The Essence of BOREDOM

CAGED

 

I feel we have a society that is getting bored!  Not just a little bit but a lot.  One of the many reasons for this is the declinism that is occuring in America.  Opportunities are becoming limited.  I know, we are told with the new technology there will be endless opportunities for new innovations bringing with it new kinds of jobs.  But I don't see it.  The whole essence of technology is ever more efficiency and less repetitious jobs for humankind.  That has been the promise for the last century.  But ridding us of the repetition has thus far been a loss of jobs and a loss of the industrial culture.  Just think of Detroit to name an easy example.  But this post is suppose to be about BOREDOM.  And that is what I want to delve into today. 

 

Everything mirrors the "End of History."  Been there, done that attitude and yet we just keep on doing it, over and over.  The music is (mostly) classic or gangster rap which is not exactly bursting with the sunshine of opportunity.  I know there is the "Happy Song" but even as the chorus goes over and over in your head...you know deep down that there is nothing to be THAT happy about.  I personally had to stop watching the News.  I was getting so much ANXIETY and deep feelings of gloom and doom it just wasn't worth being informed.  Then there are all the new television shows that are centered on the destruction of mankind one way or another.  Is there really nothing else we can entertain ourselves with but imaging our destruction and apocalypse?  Well sure there are all the very korny reality shows and sitcoms that aren't as much funny as they are gross and I guess that is substituting for humor. 

 

I think the essence of boredom is having nothing new to look forward to but the next gadget that soon is to be released.  We are living in an unreal world that we are together participating in and acting as if it is way cool.  But my fear is that deep down we all are getting anxious that this is not living and it certainly isn't fun.  What it is though is time consuming and that passes for accomplishing something.  But I think all this unspent energy is boiling up in each of us.  And I worry that one day it will burst forth like it has in the past century in ways unimaginable to our humanity.  How can I think such things?  Well, if you turn everything off for awhile and just think about the state of things you might see things differently as well.  Our culture of just existing has made us COMFORTABLY NUMB.  I just can't sit through dinner and watch the Evening News of murder, war, violence, and hatred.  That is when I came up with this "Hate begets Hate and the News is Directed Hate and Collective, Directed FEAR." 

 

I don't think we should allow our boredom to give us license to delight or cringe over death and mayhem.  I think we need to drop out of this culture of gloom and doom and drop in to living life again.  A life of true innovation.  A life where you concentrate on your creativity and passion and happiness.  Things that will bring joy to you and to others.  It is time we look again and break our addiction to nonsense and sickness.  If technology is opening up so many new opportunities for novelty then let's be novel and come up with growth of good things, like concentrating on happiness not disrespect for ourselves and everyone else. I do believe we can make a difference in our own life which will make a difference in others which will make America better instead of worse.  But we will have to break out of the cage that we are in and as we do so we will learn to feel and live again. 

"The Rise of Data and The Death of Politics"



The tech world is certainly taking Peter Diamandis advice on predicting & creating the future seriously. In the article "The Rise of Data and The Death of Politics" it is a apparent that they are taking Diamandis suggestion quite literally. This is alarming information concerning the NEAR FUTURE and the control that is extended through all of our smart-devices. Technology is combining big-data with predictable behaviour to create a new society that will be ULTRA-STABLE by helping you to make all the right choices.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/20/rise-of-data-death-of-politics-evgeny-morozov-algorithmic-regulation

All technological control comes with upfront benefits and promises for an "even more secure and safe" world.  Even, and especially if it is to protect us from ourselves.  For instance, Apple's latest patent will "deploy sensors inside the smartphone to analyse if the car is moving and if the person using the phone is driving; if both conditions are met, it blocks phone's texting feature."  this is one of many examples of control, oh I mean benefits of the new system of "smartification!"

Besides efficiency, the new "smart world" has a "new type of governance" called "algorithmic regulation."  This is being presented as an exciting political choice since "so much of our everyday behavior is already captured, analysed and nudged, so why stick to unempirical (not scientific)  approaches to regulation? Why rely on laws when one has sensors and real-time feedback mechanisms?  If policy interventions are to be...evidence-based and results-oriented, technology is here to help.  It offers policymakers simple solutions to "politics, democracy and power." 

The ultra-stability will be possible due to a system to "maintain stability by constantly learning and adapting itself to changing circumstances.  The system will readily adapt and change due to its tons and tons of supplied data which we have given (freely) over the years to help anticipate our next move.  All information which is stored in the clouds (very large, connected computers) that is measured, categorized, and analysed and will be used to accurately predict our next move.  All of this "big-data" combined with "predictive analytics" and the "internet of things" will allow the new system to operate a machine-like control in order to have ultra-stability.

The system can adapt to "ultra-stability because it is always monitoring and redeploying possibilities and resources.  Therefore, "there's no need to develop procedures of governing contingency, because the algorithms and immediate feedback can do a better job than inflexible rules out of touch with reality." 

The article goes in depth into all the new devices and uses for governments which some countries are already adopting.  This is the scientific approach of governance and if you heard (or thought) that the internet is the best surveillance the world has ever seen (Bloomberg) then wait till you see what the internet of things will be able to do. 

