb is still a sensible precaution, however. To use it, wet your hair to lubricate the passage of the comb and wipe the comb clean after each stroke. The comb pulls adult lice from the hair, usually breaking their legs. It will probably miss infant lice and the eggs (nits) so you will have to wet and comb at least once a day for several weeks to ensure the insects are gone.

         The pouch also includes a bottle of Oil of Cloves and one of Oil of Olbas. I’ve contracted colds on a couple of trips. Such things can spread through a hostel pretty rapidly. Olbas oil is well worth its weight, and can be used for other purposes too. Clove oil is useful for toothaches.

         The final container is a 50ml plastic centrifuge tube of TCP. It took me several attempts to find a container that closed sufficiently. The first ones I used caused the kit to smell of TCP, demonstrating that they were not airtight. I have removed the label from a glass bottle of TCP and taped it to the tube so I have the dilution information. Applications include cuts, grazes, bites, stings, boils, spots, pimples, sore throats and mouth ulcers. I prefer liquid to ointment, since the ointment sometimes marks clothing and the liquid can also be used as a gargle if you have a sore throat. The liquid can be used neat but for many applications it is better diluted, which makes your supply last longer. TCP is great for mosquito bites, but if you do not have your kit nearby acidic solutions such as vinegar and lemon juice can provide relief.

         The final item of the basic kit tends to ride outside of the pouch but within the plastic bag. This is a small tin of Vaseline. These are sold for chapped lips but Vaseline has a number of other uses and can be applied to cuts, grazes, bites and chaffing. The little tin is easily refilled from larger containers.

         These are the contents of my medical kit, but not the limit of my medical items. Insect repellent and sun-cream are usually carried where they are readily available. There are some additional plasters and painkillers in my emergency kit. My washing kit contains standard bathroom soap which is one of the most useful antiseptics that you can carry. I also carry a supply of blood pressure medication and the other varied tablets a man of my advancing years seems to need. I have a tendency to migrane attacks so I intend to add extra diclofenac to my medical kits.

         I might add some tampons to the kit. As well as the obvious use they can be used with the plasters or bandage to staunch freely bleeding wounds. If you are involved in activities such as hunting then some field dressings and the knowledge of how to use them is advised. Carry them where they are readily accessible.

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Some Thoughts on Money.

            Money has been a recurring theme in this recent holiday. Most obviously we were travelling in Greece, which is undergoing a financial crisis. This required me carrying far more cash than I would usually do since for a while the cash machines were offering a limited service at best. My own finances were also somewhat turgid, our trip being necessitated by my girlfriend’s son’s visa being about to expire. We had to spend a week out of the country even though recent other expenses had made this a bad time for me to be spending. If you have been considering buying any of my books or using the donation button, now would be a good time, thank you.

            One store in town had a counter top covered with a variety of foreign bank notes under glass. Quite an impressive collection. I took my girlfriend and her son there to see a British one pound note (long since discontinued). There was also an American $2 note and another note with a grinning Saddam Hussein.

            Something that came to my attention on this trip was the similarity between certain Euro notes. Both the fives and twenties appear a blue colour, the tens and fifties a red. They look distinctive in the above picture but in practice it was quite easy to confuse these if you were not careful. Given that the Euro is a relatively new banknote design it is a little surprising that more thought did not go into its design.

 

            British banknotes, for example, are different colours. £5, £10, £20 and £50s are respectively blue, brown, purple and red. £1 notes were green and the £1 notes still issued by some regional banks are still this colour. Some series of notes also featured a distinctive simple shape in this colour. For example, the £5 a blue circle, £10 had a brown/orange diamond, the £20 a purple square and the £50 a red triangle. (The current £20 seems to have dropped this feature) These shapes were designed to further aide the partially sighted. Different denominations were also different sizes. I have been told that the visually handicapped were provided with a little gauge they could use to measure the length of a note to identify it.

          The now discontinued Dutch Guilder notes took this a step further by providing raised tactile markings to assist the visually impaired (the dots and triangles). One might have hoped the designers of the Euro would have drawn on these sources for inspiration, but apparently not.

            Some Canadian notes have tactile markings for the visually handicapped and it is apparently planned for some US banknotes. It would, however, be more useful if this became a universal feature. Next year the Bank of England plans to issue polymer banknotes. This would be a good opportunity to introduce tactile markings but I expect this will not be exploited.

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