http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/08/start/what-to-do-with-your-bitcoin-haulOne of the very few mainstream articles that has gone deep enough down the rabbit-hole to properly appreciate payment scripting.
Bitcoin -- the world's most hyped cryptocurrency -- isn't just for buying pizza and drugs: essentially programmable money, the system can be built on to create new financial applications. "Bitcoin as a platform for innovation is what excites me most," says Gavin Andresen
Every Bitcoin transaction includes a script -- rules that define how it may be spent. This can be basic, but more elaborate scripts are possible, according to Jeff Garzik, senior software engineer at BitPay. "Escrow has a script that requires signatures from two of the three people involved in a transaction. Or there may be a password kept in one person's memory -- a brainwallet."