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/20/rise-of-data-death-of-politics-evgeny-morozov-algorithmic-regulation

 

SUMMER HALF OVER READING LIST to understanding the future

Summer Half Over Reading List



I bet you haven't started on the 10 books to explain the future.  So I thought in the interest of time that I would shorten the list since summer is half over.  You do want to understand what's coming, right?  So here is my top 5 choices of books to read pertaining to the future.

If I could only recommend one book to read this summer it would be Jaron Lanier's "You Are Not A Gadget.  Jaron is a techie that has stepped out of his comfort zone to help the public understand what is occurring in Silicon Valley and how they are creating your future.  He is smart and truthful.  This is a must read book and I am sure you can get it as an e-book (which is just wrong in my opinion).

#1 You Are Not a Gadget BY Jaron Lanier

 

2. This 2nd book is an oldie but goodie.  I bet you saw the movie but the book is way better and very different.  This little book was for the future but I think you will agree that it is relevant for today.  It is about a society (in the future) that couldn't handle conflicting opinions and chose to remain ignorant by filling their time with entertainment and empty pursuits.  Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." 



 

#2  Fahrenheit 451 BY Ray Bradbury

 

3. This book is so short you can read it in an hour or two.  Again, this is a story written for a future time in which society has let the machine take over every aspect of life.  Everything is done for them by their fancy smartphone (or whatever device you would like it to be).  People rarely see each other in person but instead attend to their life in VR (virtual reality).  E. M. Forester's "The Machine Stops."

 

#3 The Machine Stops BY E.M. Forster

 

Or here is a link to a pdf of this story: http://www.ele.uri.edu/faculty/vetter/Other-stuff/The-Machine-Stops.pdf

 

4. The next recommended book is a response to the fact that the middle-class is disappearing and his suggestions of how to take advantage of the time available to make lots of money.  Also, he suggests ways to be happy and to find balance in a very unbalanced time.  This is a fast and fun read.  This guy is smart and funny.  James Altucher's "Choose Yourself."







 



 #4 Choose Yourself BY James Altucher

 

5. I can't recommend this author and this book enough.  The author continues with his theory on the take over by everything digital and what it will mean to our VERY NEAR future.  This is an insider's story of the technologies that are consuming our life.  Jaron Lanier's "Who Owns the Future?"

 

 

#5  Who Owns the Future? BY Jaron Lanier

 

There you go!  This list is as easy as it is interesting and fun.  So grab some good books or reading devices and start reading! 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 











DOES YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT MATTER?

Indelible

 

Your digital footprint is all that you do everyday with your digital electronics.  For instance: you get up in the morning and grab your phone to check facebook, twitter, yahoo, weather bug, news source, etc.  You like something and change you status on facebook, you retweet on twitter and add your opinion in a clever 140 characters, you then go to yahoo and check your emails and respond to the important ones, you check the weather where you plan to spend your day, you pin a new outfit on pinterest, you google some private issue, you text, you post, you call, you order things, you listen to music, you check your bank account and credit score.  Every little thing you do digitally is your digital footprint and is saved and is a measure of who you are and what you are up to and is being saved by every server you are using. 

 

Does this digital footprint matter?  That is what you determine by every movement you make on the internet.  For what might be nothing today could be something tomorrow.  Seems small but for some it has cost much to clean up their digital footprint.  New programs such as Cyberdust will allow you 30 or 45 seconds to read your text and then poof it is gone forever.  Not saved on any platform.  I think this is the wave of the future.  Everything we do online will be turned into nothing...but then we will go from substance to nothingness. 

 

So there is a fine line being drawn right now over the permanence of your information.  All that is out there now is very permanent.  There are just a few app's on the horizon that won't leave a print.  So for the most part it is important to be aware that everything you do online is being watched and saved, and will be there FOREVER for future viewing.  I guess the internet has become eternal!  So watch your step.



THE MACHINE STOPS by E.M. Forster

Could it be that easy?

 

No it is not easy to unplug from our technology.  And everyday it gets harder as we are using more and more technology to do everything.  Digital technology is embedded in our life now.  We depend upon it.  We trust.  We trust others to protect our digital life movements.  We are locked in: to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer (them) for poorer (us), in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death do us part...Well, with the coming Singularity; maybe not even then!

 

Today I read short story by E.M. Forster "The Machine Stops".  He tells an excellent story that will make you think about our daily technology and the effect it is having on our culture and on our future.  This is a story written in 1909 and yet the language and presentation seems more appropriate for today.  It is the story of comfort, convenience, and protection.  Also, a story of dependence and atrophy.  It is a story of us and our love of technology and our want of ever more efficiency. 

 

It took me only an hour or so to read.  But as I finished, it set me into deep contemplation of the times we are living in with our ever advancing technology in relation to the story.  Then I decided that I wanted to take a college class on something along this line.  So I wrote a course syllabus called "Technology, Culture and the Future."  The course will explore the long reach and penetration of technology on individuality, personality, relationships, innovation, perpetualness, and the effect on humanity and civilization. In this course we will explore the usefulness and benefits of technology, as well as, the seduction and addiction of it.  Then we will explore the danger of the capacity of current trends in technology. 

