We present the “Peppercoin” method for processing micropayments efficiently. With this method, a fraction of the micropayments received are determined, via a procedure known as “cryptographic selection,” to qualify for upgrade to a macropayment. The merchant deposits the upgraded micropayments as macropayments, and merely logs locally the non-qualifying micropayments. In this manner, the mercha...

The rapid advance in information technology now makes it feasible for sellers to condition their price offers on consumers’ prior purchase behavior. In this paper we examine when it is profitable to engage in this form of price discrimination. Our baseline model involves rational consumers with constant valuations for the good being sold and a monopoly merchant who can commit to a pricing polic...

Recent analyses of ancient Mesopotamian mitochondrial genomes have suggested a genetic link between the Indian subcontinent and Mesopotamian civilization. There is no consensus on the origin of the ancient Mesopotamians. They may be descendants of migrants, who founded regional Mesopotamian groups like that of Terqa or they may be merchants who were involved in trans Mesopotamia trade. To ident...

The merchant was new in the valley and had built two sheds to collect firewood for sale in the winter. Since he was new in the area, he had no idea how cold the winter would be. So he sent his apprentice up the mountain to talk to the hermit, who knew a lot about nature. The apprentice came back all fired up: "Boss, the hermit says the winter will be very cold!" "Good," thought the merchant. "L...

We propose an electronic payment protocol for typical customer-merchant relations which does not require a trusted (signed) payment descriptor to be sent from the merchant to the customer. Instead, the destination “account” number for the payment is solely created on the customer side. This eliminates the need for any encrypted or authenticated communication in the protocol and is secure even i...

This study was designed to establish the manner and causes of all fatalities among seafarers who were serving in British merchant shipping between 1 January 1986 and 31 December 1995. Other main aims were to compare mortality rates with workers in other industries and with seafarers in other merchant fleets, and to discuss recommendations for the prevention of occupational mortality. This study...