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.
Did you know more employees are using Uber than traditional taxis? New York has new rules on licensing bitcoin dealers and the Air Force is having challenges getting enough pilots to fly drones. A few fun updates on the wide open frontier of technology:
Continue reading “Fun news from the open frontier of technology – 7/24”
Progress and sad news on the frontier of private space exploration:
6/9 – Washington Post – SpaceX founder files with government to provide Internet service in space – Continue reading “More news from the open frontier of space travel”
… keep in mind the tasks in the competition were to:
That is a sophisticated collection of gross and fine motor skills.
Yeah, a bunch of them fell down.
Here’s the video:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=g0TaYhjpOfo]
In terms of autonomous robots that could carry out disaster search and rescue tasks, we are about at the same place that space travel was in the late ‘50s.
If you weren’t aware, consider there was a large number of quite spectacular failures in the early days of missile development. For example, the rocket that lifts 10 or 15 feet off the ground, slowly drifts back to the earth, and crumples with the expected spectacular explosion.
Continue reading “While you are laughing at all those robots falling down…”
Bruce Schneier has a series of articles that ponder the risks and rewards of jumping into cloud computing. That is the concept of storing your data and computing power with an on-line service provider.
(This discussion is cross-posted from my other blog, Nonprofit Update, because understanding cloud issues is a major part of keeping up with the massive change around us.)
Some things to consider:
6/10 – Schneier on Security – Should Companies Do Most of Their Computing in the Cloud? (Part 1) – The answer is complicated. The efficiencies and cost savings are real and a major advantage.
On the other hand, there may be legal issues, such as your government creates far higher privacy standards than the country where your data will be stored or another country places severe restrictions on data you store there. Continue reading “Thoughts on jumping into cloud computing”
The public now knows of two rounds of massive breaches at the federal agency that handles all personnel records. First round looks like it was essentially the basic personnel file of all current and many former federal employees.
Second round is the long forms used to process security clearances. Looks like it was military and spy agency records. Great. Those files list all relatives, making them vulnerable to coercion. Provides lots of ideas on how to turn or compromise employees.
Hackers meandered around the systems for a year.
If you want to build a deep profile of military, diplomatic, and spy agency staff for use over the next several decades, this would be a fantastic starting point. Will take a while to process all the files and synthesize with social media and published news reports, but those countries who wish us harm will have a superb database to track and compromise federal employees.
Continue reading “Downside of cool modern tech: Massive breach of federal personnel systems”
One thread of discussions on this blog are worlds far away that I’ll never approach within distance of a light year. The only way I can get a glimpse of those places is with the super long distance telescope of the Internet.
Oh yeah, in case you were wondering what direction to aim your spaceship so you can see for yourself what is in those worlds, keep in mind that being a player on those distant planets can earn you a life sentence in federal prison. More on that at the end of this post.
5/28 – Wired – Inside a Giant Dark-Web Scheme to Sell Counterfeit Coupons – Yet another world I had no idea even existed: creating counterfeit discount coupons to use at the store.
A guy whom I will not name has been indicted for wire fraud and trademark counterfeiting for selling packages of counterfeit coupons good to get discount on a variety of consumer products. Send him $25, in Bitcoins of course, and you get a bunch of coupons.
He also offers a $200 course teaching you how to counterfeit your own coupons.
Continue reading “More weird stories from worlds far away I’ll never visit”
A few articles on the astoundingly open frontiers of technology and private space exploration.
Technology
5/21 – Popular Mechanics – Brain Implant Lets Teraplegic Man drink Beer with a Robot Arm – Although this is a little bity step, consider what a huge leap it is from what could be done before.
Sensors attached to a man’s head pick up electronic signals corresponding to him wanting to move his arm. Those signals control a robotic arm to move a cup of water up and toward him so that he can take a sip.
Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontiers – 5/29”
Several fun articles on space and one on self-driving trucks
4/18 – Commented previously that SpaceX’s third try to recover a Falcon booster rocket failed. It came down too fast, was unstable, and exploded. SpaceX already knows the problem. Elon Musk sent a tweet on 4/18 that said
Cause of hard rocket landing confirmed as due to slower than expected throttle valve response. Next attempt in 2 months.
Problem identified. I am sure the solution will be implemented 5 or 6 weeks before the next launch.
Very cool.