 

It should be a lot of fun and thought provoking.  Just let me know if you would be interested in taking such a course online and I will get it set up. Just let me know in the comment section and I will get further information to you.  By the way: the first reading & discussion will be E.M. Forster's "THE MACHINE STOPS."

 

 

 



 



CREEPY PEEPING MACHINE

 

http://singularityhub.com/2014/05/31/move-over-facial-recognition-new-algorithm-identifies-your-actions-in-videos/ 

 

Transcript from Singularity Hub

 

Artificial intelligence algorithms can find your face in a crowd and detect what you’re feeling. But it’s harder for them to identify what you’re doing.

That’s because most actions — say, dancing — are actually a series of smaller actions. If an image depicted a person with hands in the air and hip cocked to one side, it would be difficult to know what that person was doing.
Researchers at MIT and U.C. Irvine have developed a new algorithm that can detect actions in video much more effectively than past efforts. It does by applying the lessons of natural language grammar computer scientists have parsed for computers.
“We see an analogy here, which is, if you have a complex action — like making tea or making coffee — that has some subactions, we can basically stitch together these subactions and look at each one as something like verb, adjective, and adverb,” said MIT post-doctoral researcher Hamed Pirsiavash in a news release.
Just as in some languages nouns can go before or after verbs but adjectives have to precede nouns, in a particular action, like making tea, the preparer could put a tea bag into an empty cup before or after putting the water on to boil, but no matter what the kettle will go on the stove before the water is poured.
The grammar model has another advantage: The algorithm can make educated guesses about partially completed actions in a streaming video. The software makes its best guess as to what the action is and subsequently revises it if necessary.
“We’ve known for a very long time that the things that people do are made up of subactivities. The problem is we don’t know what the pieces are,” said David Forsyth, a professor of computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who was not involved in the project. “There’s a fairly substantial open problem here. I wouldn’t have said that the open problem has completely gone away, but the method itself is very powerful.”
Yet, just as different languages have different grammatical structures, different actions do as well. Based on many examples of the same action fed to it by its human instructors, the machine learning-driven artificial intelligence program will sketch out a grammar for each individual action. The software will recognize only specific actions that it’s been trained to handle. It’s been trained, so far, to identify moves in some common athletic activities. (A good chunk of the work on motion identification algorithms see high-level sports as a significant user base.)
But that doesn’t mean the software won’t be useful. Thanks to the grammar model, the program works faster and with less memory demands than previous attempts to solve the same problem. It also doesn’t require any special clothing like some gesture-recognition programs have. The program can also discard more of its own hypotheses faster, if they don’t adhere to its grammatical rules, easing its power demands. Memory demands remain fixed regardless of the length of the video.
With smaller computing demands, average Joes might be able to use the software. Users would fire up their webcams and task the computer with telling them if they remember to do something — such as take their medication — or if they complete an action — such as a physical therapy exercise or a golf putt — correctly. Down the road, the software could help robots work with humans in relatively unstructured work environments.
With any advances in artificial intelligence, legitimate privacy questions spring to mind. But this algorithm’s move to put the smarts in the hands of a user and develop them for narrowly targeted uses seems like a reasonable way to get the benefits of savvy computers without too much of the creep factor.

 



Live For Today!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCj7PlWRFf4&feature=youtu.be

Today I questioned a valued acquaintance on the effect that "DISRUPTION" was going to have for our future.  The response I received was Disruption is just a word and not to worry about it but to worry about me today.  Well, I thought...yes, DISRUPTION is a word but it appears to be a very important word to our future.  If I only worry about today and myself and what I can scrape up while the tide is in then I will have no reason for complaint when that tides goes out and nothing is left.  How can we not pay attention to what "they"...the siren servers are telling us.  (Google, Facebook, MS, Amazon, etc).  And not just the big Siren Servers but those that are close to them trying to feed on. 

DISRUPTION means destruction for our way of life.  When everything is no longer price efficient it will be disrupted.  That means it will be over.  The company (or whatever) will go bankrupt or at least shut the doors.  And when the disruption has completed it's destruction of this way of life, which has been pretty darn good to us, there will be no going back.  We will have arrived at our brave new world and that world for better or worse will be by subscription & contract.  We will have been gleaned of all our information...our who we are in every aspect and situation of our life...and then we will get what we want back for a price.  Do you think Google is going to keep dishing out for free all the information that they have gathered for years or do you think some policy changes will come about.

I'm not good at living in the moment.  I never have been.  I do try hard to be happy and feel gratitude for each day and what I have accomplished or not.  But my eye is always on the future.  That is just who I am.  And I see a lot coming at us right now.  The future is almost here.  And many, many smart people are working around the clock at the ideas to change life in ways that will cut out the middle person, which in turn means the middle class.  Why?  It is faster and more efficient and besides they are receiving huge grants for researching and growing these new industries that will in the future take your job away. 

So...I do think that DISRUPTION is more than just a word.  It is a word that is used everyday to express someones plan for the future...the near future.  So I just can't sit back and live for today. 

WHO WILL OWN YOUR FUTURE?

