Lessons in computer programming will be adopted by the national curriculum for primary schools in England from September. However, this is not a new concept for schools in Estonia who have been teaching computer programming for some time.

Rowing the Pacific Solo – on Bitcoin!

Imagine spending three months completely alone in a small boat in the middle of the largest ocean in the world. You are over a thousand miles away from land in every direction. You have no engines or sails on the boat at all. The only way of reaching land is by rowing…

This summer, Elsa Hammond will not have to imagine, as she is doing just this. On 7 June she will depart from Monterey Bay, California to row 2,400 miles across the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii. She is competing in the Great Pacific Race 2014, the first ever rowing race in the Pacific Ocean. Rowing solo and unsupported, Elsa will be alone at sea for up to three months. This is the first ocean rowing race to attempt the largest ocean in the world, and the odds are high that the current world record for this course will be broken. Of the ten women who have ever rowed an ocean alone, only two have rowed the Pacific. There are no engines or sails – instead, Elsa will rely on her own muscle to propel her boat 2400 miles to Hawaii.

Travel Keys, a travel broker that operates a network of more than 5,000 luxury villas in the Caribbean, Europe and around the world, is now accepting bitcoin as a payment method. Travel Keys announced the decision on 7th March, becoming the latest luxury villa business to accept digital currency.

More merchants are beginning to accept bitcoins in exchange for goods and services, although the best place to find these merchants is marketplaces and aggregator sites that gather large numbers of supporting establishments together at once.

Spending your bitcoins

We’ve told you how to mine bitcoin, and how to buy it. However you choose to acquire your digital currency, at some point you’re going to want to spend it. But where can you go to exchange your bitcoins for goods and services?

There are several different types of sites – online and off – that you can go to spend your bitcoin, as described in this guide. So, what can you buy with bitcoins?