We need to learn quickly to keep up with the massive change around us so we don't get run over. We need to outrun change.
radical changes taking place around us now
I’ve previously discussed Silk Road as one of the worlds far away from me that I’ll never visit. Learning about stuff is why I’m writing this blog.
Last week Ross Ulbricht was convicted of multiple felonies for his role in running Silk Road, a place where you could buy all sorts of illegal stuff.
Some recent articles that help me better understand this bizarre alternate universe.
Continue reading “Silk Road: Felony conviction in a world far away”
Another part of my effort to explain that while I see radical change on the horizon in other areas, I have a blind spot how those things will affect auditing.
1/19 – Mark Mills at Forbes – The Mobile Revolution Has Only Just Begun – Look again at the radical change in the last century:
Not only have radios become cheap but they’ve collapsed in size while rising in capability. A trailer-pulled radio that weighed one ton in WWI is now a chipset weighing a fraction of an ounce buried inside a smartphone that can handle one million-fold more traffic than those first Marconis.
Combine that with a computer the size of a phone and you have a smart phone.
Continue reading “The change from Apps is just getting started. (Radical change #3)”
A few articles on technology, energy, and publishing that are worth a read and a brief comment. Efforts for soft landing to recover a first stage came amazingly close to success.
Worlds far away I’ll never visit
1/9 – Wired – Why the Silk Road Trial Matters – Some background on the upcoming trial of Ross Ulbricht, the alleged mastermind behind Silk Road, which is allegedly one of the first dark markets to sell all sorts of illegal stuff.
Since that is a world I’ll never get within a few light years of, following the case is only way I’ll get hints of what is that planet is like.
Space
Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontier – 1/17”
Not a lot of news on how the recreational marijuana market is doing lately. There is some preliminary info suggesting the tax haul won’t be as big as expected. Will take more time before we can fully see how severely the regulatory burden is constricting the market.
Just as a marker for the future, I believe the heavy regulation of recreational marijuana will severely constrain the industry. We shall see. I will watch developments as they become visible.
Forum News Service has a seven part series on human trafficking in North Dakota dealing with multiple aspects of the prostitution issue. Shift in our cultural perceptions is focusing more on the issue of women getting sucked in and trapped by this destructive world.
The series is set in the Bakken oil field of North Dakota. The general issues apply all across the U.S. This is news because many sides of the downside of economic growth are visible in North Dakota. If the series were set in Los Angeles or New York area, this would be ancient, boring news.
In North Dakota we can easy watch as the reporters describe the devastation of prostitution. The scale of the issue is small enough and new enough in a relatively small state that the story can actually be covered in just seven parts.
One thing I’ve learned in the last few years of blogging is that certain names pop up regularly as authors of routinely superb writing. There is a short list of authors for whom I try to read everything they write. Ms. Dalrymple, who is also a very prolific writer, is one of those.
If you are deeply interested in either the Bakken or the trafficking issue, this is a series you will definitely want to read.
12/4 – Forum News Service in Bismarck Tribune – Trafficking in North Dakota is on the rise, and often the victims can’t escape – Seven part series on human trafficking in the state coauthored by Amy Dalrymple and Katherine Lymn.
First article in the series traces one man from looking on-line for an underage girl through his conviction and sentencing to a five-year prison sentence.
Continue reading “Human trafficking – the dark side of life”
There are bad things that go along with any boom time or rapid growth. For that matter, there are bad things that go along with any good thing.
Here are a few articles on the downside from the huge increase in oil production in North Dakota: drugs, corruption, and human trafficking.
12/4 – Forum News Service in Bismarck Tribune – Trafficking in North Dakota is on the rise, and often the victims can’t escape – Seven part series on human trafficking in the state coauthored by Amy Dalrymple and Katherine Lymn.
Continue reading “More on the downside of oil production in North Dakota”
There are wonderful things going on in the tech world. Also some not so great things in education and publishing. Here’s a few articles on the good and not-so-good stuff.
Technology
12/8 – Economist – Free the drones / Drones have immense commercial potential—so long as regulators don’t try to tether them to the ground
Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontiers – 12/12”
Not much in the news lately on the crushing effect of overregulation on the newly legal industry of recreational marijuana. (You now know my opinion and can filter my comments accordingly.)