 



 

"The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself." (Peter Diamandis)  It appears that Facebook and Google are in the creating your future mode.  Facebook just announced on internet.org a Facebook creation, that Facebook would be "involved" in a drone program to get wi-fi to more people.  Zuckerberg wants the whole world to be connected.  But drones bringing you the internet so you can be on Facebook...seems far fetched. 

 

 

Guest's on Bloomberg today had a discussion on why Facebook and Google are buying such an array of odd acquisitions.  Charlie Warzel (buzzfeed) stated that these "technology moguls" are yearning to be visionaries in that they "want to alter the course of human history."  Well, that is wide open.  Alter our history how?  By creating a future that so far they have not let us in on.  It seems to me that "whatever" this future will be that they are creating...Facebook & Google are predicting, creating, and preparing for it through purchasing.  But they can afford it but how is it democratic?  Just because they are taking it to everyone...is this what everyone wants?  Well, how would we know?  

VIRTUAL IS THE NEW SOCIAL

Zuckerberg (Facebook) has just bought a new company called Oculus VR.  According to Zuck it has the potential to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate.  (Again!)

 

We are in the midst of rapid change.  Everything we thought we knew will not be.  Alvin Toffler the futurist author said many would not be able to keep up with the rapidly changing future.  He said they would get the disease of FUTURE SHOCK!  But maybe he was wrong...Maybe we will just adapt and buy into all the new goodies.  

 

For Zuckerberg and all the Big Five (Facebook,Google,Microsoft,Amazon, & Yahoo) it's all about the future. If mobile is the current computing platform, vision and virtual reality could be platforms of the future. Zuckerberg said that buying Oculus was "a long term bet on the future of computing."

 

The creator of the Oculus said that "the more we learned, the more we became convinced that virtual reality would become central to the next great wave of computing." (Dixon)

 

It is being described as a "fully immersed experience." The experience could make all the common experience today go from gaming to chatting face-to-face across the globe. 

 

"Oculus has the potential to be the most social platform ever.  Imagine not just sharing moments with your friends online but entire experiences."  (Zuckerberg)

 

Just remember it will be virtual.  We are going from the social collective body to a more atomonous and imaginary alone world.  Will this be good for us?  Will it be good for society?  Or will it be another distraction that actually separates us more and more from each other as we enter the unreal and impossible.  

GOOGLE IT

I love Google.  I use Google everywhere and so will you.  Google is hard to escape.  In someways I think we don't even mind that Google is watching our every move because it seems such a benefit in our busy inter-connected lives.  But regardless of my awe and use, I do see many connections we should be concerned about.  Is Google our friend?  Will Google keep our best interests of freedom and privacy intact?  (I don't think so!)

Google has been on quite the shopping spree lately.  Spending $17B and that's more than Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, and Yahoo, combined in the last 2 years. (Well, maybe not Facebook as it just bought What's App for $16B & Oculus for $2B)  Nevertheless Google has acquired 114 new businesses.  Consequently, many are trying to figure out what all these acquisitions have in common.  My guess is that it is a mighty algorithm set to "what should we buy to own the future?"  Obviously, a very smart Super Computer that has access to the brains of Google & at Google, not to mention Ray Kurzweil (the futurist and inventor) and all the information of everything, everywhere...with predictive analytics incorporated is capable of designing the future.  Remember Peter's Law: "The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself."

But the shopping list for Google has been very erratic.  At least to us small brain people.  There is a mobile app that allows you to bump phones together and transfer files. Then there is the gesture recognition technology.  Also, lots and lots of robotic companies, most for humanoid robots but also a military and industrial robotic company...yikes!  As of 2014, their purchases have been either for developing Artificial Intelligence or technology that will connect all our "things."  And my favorite is that they have bought into RayBan and Oakley to make Google Glass classier.  At least the future won't be dull, eh?

So no one knows what is behind the many faceted buys and mergers but there are speculations.  Some believe that Google is after the talent that are in these different companies as they come with the purchase and are called "aqui-hires."  Others think "most of what they're developing in any way, shape, or form finds out more about you."  (Rob Enderle)  Some think they just want more places they can gain information on you to aim ads at you were ever you are.   But I am more inclined to think that Google wants to own all information.  Information is knowledge and knowledge is power.  Google is in the process of gathering everything in the way of knowledge from anywhere and everywhere.  That is the future.  And maybe Enderle is right in his statement that Google "will be a superpower...and may well run the world." 



CLOUD COMPUTING & YOU

Your Life "in the Cloud."

 

We are a "subscription economy."  Recently I have been trying to do some family history and every website I go to is offering me a free trial for my credit card # and a monthly fee.  That made me start thinking about how many things we do for a subscription of a week, a month, or a yearly fee.  And that all adds up fast.  Soon we will be subscribing for our space in the cloud to keep all our documents, as well as our favorite programs for those of us that still use Word, Power Point, Excel, and the rest.  We are becoming a society of renters not owners. 

 

But what is cloud computing?  Well, I am sure it can be very complicated if one wants to be technical but I don't.  Basically, it is a bunch of super-large, super-fast computers that all your information is routed through, stored and accessed.  Cloud computing means the ability to run multiple programs and/or applications on many computers at the same time.

