Amir Taaki
Encyclopedia
Amir Taaki is a British
video game and computer software
developer. Taaki is best known as the chairman of the Bitcoin Consultancy, as a Bitcoin
project developer and for pioneering many open source
projects.
, the eldest of three children of a Scotch-English mother and an Iranian father.
From an early age Taaki took an interest in computer technology, teaching himself
computer programming.
An inquisitive and precocious youth, Taaki became involved in computer hacking, activity which ultimately was discovered and lead to his expulsion from high school.
movement. Taaki assisted in the creation of SDL Collide, an extension of Simple DirectMedia Layer
, an open source library used by video game developers.
In 2006, Taaki became heavily involved in Crystal Space
development under the pseudonym of genjix. He also developed a number of video games making use of free software, including the adventure game Crystal Core and the futuristic racer game Ecksdee. Taaki was also a participant in the Blender
project Yo Frankie!
.
Taaki was a speaker at the 2007 Games Convention
in Leipzig
.
player. His experience with online gambling
piqued his interest in the technical process of online financial transfers and attracted him to the Bitcoin
project, an attempt to create a decentralized mechanism for the transfer of funds independent of giant financial corporations.
Taaki founded a UK Bitcoin exchange called "Britcoin" as a means to help the growth of Bitcoin. This was succeeded in 2011 by a new British exchange called Intersango, in which Taaki is a principal.
Taaki is a developer of Spesmilo, an alternative Bitcoin front-end Graphical User Interface
written in Python
released in February 2011. He also is the original author of the Bitcoin stock-exchange client named Black-Market and maintains a custom Bitcoin version on gitorious. Taaki has also created a merchant site named Pastecoin for sharing files and a bitcoin site to fund Bitcoin client features via bounties for developers.
In April 2011, Taaki and Donald Norman established the Bitcoin Consultancy, a group focused on bitcoin project development.
, likening them to modern day freedom-fighters. A long-time contributor to free software, he advocates total data freedom. Taaki has labeled censorship policies as being a wedge towards ever-increasing censorship. He proposes a shift away from specialist thinking towards a creative society of generalist knowledge workers.
Taaki self-identifies as an anarchist but believes that ideologies should not remain fixed against evidence. He states that beliefs should not be a matter of contention when ideas change all the time due to new knowledge and information.
He has written about New Urbanism
, advocating high-density pedestrian-oriented cities. Taaki has written that cities should be diverse and have mixed uses.
Taaki is a speaker of Esperanto
, which he promotes as an auxiliary country-neutral international language to preserve local languages. He writes that Esperanto serves to break down barriers and help the flow of media across cultural boundaries.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
video game and computer software
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
developer. Taaki is best known as the chairman of the Bitcoin Consultancy, as a Bitcoin
Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a decentralized, peer-to-peer network over which users make transactions that are tracked and verified through this network. The word Bitcoin also refers to the digital currency implemented as the currency medium for user transactions over this network...
project developer and for pioneering many open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
projects.
Early years
Amir Taaki was born 6 February 1988 in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the eldest of three children of a Scotch-English mother and an Iranian father.
From an early age Taaki took an interest in computer technology, teaching himself
Autodidacticism
Autodidacticism is self-education or self-directed learning. In a sense, autodidacticism is "learning on your own" or "by yourself", and an autodidact is a person who teaches him or herself something. The term has its roots in the Ancient Greek words αὐτός and διδακτικός...
computer programming.
An inquisitive and precocious youth, Taaki became involved in computer hacking, activity which ultimately was discovered and lead to his expulsion from high school.
Free software
After briefly attending several British universities and not finding formal academics to his liking, Taaki gravitated to the free softwareFree software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
movement. Taaki assisted in the creation of SDL Collide, an extension of Simple DirectMedia Layer
Simple DirectMedia Layer
Simple DirectMedia Layer is a cross-platform, free and open source multimedia library written in C that presents a simple interface to various platforms' graphics, sound, and input devices....
, an open source library used by video game developers.
