I was writing about disruptors in journalism and began reflecting the other day on whether it’s possible to spot disruption before it happens. I was thinking that in 1970 we could and should have predicted that computers would eventually disrupt our lives. And also caught myself thinking well “how would we know the degree to which they’d be disruptive?” In those days I thought I’d end up with a job in research at IBM, or Kodak, or SRI, or be a university professor (which I was at the time) and just keep doing that, and computers would play an increasingly important role in my life and the world. But, you know, I was pushing the disruptive edge too, without really thinking about it that much. Disruption wasn’t a word we thought about. Or used. [Read more…]
Psychoactive bison
Yes, this is for real. It’s a sign posted on the fence at the Bison Paddock in Golden Gate Park (San Francisco CA USA). At least it was there last year.
No, I have no idea why the sign is there, although I suppose it makes sense to avoid giving bison psychoactive substances. Except maybe when prescribed by their vet?
The bison have been there since 1930, before San Francisco had a zoo. This small herd has remained in the park rather than relocating to the zoo at the south end of The Great Highway.
Now that I know everyone
I have several “threads” on LinkedIn. First, I’m a computer science guy, so I know lots of CS people. Next, I’ve been involved in peace activities with The Dalai Lama Foundation and The Metta Center. Another group of people. Then recently as a musician+composer. On LinkedIn I’ve been looking at the “People You May Know” links and recently I’ve been adding a lot of musicians because LinkedIn usually does get it right and it shows me names and photos for people I do indeed know. For every 8 or so people it suggests, I know one or two people.
But a week ago I noticed that it’s not giving me as many names or people I know. Maybe I know one in a hundred of the people it’s presenting. I wonder if their algorithm is confused by my change of orientation and can’t figure out who to present as possible links? Uh, yes, I do know that it’s basing its recommendations on my own contacts, but it seems to have reached some kind of event horizon.
Backdoors – How Absolutely Stupid!
I have not written on this subject because I just see everyone else is banging on Congress about how stupid it would be to install “backdoors” in commercial email and software services. But honestly, I’m a bit concerned right now because government pressure is being stepped up.
A “backdoor” is a mechanism that allows a service provider or government to access the contents of a system without knowing users’ passwords and without their knowledge. It is essentially a universal key that opens everything.
We hear government officials crying out that this is the only way they can protect the nation against attack. In other words, the government wants to have universal access to every electronic communication, or we will all die in flaming terrorist attacks.
So just why is this the stupidest idea in the world? [Read more…]
Opt out from Online Behavioral Advertising? Maybe not…
Online advertising has “gotten personal” and can adapt itself so that the ads you see are related to what you’ve been viewing, or shopping for, online.
This means, for example, that when you are viewing a sleeping bag at REI.com, you might later on see an ad for REI—an ad featuring that same sleeping bag—at another web site later that week.
A friend recently mentioned this article in Huffington Post claiming you can opt out of this kind of advertising. They say you can opt out in 2 easy steps. Turns out you can’t really opt out of the tracking, just the advertising itself. [Read more…]
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