 

The reason they chose the word "cloud" besides that it sounds kind of cool and gives a dreamy image, is that it virtually corresponds somewhat to a cloud.  Here's how: Cloud-computing is based on sharing resources and effectiveness.  For example, the European Users will be allocated the most priority during European business hours while the majority of Americans are sleeping.  Then they can switch priority and application during America's peak business hours when most European's are sleeping.  Thus, it is like a could in the way that it changes through growing and expanding at times, while other times it is shrinking in what it does. 

 

Now this system of massive and many computers connected together called mega-networks is extremely efficient and offer cost advantages to big business as they don't each have to have all the hardware.  "Cloud computing" is also called "pay as you go" as it is sold "as a service" (subscription) for big business and for you. 

 

They (Google, Amazon, IBM, Micro-soft, etc.,) tout how this is good for the environment as it requires less electricity, cooling, space and as such it is a public good. 

 

So what does this mean to you?  It means everything will soon be "in the cloud."  It means more of all you do will operate in this fashion.  For that is what technology is all about.  It is to make everything predictable, efficient and fast.  After all...it is a machine.  The problem is that we are expected to be more machine-like as well.  In fact, we are.  We do more.  We work faster.  We work smarter.  We play with our devices and are always connected through our engagement with others by technological devices.  But there is a cost to all this.  And that cost besides being less personal & having less physical interaction, is our complete dependence on the machine and by extension...on Google, Facebook, MS, & Amazon.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



40% OF THE S&P 500 GONE IN A DECADE

"THE BEST WAY THE PREDICT THE FUTURE IS TO CREATE IT YOURSELF"

Peter's Law

 

So if you are planning to create the future, it is important to plan it and have excellent financial backing...you know, Venture Capital.  There are a group of people who are building your future at the Singularity University.  They will be holding a two-day conference in June 2014, in New York City.  The theme for this year is exploring exponential finance.  For exponential technologies are transforming every industry and are creating existential threats to most business, investments, client base and even Wall Street.  Exponential technologies are disruptive technologies coming for you at exponential rate. 

 

The people that want to predict and thereby create our future are those involved with the major technology companies.  Within this group is Singularity University and their aim is to prepare HUMANITY for ACCELERATING TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE.  A very heady and presumptuous endeavor indeed.  This year the grad students and presenters are holding a 2 day conference in NYC, to explore exponential finance for their exponential technologies that will be transforming EVERY INDUSTRY and which could definitely mean threats to your business with the accelerated disruptive technologies. 

 

The point is that in the next 10 years 40% of the S&P (Fortune 500) companies will no longer exist due to exponential growth of disruptive technologies.  Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Synthetic biology and digital manufacturing (to name a few) will all be transforming how companies are started, how services are delivered and who invests in them.  Some examples of this exponential disruption are how I-Tunes destroyed the record store.  SKPE is working on ending land line for long distance.  Amazon has destroyed the bookstores.  Ebay is on its way to demolishing the local stores and Craig's List has killed the newspaper. 

 

We are fast heading towards a transformation of every aspect of our life.  We are being promised that all of this technological progress will benefit the whole world to meet the needs of everyone on the planet.  That sounds very Utopian.  There are many things to be aware of now.  The pace of acceleration is exponential.  How can we prepare for this?  Many years ago Alvin Toffler (Futurist) predicted that the rapid rate of change would cause a new disease called "FUTURE SHOCK."  Because people would not be able to keep up with how fast everything would be changing.  If we aren't there yet...I predict it is at our doors! 

 

BY THE WAY...Peter Diamandis (yes, that is the Peter of Peter's Laws) is Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Singularity U.

 

AND BY WAY OF INTEREST AND ALONG THIS SAME LINE:  Eric Schmidt (Executive Chairman of Google) was on Charlie Rose tonight, February 25, promoting his book to be available in paperback next week, THE NEW DIGITAL AGE: RESHAPING THE FUTURE OF PEOPLE, NATIONS, AND BUSINESS.    He said (lots) of significance to this post:

 

 "It's all about CREATING THE FUTURE!" 

 

 





TECHNOLOGY: CHANGING THE WORLD WE LIVE

 

Google Robot



The talk today on Bloomberg during Street Smart, was about how technology is in the process of COMPLETELY CHANGING the world we live in.

Again I want to mention Peter's Law:

 "THE BEST WAY TO PREDICT THE FUTURE IS TO CREATE IT YOURSELF".

 

 This is what Joseph Sitt (Thor Equities Founder & CEO) had to say about the transitional era of technology that we are living in right now:

 

"We are about to hit technology 3.0.  We are now in the second or third age of technology.  Until now it was about technology changing the physical, and physical processing, and automating it.  So in things like manufacturing making it much more efficient and lowering the cost of production. P.S. (he said) that does hurt the jobs.  We are about to go through the MEGA CHANGE. It is going to be about robotics.  It is going be about mental technology.  And part of all that wealth that THE FAT CATS, the Googles, etc., are going to have BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of DOLLARS to invest and will invest it by buying robotic companies."