In 2006, Taaki became heavily involved in Crystal Space
Crystal Space
Crystal Space is a framework for developing 3D applications written in C++ by Jorrit Tyberghein and others. The first public release was on August 26, 1997. It is typically used as a game engine but the framework is more general and can be used for any kind of 3D visualization. It is very...
development under the pseudonym of genjix. He also developed a number of video games making use of free software, including the adventure game Crystal Core and the futuristic racer game Ecksdee. Taaki was also a participant in the Blender
Blender (software)
Blender is a free and open-source 3D computer graphics software product used for creating animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications or video games. The current release version is 2.60, and was released on October 19, 2011...
project Yo Frankie!
Yo Frankie!
Yo Frankie! is an open video game made by the Blender Institute, part of the Blender Foundation, originally scheduled for release in August 2008. It is based on the universe and characters of the free film produced earlier in 2008 by the Blender Institute, Big Buck Bunny...
.
Taaki was a speaker at the 2007 Games Convention
Games Convention
The Games Convention, sometimes called the Leipzig Games Convention and abbreviated as GC, was an annual video game event held in Leipzig, Germany, first held in 2002. Besides video games, the event also covers Infotainment, Hardware, and Edutainment...
in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
.
Bitcoin
In 2009 and 2010, Taaki made his living as a professional pokerPoker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
player. His experience with online gambling
Online gambling
Online gambling, also known as Internet gambling and iGambling, is a general term for gambling using the Internet.-Online poker:Online poker tables commonly offer Texas hold 'em, Omaha, Seven-card stud, razz, HORSE and other game types in both tournament and ring game structures...
piqued his interest in the technical process of online financial transfers and attracted him to the Bitcoin
Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a decentralized, peer-to-peer network over which users make transactions that are tracked and verified through this network. The word Bitcoin also refers to the digital currency implemented as the currency medium for user transactions over this network...
project, an attempt to create a decentralized mechanism for the transfer of funds independent of giant financial corporations.
Taaki founded a UK Bitcoin exchange called "Britcoin" as a means to help the growth of Bitcoin. This was succeeded in 2011 by a new British exchange called Intersango, in which Taaki is a principal.
Taaki is a developer of Spesmilo, an alternative Bitcoin front-end Graphical User Interface
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
written in Python
Python (programming language)
Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language whose design philosophy emphasizes code readability. Python claims to "[combine] remarkable power with very clear syntax", and its standard library is large and comprehensive...
released in February 2011. He also is the original author of the Bitcoin stock-exchange client named Black-Market and maintains a custom Bitcoin version on gitorious. Taaki has also created a merchant site named Pastecoin for sharing files and a bitcoin site to fund Bitcoin client features via bounties for developers.
In April 2011, Taaki and Donald Norman established the Bitcoin Consultancy, a group focused on bitcoin project development.
Activism
Taaki has been outspoken in favour of internet activism such as AnonymousAnonymous (group)
Anonymous is an international hacking group, spread through the Internet, initiating active civil disobedience, while attempting to maintain anonymity. Originating in 2003 on the imageboard 4chan, the term refers to the concept of many online community users simultaneously existing as an anarchic,...
, likening them to modern day freedom-fighters. A long-time contributor to free software, he advocates total data freedom. Taaki has labeled censorship policies as being a wedge towards ever-increasing censorship. He proposes a shift away from specialist thinking towards a creative society of generalist knowledge workers.
Taaki self-identifies as an anarchist but believes that ideologies should not remain fixed against evidence. He states that beliefs should not be a matter of contention when ideas change all the time due to new knowledge and information.
He has written about New Urbanism
New urbanism
New Urbanism is an urban design movement, which promotes walkable neighborhoods that contain a range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually continued to reform many aspects of real estate development, urban planning, and municipal land-use...
, advocating high-density pedestrian-oriented cities. Taaki has written that cities should be diverse and have mixed uses.
Taaki is a speaker of Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
, which he promotes as an auxiliary country-neutral international language to preserve local languages. He writes that Esperanto serves to break down barriers and help the flow of media across cultural boundaries.
External links
- Interview with "Gavin Andresen and Amir Taaki, Bitcoin," This Week in Startups. Uploaded May 10, 2011. www.youtube.com/