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Showing posts from December, 2017

I Love This Real Life Little Engine That Could, And There's Nothing You Cynical Bastards Can Do to Change That

My cold, shriveled heart suddenly decided this toy train needed all the support it could get as it bravely explored the world on its own. from gizmodo http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2017/12/i-love-this-real-life-little-engine-that-could-and-theres-nothing-you-cynical-bastards-can-do-to-change-that/
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Does Survival of Cryptocurrency Technology Depend on Human Emotion?

Some technologies continue to exist even if their creators set them aside in favor of something else. A stone wheel remains a stone wheel, regardless of whether you use it. A printing press in a museum still operates precisely as designed, even though it’s been bucked in favor of digital printers. And combustion engines will still run on gasoline, even when the day comes that no one cares to use one anymore. But this kind of staying power is not the case with the technology that underpins cryptocurrency: blockchain. If people stop caring about a given cryptocurrency, the blockchain that runs it will eventually die out. How is this possible? First, let’s review what a blockchain is and how it works. Despite its futuristic-sounding name, it’s actually a simple thing: a digital ledger maintained by a special kind of computer. Traditionally, a ledger is a piece of paper on which changes of ownership are recorded by hand. An ancient ledger might read that I have one sheep and you have th
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Today’s unanswered question: Why do organizations think they are secure?

Recently I’ve been asking friends, colleagues and clients what they think are the most important unanswered questions in tech. I thank Ian Murphy , who works in the security industry, for the following conundrum: “Why do companies with little or no real security experience think they know their environment better than anyone else? That is, because it’s ‘their”’ network, they feel best placed to identify attackers (even those with advanced techniques who hide in the normal traffic noise)?”  It’s a good one. I’ve been working in IT for decades and I remain baffled how we lock up our houses, secure our vehicles, seal away our valuables and yet, in the corporate environment, senior executives still question the need for security expertise. Ignorance, it would appear, is bliss. While the problem may be technological, I suspect the answer is inherently human. Back in the day, when I was an IT director for a subsidiary of Alcatel, it took a major security incident on my watch to trigger an
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Olympic Planners Want to Scan the Faces of Hundreds of Thousands at the 2020 Tokyo Games

To employ face recognition at this scale, organisers would need to build a massive database of face data for all of the 300,000 to 400,000 officials, journalists, security, and athletes at the Games. from gizmodo http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2017/12/olympic-planners-want-to-scan-the-faces-of-hundreds-of-thousands-at-the-2020-tokyo-games/
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DevOps Automation report — it was always about DevOps

One has to wonder what was going through Barry Boehm ’s head when, back in 1986, he formulated what he called the ’Spiral Model’ of software development, which brought the notion of iteration into the process of delivering software to the masses. He undoubtedly wasn’t the first to employ faster development cycles to solve software problems; however, he was key in presenting such approaches as a viable alternative to exhaustive, long-winded models such as ‘Waterfall’. General acceptance of ‘fast’ approaches remains a challenge. They are sometimes seen as in some way casual or delivering lower quality, in the same way as people who don’t wear smart clothes might be less disciplined. There’s as much truth to either. Indeed, Boehm himself released a book about this, in 2004: the title “Balancing Agility and Discipline: A Guide for the Perplexed” says all we need to know about the dilemma, which continues to this day. Over the decades however, moving faster has been proven over and aga
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Nothing We Know of Stops Dementia: Broad Review Rules Out Drugs, Exercise, And Brain-Training Games

"There’s no harm in eating right, being active, and cognitively and socially engaged. We just don’t have the evidence that supplies that conclusion right now.” from gizmodo http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2017/12/nothing-we-know-of-stops-dementia-broad-review-rules-out-drugs-exercise-and-brain-training-games/
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How Artificial Intelligence in Medicine is Improving Healthcare (and Business)

The use of AI, or artificial intelligence, in the medical field is an emerging trend that promises exponential advances in the way we diagnose and treat a multitude of health conditions. Advances in the application of medical AI technology are occurring at a lightning pace, with new developments rendering prior solutions obsolete in a matter of months. In this article, we’ll review some of the ways that AI technology is making the healthcare field more efficient, improving the quality of care, raising ethical concerns, and offering medical practices a competitive advantage. History of AI in Healthcare As early as 1959, the medical research field has been fascinated with the potential for the application of artificial intelligence. Early researchers envisioned a machine that could hold a vast amount of medical knowledge and possess the ability to provide potential diagnoses. In the early 1980s, the emerging field of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (AIM) was urged on
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Data Reveals The Films With The Biggest Gender Gap Between Film Critics

Do critics rate films differently based on their gender? It turns out that in some cases, they do! So join us as we find out which films men prefer to women, and vice-versa - and why this makes a strong case for why critics need to be more representative. from gizmodo http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2017/12/data-reveals-the-films-with-the-biggest-gender-gap-between-film-critics/
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Snap's H.R. Chief Allegedly Warned Staff About Serial Killers, Described Military Masturbation Techniques

The head of HR at Snap HQ is allegedly a total bro who brags about gunfights with drug dealers and tells employees to watch out for serial killers. from gizmodo http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2017/12/snaps-h-r-chief-allegedly-warned-staff-about-serial-killers-described-military-masturbation-techniques/
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