"Google buys 8 robotics companies in 6 months"  MoneyWatchDecember 16, 2013.

Robotics, of course, is not the only interest of the planning your future scenario.  Google acquired the well known futurist, Ray Kurzweil, a year ago to engineer their AI projects.  This is what was said about Kurzweil's project with Google:

"It’s all part of a rapidly evolving integration of human and artificial intelligence, which the author, scientist and inventor refers to as the Singularity. “We’re going to expand who we are. We’re going to become more non-biological,” Mr. Kurzweil said. The biological capabilities of the human mind are improving at a linear rate, while the non-biological capabilities of technology are increasing at an exponential rate. He predicts that by 2029, artificial intelligence will have human-like capabilities, which he refers to as the Singularity. Mr. Kurzweil says he doesn’t believe this will lead to a dystopian future, because those capabilities will be widely distributed among a wide variety of actors, rather than a small group of “evil corporations.”  BUT HE ADDS:

"Technology, Mr. Kurzweil conceded, always has been a double-edged sword. “Fire kept us warm … and fire burned down our villages!”

Ray Kurzweil believes that innovations in biogenetics and nanotechnology are creating a new future for humanity, leading toward a future event he calls the Singularity, in which man and machine finally merge.

More on Google's Kurzweil and "predicting the future!" http://www.ryot.org/googles-ray-kurzweil-predicts-future-believe/527265  and just a note from the webpage that hosts this piece:

"RYOT NOTE: It’s mind-boggling to imagine these actually becoming reality. One of the ways to ensure that technology continues to advance in the future is by educating younger generations. Youth For Technology marries education and technology, by partnering with low-income communities in the U.S. and with rural communities in developing nations to teach the youth how to use technology to solve problems."

And then there is Google's latest acquisition, DeepMind.  We aren't sure what this is yet.  But it sounds intriguing to say the least.  This is what the Economist had to say:

"As machine learning leaves the lab and goes into practice, it will threaten white-collar, knowledge-worker jobs just as machines, automation and assembly lines destroyed factory jobs in the 19th and 20th centuries. For example, the technique has been applied by researchers at Stanford University to tell whether a biopsy of breast cells is highly cancerous, something that until now has required a human expert to assess."

But one of the founders of DeepMind had some DEEP CONCERNS over possible misuses of this technology:

"Another of DeepMind’s founders, Shane Legg, has predicted that artificial intelligence running amok will be the biggest existential risk to humans in this century. Its founders have asked Google to set up an “ethics board” to consider the appropriate use of machine learning in its products. The creator of “Evil Genius” is ensuring that his new overlord sticks to its motto, “Don’t be evil”.

This is more examples of what is called DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION as explained in my last post, Disruptive Technologies could be coming for your job.  Also see who are the "Fat Cats" are that have billions and billions of dollars for investment in designing our future and their Brave New World in my post called Davos World Economic Forum: the times they are a changing.  

 



DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES could be coming for your job



As I have been watching Bloomberg LP, for the past few months there have been a lot of talk of disruption.  I think they held an entire conference or seminar on it.  The odd thing was that they kept using the word disruption as if it meant something GOOD.  So I thought I would do some research on disruption to understand how it meshes with something good.  For me, disruption means a break or creating a new way of doing things. 

The buzz word is actually disruptive innovation which has evolved from disruptive technology.  Disruptive is to break apart or rupture, to throw into disorder.  Or to be more specific, disruption is to interrupt the normal course.  And innovation is to introduce something new, either an idea or method or device.  So as you can guess, disruptive innovation is new technologies which will interrupt the old way of doing things for a completely new way.  For instance: the eight track is gone and we have I-tunes.  Your floppy drive is gone (or at least sitting in a box) and you use a flash drive. 

The difference between disruptive innovation (technology) and sustainable innovation is the later is static or on its way out.  Sustaining innovation doesn't create new markets but disruptive innovations does.  Here is a chart to easily show the difference:
                             

Sustaining:

An innovation that does not affect existing markets.

Evolutionary:

An innovation that improves a product in an existing market in ways that customers are expecting.

Revolutionary: (discontinuous, radical)

An innovation that is unexpected, but nevertheless does not affect existing markets.

Disruptive

An innovation that creates a new market by applying a different set of values, which ultimately (and unexpectedly) overtakes an existing market.

In many ways we all have purchased a disruptive innovation (technology) such as our mobile phones.  It is disruptive in that the mobile phone is replacing the landline.  And many of the apps on your cell phone will replace the brick and mortal stores.  (Sears is in trouble, JC Penney is in trouble..)  Another example is the e-books that everyone is buying for their Kindle or tablet.  (Libraries are beginning to go digital, bookstores are disappearing and tablets are on their way to replacing the PC).  There are many, many, many more disruptive innovations (technologies) that are well on their way to being the new revolutionary, must have "thing or device." 

So what is the big deal.  We like most of the disruptive innovations.  While these new devices are awesome and time saving they are continually causing us to spend and spend to get the new stuff and throw away our old stuff.  So we keep the wheel of the market ever turning which again is good, I guess.  Our economy counts on us spending to stay afloat.  So new, disruptive technologies and innovations fills the bill.  And another plus for the market is that not only do we pay for all the new devices but we usually have a monthly fee as well. 