This post will catch up on a few older articles.
11/8 – The Economist – The Marlboro of marijuana – The legal cannabis industry is run by minnows. As liberalisation spreads, that may not last – Here are a few more regulatory restraints that will strangle the industry: Article says that in Colorado, dispensaries have to grow at least 70% of what they sold and growers had to sell at least 70% of what they grew. That recently changed.
Social media is a wonderful thing. You can create videos or blogs and spread your message far. The downside is your message can spread far.
Two recent examples of the upside and downside.
First, the upside…
11/14 – Wall Street Journal – This Rabbi Raps and Riffs – on Judaism – Ordained Hasidic rabbi Medny Pellin also does comedy and rap videos. You can check out his signature video, Talk Yiddish to Me.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX2rm-jLLFY&feature=player_detailpage]
OPEC decided on November 27 to maintain production levels. That means they won’t try to increase crude oil prices.
One of the many articles I’ve read (don’t remember which one; too lazy to look for it) said the pricing decisions by OPEC are about geopolitics, not economics. Keep that in mind as you read headlines.
They have declared a price war. As the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for.
By the way, even if OPEC can shut down a lot of the marginal producers, the oil not drilled will still be there, ready to be drilled as soon as prices rise.
Here is another bunch of articles on point.
11/28 – Wall Street Journal editorial – New Oil Order – OPEC decided on Thursday, 10/27 to maintain production. That will allow crude prices to stay where they are or even drop.
OPEC has lost a huge portion of its pricing power – that means they can’t force us consumers to pay whatever they want. This is a good thing.
OPEC knows that the booming US shale oil revolution will threaten their high prices and high volume. Thus,
Continue reading “About those dropping oil prices and OPEC’s decision to let them fall – 4”
Bill Whittle comments on the crash of a spaceship.
11/21 – The Firewall – A Crash in the Mojave – Space flight IS rocket science. It is dangerous. So dangerous that people will die learning how to fly in space.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/kzyPLgBqGcw]
He points out a lot of men died in the Mojave Desert paying for the knowledge and information that allows us to fly around 30,000 major domestic commercial flights per day with zero, count ‘em zero, fatalities in thirteen years.
The copilot on the Virgin Galactic flight, Michael Alsbury, had 1,600 hours flight time as a test pilot. Sixteen hundred hours. Test pilot time. You don’t get any better trained than that.
Continue reading “Space flight *is* rocket science. And expensive in lives.”
Just like the wide open frontier of the American west after the Civil War, the technology world today provides tremendous opportunities.
Need to post something upbeat today after posting about the foolishness of IFRS accounting rules and a hit piece editorial on the Bakken.
11/12 – Seth Godin – An end of radio – Continue reading “The wide open frontier of technology”
Just found a wonderful site – Intersection Journal –
Founder and photojournalist Chad Ziemendorf’s description:
Intersection Journal is an online magazine dedicated to capturing the culture, industry and way of life in Western North Dakota through photography and writing. Optimized for the mobile generation, we celebrate living, working in and exploring the Peace Garden State.
Continue reading “Photojournalism site telling the story of North Dakota and the Bakken”
Legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington is a natural experiment to see what happens when the government lays heavy regulation on a brand new industry. It is also a natural experiment on how to handle an entire industry that moves from the shadows into the lawful world.
10/25 – The Feed – Colorado Thinks Twice on Pot? – Legalization in Colorado passed 55-44. Recent survey says 50% of people in survey think it wasn’t such a great idea.
Current prediction is the state will fall $20M short of the tax revenue forecast. That is one of the unintended consequences I expect to see and think it will be discussed a lot.
11/13 – Wall Street Journal – Amazon, Hachette End Publishing Dispute – After an extended, public dispute, Amazon and the publisher Hachette have a multi-year agreement.
Terms are vaguely hinted at: Hachette will set retail prices of their books with Amazon giving higher payouts for lower prices. Will go into effect in 2015 but that should resolve the spat in advance of the 2014 Christmas shopping season. Both of them are highly motivated to move tons of product in the next six weeks.
Continue reading “Amazon and Hachette resolve their contract dispute”