I get a lot of questions about why I write about technology, the stock market, and gold so much. Why mix it up? Well, that's because I believe that the world is very connected -- especially the financial and economic world. Technology really isn't that different from gold, actually. They are both currencies. They are both means of trade. I also believe that both are capable of spawning revolutions.  You see, gold, like technology, is based on a standard: it's a standard for the monetary base.That's becoming more evident today as we see gold head to new highs, as I wrote would happen here. As the world fiat monetary system collapses (we're witnessing this before our very eyes), that will spawn a move to more open monetary systems. Think of the days back during mainframes and proprietary mini-computer standards. The world was ruled by technology fiefdoms  and proprietary systems produced by powerhouses such as IBM in Wang Labs. The mini-computer was replaced by the industry-standard PC. Wang filed for bankruptcy. In the 1980s, and later, in the 1990s, the move to open systems accelerated as chips, networking standards, and communications opened up and could become interchangeable, spawning the creating of a massive ecosystem of suppliers. There were suddenly thousands of technology producers, rather than a handful. Technology activity throughout the world exploded. That's the power of open standards. Now think of our governmental monetary systems: They are fiefdoms, locked down by parochial political needs, somewhat like minicomputers. Sometimes the monetary systems are furtive or fake (see Greece), other times, overleveraged (America).  Often, people are afraid to trade with one another, because the fiat currencies are volatile, or hard-to-value. Gold may seem a "barbaric relic," but it was effective during the age of the gold standard because people always knew what it was. It was an open standard. They could always trade in some dollars for gold, because their was a fixed gold exchange rate. Since the elimination of the gold standard, the financial world has become inherently more unstable because of this lack of transparency. That is what you are seeing on your screen today, as the final explosion in gold occurs in full acknowledgement that the world monetary system is broken, and needs to be fixed. I believe the world  is about to undergo a monetary revolution. This will push gold to record highs. And hopefully, from the disaster that is the world monetary system, our government officials will learn something from the technology revolution: It's time to open up. We need open monetary standards. Think about what's propelled the explosion in technology innovation over the last two decades -- open standards. Standards in chips, network, messaging, and video. Put Ethernet and email around the globe in a standard in one form than everybody understands, and what happens? Communication explodes. Not only do people become more connected in open systems, but there is complete transparency. The world monetary system is almost the complete opposite. It is opaque, furtive, and devoid of standards (the one standard that once existed, the gold standard, has been removed). National currencies have become a joke -- paper money to be devalued whenever this is a hint of trouble, so that politicians can be elected. The U.S. Dollar, regarded as the World's "reserve currency," is really anything but. It is not a standard -- that's because it has lost 98% of its purchasing power in the last 100 years. Is gold really a "barbaric relic"? Right now, absent a functional financial system with understandable standard, it's all we got. That's why the price of gold is exploding. The financial markets understand that the wold monetary is breaking down, because the politicians have corrupted it so badly that it's finally breaking. We need to move to a transparent world of financial standards, where the secrets aren't locked in a box of high-powered derivatives transactions at Goldman Sachs and the U.S government. We need an open monetary platform, and a new standard.