But there may be some very large drawbacks to this disruptive innovation in that it is now coming after your jobs.  "Jobs such as factory and warehouse workers, paralegals, payroll administrators, office assistants and retail salespeople are but a few of the repetitive jobs that developers can write code for." 

But that's not all.  No, disruptive innovation, (as they like to call it) is also coming after upper-middle class jobs that require more thinking, reasoning, or remembering.  Through cloud technology many of the most skilled employees in sales, marketing and HR will slowly fad away.  All this will eventually affect many other aspects such as the University that students spend 4 years and a lot of dollars to get educations to get these jobs. 

So let me see if I have this...disruptive innovation will throw my life into disorder due to the introduction of new technology that can do my job instead of me.  Uhmm!  Then how will I have the money to buy the next, latest and best disruptive technology?

TOM PERKINS DEMONIZED FOR WARNING AMERICA OF TROUBLED TIMES AHEAD



 



Tom Perkins is not the 1% but he is a multi-billionaire.  And boy, did he ever step into a heap-load of trouble and controversy for expressing his concerns about OUR TROUBLED AMERICAN FUTURE. The problem was that everyone jumped on the twitter bandwagon without truly reading Tom Perkins Op Ed in the Wall St. Journal. To truly understand what Tom Perkins was saying I advise you to listen to his explanation on Bloomberg West:

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/tom-perkins-exclusive-bloomberg-west-01-27-1vKKrgehRYeW7MvypL53ZQ.html



And make your own "educated" opinion.  Marc Andreessen called Perkins an ___hole for what he said.  Andreessen is also a multi-millionaire making his money in Silicon Valley...with Netscape and many other web related ventures.  Paul Krugman, an economist and professor at Princeton, said Perkins was crazy.  Every news media picked up on this story and ran with it. 

So what was it that Tom Perkins said to cause such an uproar?  He made a comparison of Kristallnacht to the persecution of the rich today: “parallels of fascist Nazi Germany to its war on its ‘one percent,’ namely its Jews, to the progressive war on the American one percent, namely the ‘rich.’ ”  He regrets using the word Kristallnacht but does not regret the message of his letter.  His message is that anytime the majority starts to DEMONIZE a minority, no matter what it is, it is wrong and dangerous and no good will ever come of it. 

He said he was presenting a warning: the warning is that there is DANGEROUS DRIFT IN OUR AMERICAN POLITICS.  Perkins co-founder Kleiner, in Kleiner-Perkins-Caufield and Byers had fled Hitler's Germany and he told Tom what he had learned from his experience "NEVER IMAGINE THAT THE UNIMAGINABLE CAN'T BECOME REAL."  Well, Perkins has taken this to heart and as a conservative felt that he needed to sound a warning against the Drift of National politics demonizing the rich.

Tom Perkins warns:

"I feel America faces a very, very, very troubled future---I sometimes feel we have gone past the point of no return."

This letter came to pass due to all the upheaval that has been occurring in San Francisco over the techies getting their own buses with WiFi so they can work on their way to work.  The 99% (as they call themselves) can't afford to live in San Fran.  They went around busting up banks and luxury car dealerships breaking windows in all the cars.  So Tom Perkins had a glimpse of the future and was brave enough to say something.  And for that Tom Perkins was demonized. 

 



THE GODS of the COPYBOOK HEADINGS

 

THE GODS of the COPYBOOK HEADINGS

As I Pass through my incarnations in every age and race,

I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall.
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us.  They showed us each in turn
That WATER WOULD CERTAINLY WET US, AS FIRE WOULD CERTAINLY BURN:
But we Found them lacking in UPLIFT, VISION, and BREADTH of MIND,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.

We moved as the Spirit listed.  They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market Place,
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch,
They denied that the Moon is Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch;
They denied the Wishes were horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings;
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "The Wages of Sin is Death."

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."

The the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

AND THAT AFTER THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED AND THE BRAVE NEW WORLD BEGINS
WHEN ALL MEN ARE PAID FOR EXISTING AND NO MAN MUST PAY FOR HIS SINS
AS SURELY AS WATER WILL WET US, AS SURELY AS FIRE WILL BURN,
THE GODS OF THE COPYBOOK HEADINGS WITH TERROR AND SLAUGHTER RETURN!

"The Gods of the Copybook Headings" is a poem published by Rudyard Kipling in 1919, which, editor Andrew Rutherford said, contained "age-old, unfashionable wisdom" that Kipling saw as having been forgotten by society and replaced by "habits of wishful thinking."

 "The copybook headings to which the title refers, were proverbs or maxims printed at the top of 19th century British schoolboys' notebook pages. The students had to write them by hand repeatedly down the page."

incarnation: the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form.
The Cambrian Period marks an important point in the history of life on Earth; it is the time when most of the major groups of animals first appear in the fossil record. This event is sometimes called the "Cambrian Explosion," because of the relatively short time over which this diversity of forms appears.

There are many interpretations of this poem.  Personally, I think it boils down to secular humanism salvation vs. good, old-fashion common sense. 

