Understanding Blockchains with Scrabble

[ana0]

Understanding Blockchains with Scrabble

Description

"What even is a proof-of-work based globally distributed ledger?"

Blockchain is everywhere these days - from finance and law, to kitten-collecting, dating-apps, and ice tea companies. This workshop will explore what this technology offers, how it works, and what it can and cannot do in a friendly, playful setting. We will introduce the basics of how blockchains work in a short presentation, and then expand on them with a facilitated session of Scrabits, a modified version of scrabble based on the bitcoin blockchain. Concepts explored will be - what is a ledger, what are the unique challenges of maintaining a decentralized way, and how bitcoin solves these problems.

Type: workshop
Length: 1.5 hours
Additional considerations: Max around 15 ppl, can do two sessions if high demand

Session Objective

Better understanding of some of the lower-level mechanics of blockchains
Metaphors to think about "mining" and "transactions"
Strategic thinking around why blockchains work/how they work

Material and Technical Requirements

We will need a projector - will supply everything else. Workshop room layout is ideally two tables around which groups can play the game.

Presenter(s)

Name: Sarah Friend
Email: sarah.anne.friend@gmail.com
Url(s): isthisa.com
Twitter: @isthisanart_
GitHub: ana0
Interested in attending the sprint July 16-18: Y
Interested in a community billet: host

Name: David Wolever
Email: david@wolever.net
Url(s): wolever.net
Twitter: @wolever
GitHub: wolever

Presenter Bio

Sarah Friend is a software engineer working at a large blockchain development studio on tools for financial transparency/accounting. When not doing that, she creates games and other interactive experiences. She is a proud Recurse Center alum, and has recently presented at the Montreal International Games Showcase, the MoneyLab program by the Institute for Networked Culture in London, UK, and Transmediale Berlin.

David is a software developer, startup founder, and community organizer from Toronto with over 10 years dev experience. In his free time, David runs PyCon Canada and organizes the international PyCon conference.