5/6 – Spaceflight Now – Video: Dragon test articles flies pad abort profile – Continue reading “More good stuff on the open space and technology frontiers – 5/12”
Back in 2013, I offered An illustration why you should gain control over your name on the ‘net, both through buying domain names and reserving your name at social media sights (oops, meant to say sites!).
To illustrate the concept that you should grab control over your name on the ’net, I pointed out a pro-Second Amendment activist who bought a domain and turned it into a pro-gun website to poke fun at an anti-gun politician.
The domain?
I just checked that address and found out it is a dead link. It used to be an advocacy site. However, the joke (if you are into such things) and the point (which is the reason for this post) stand.
(cross post from my other blog, Nonprofit Update)
In recent weeks, a politician from the opposite side of the aisle got zinged. She is former head of a large technology company. Someone grabbed a domain including her name and put up a one-page site criticizing how many people were laid off during her tenure.
The domain? Continue reading “Get control of every domain that refers to your name, including all extensions”
The disruptive change around us is staggering. Yet I don’t see how it will disrupt my business, which is the auditing sector of public accounting. Before I get into that, here are a few more articles on the change going on around us.
Just in case you are wondering what digital disruption looks like, check out this graph of newspaper ad revenue for the last 65 years, adjusted for inflation:
(Copyright Carpe Diem, used with permission.)
4/30 – Carpe Diem – Creative destruction: Newspaper ad revenue continued its precipitous free fall in 2014, and it’s likely to continue – Above graph is from this article, which points out that print advertising has dropped 57% in six years and is down 75% from the 2000 high 14 years ago.
Adding back digital advertising puts the volume of advertising essentially at the same level as in 1950 when adjusted for inflation. Phrased differently, it took 50 years to go from $20B to $67B and merely 14 years to lose all that growth.
More examples:
Continue reading “More glimpses that disruptive change is already here – (radical change #4)”
There are amazing things going on in the wide open frontiers of technology and eduction. Here’s a few articles that caught my eye.
Technology
4/6 – American Interest (Peter) – Jobs of the Future, Travel Agent Edition– Article suggests demand for travel agents is growing and could even outstrip the supply soon.
How can this possibly be? I thought the ‘net deleted the need for travel agents.
Here is my sixteenth list of good stuff on our surveillance society. A few articles of interest.
The depth, breadth, and speed of the surveillance continues to astound me.
4/21 – Schneier on Security – Hacker Detained by FBI after Tweeting about Airplane Software Vulnerabilities – Check out the speed of surveillance in this story.
While in the air from Denver to New York, a security researcher joked in a tweet about hacking specific airplane systems. When he landed, the FBI detained him for a 4 hour interrogation and confiscated his electronics.
The frontiers of private space travel, technology innovations, and the education revolution are amazing to watch. Here are a few articles that caught my eye that I thought are worth a mention of the frontiers that are wide open today:
Space
4/14 – Popular Mechanics – Elon Musk: Falcon 9 Landed “Too Hard for Survival’ – Getting closer to success… The third attempt to land the first stage of SpaceX’s rocket didn’t quite work. The rocket landed on the barge, but apparently hit too hard for the rocket to be reusable. First reports don’t give much more info. The video feed shows the rocket trying to maneuver to the remain completely vertical right before landing, which is probably an indication of some minor issue in addition to too much speed.
A few more tries and then success and then a radical drop in the cost of space flights.
4/15 – Behind the Black – Why SpaceX’s first stage failure is really a magnificent success – Longer video of landing show the rocket was not maintaining straight vertical position. Thus it was wobbly when touching down, fell to the side, and exploded. That is progress. Continue reading “More good stuff on open frontiers – 4/17”
To support a side comment in previous article, I did a quick search on operating costs of fighters. For future reference in other articles, I’ll list some of the info here.
4/2/13 – Time magazine – Costly Flight Hours – This is the longest list I could quickly find. Author cites a researcher who volunteered the info he had gathered from official sources, so take it for what its worth. Cool official pictures for the planes, too. A few highlights:
Bombers: Continue reading “Operating costs per hour for USAF planes”
Sometimes things go so weird you just gotta’ laugh. Satire site Onion is yet again outdone by reality. Would you otherwise think this was satire? Two federal agents allegedly ripped off Silk Road, allegedly ripped off Dread Pirate Roberts, and otherwise allegedly stole a ton stack pile truckload whole bunch of bitcoins.
3/30 – Wall Street Journal – Former Federal Agents Charged With Stealing Bitcoin During Probe