 

STAND FOR SOMETHING and keep standing...

It is important to stand up for true principles.  It is easier to have reasons to be wobbly and soft.  It seems all of a sudden people are appearing to agree and meet in the middle of the compromise.  The odd thing is that that is where each wants to be.  Sides that have been at opposites ends of the political spectrum are now meeting up.  Although, I am not sure that the political left has actually moved.  Nevertheless, it does seem the political right has embraced so much toleration as of late, and are moving left for comfort, popularity and ease.  Oh I am sure they are still holding tight to the right poll when it comes to BIG GOVERNMENT and ENTITLEMENTS but when it comes to social issues they are stretching left....some a little, some a lot.  I guess it is the new emphases on Libertarianism.  It is intended to stand for individual liberty and free will.  But now it seems to mean freedom from restraints which is not really freedom at all.  TO STAND FOR EVERYTHING IS TO STAND FOR NOTHING. 

 

 



DAVOS WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: "The Times they are a Changing"

 

 

 

News out of the NPR reports the results from Oxfam (an international confederation of 17 organizations in 90 countries) that the 1% richest now control half of the planet's wealth.  WOW! That is staggering results.  That equates to $110 TRILLION DOLLARS, which amounts to 65 times the total wealth of the poorest 3.5 billion people.  Thus the World's RICHEST 85 PEOPLE CONTROL HALF OF THE PLANETS WEALTH.  Well, who are the richest 85....Some you might guess.

 

Carlos Slim Helu.....Mexico

Bill Gates.........DUH!

Ortega....Spain

WARREN BUFFET.....DUH!

LARRY ELLISON..ORACLE

WALTON FAMILY .....WALMART

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG....ex-Major of NY....Bloomberg

Sheldon Adelson.....Casinos

JEFF BEZOS....AMAZON

LARRY PAGE....GOOGLE

SERGEY BRIN.....GOOGLE

Ferrero.......Chocolates

Carl Ichan.....BUYOUTS

GEORGE SOROS.....Hedge Funds

MICHAEL DELL......DELL

STEVE BALLMER....MICROSOFT

MARK ZUCKERBERG....FACEBOOK

 

Okay, I didn't list all 85 but I think you get a pretty good idea who is in control.  Today (January 21) Gates and Bloomberg were interviewed on Bloomberg (financial News Network) and they reassured us that by 2035 there would be no POOR NATIONS left in the world.  That's staggering as well.  So the richest 85...or the 1 % are busy raising these poor nations up to equality with the rich nations.  They do this through their foundations of the projects that they choose.

 

Okay, one last point I would like to leave you with tonight.  And that is the themes for the World Economic Forum for the last 4 years.  Remember the last 5 years have been looming crisis of one sort or any other. 

 

2011: Shared Norms for THE NEW REALITY

2012: OUR WORLD. YOUR MONEY.

2013: BIG IDEAS. BIG SOLUTIONS.

2014: THE RESHAPING OF THE WORLD: consequences for society, politics and business.

 

So in sum: the richest people are working on a new reality, with your money, by big ideas that will reshape the world. 





WHERE HAVE THE JOBS GONE?

Speaking of the future and usually that is what we do for we are never content with the here and now but only with tomorrow.  What does the future hold for us as Americans?  Well, Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon are striving very hard to define that for all of us.  And aren't we all so eager for the next innovation to come out of these companies?  I agree that each new advancement is fun and brings so many new capabilities to make our life ever more consumed and connected. 

But I have this tick which makes me always look down the road and to try to envision what the future could become with all the technology on steroids.  And beyond that I like to listen to the latest claims made by the digital gods.  One of the very best sites to keep abreast on all things new in science and technology (besides Wired) is kurzweilAI.net.  One of Ray Kurzweil's colleagues is Peter Diamandis.  Peter (and Ray) are brilliant men.  Peter has created what is knows as "Peter's Laws."  I will include those in a future post as they are GREAT.  Tonight I would like to mention his law on the future: "THE BEST WAY TO PREDICT THE FUTURE IS TO CREATE IT YOURSELF."  And that is exactly what all the above CONGLOMERATES (made up of parts from various sources or of various kinds) are working on...continually.  They predict and then they create and it becomes reality.  But do we ever UNPLUG LONG ENOUGH to think about where their predictive future is taking us and what it means for jobs? 

I think this weeks cover of The Economist sums it up nicely:

 

 

It bluntly states "the effect of today's technology on tomorrow's jobs will be immense--and no country is ready for it."  There can be no doubt that we are in a TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION.  And whenever a REVOLUTION occurs it changes EVERYTHING FOREVER.  That is the meaning of revolution to turn over and make anew.  Of course jobs will be disruptive on all levels.  Everything we know today socially, politically, economically, personally, have changed and will be changing more.  The Economist reports that TECHNOLOGICAL DISRUPTION is a large tidal wave that is coming to shore and will wipe out much in its path changing the landscape forever.  It's not just jobs that will be changed but our very existence as we know it today.  We can't really change it.  We can't really prepare for it.  So I suggest that you grab a surf board and pray to ride the wave.  And if that's not an option.....?