^CategoryBusiness and Finance

Transition effect in bar chart statistics and bright windows

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post

Author
News
Date
April 27, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance

Tagged
Bloomberg, Gary Smith, Statistics}

Studies Based On Data Mining Can Turn Out To Be Nonsense

_{As business prof Gary Smith explains at Bloomberg, we can find a great deal of nonsense if all we rely on is a search engine} _{News

April 27, 2022

2

Business and Finance}

Many of the studies represented to us in media are not nearly as reliable as we would like to believe, as Gary Smith explains at Bloomberg. He starts with statistician John Ioannidis pointing out that of 34 “highly respected” medical studies and found that only 20 were confirmed by the Reproducibility Project.: I wrote a satirical paper that was intended to demonstrate the folly of data mining. I looked at Donald Trump’s voluminous tweets and found statistically significant correlations between: Trump tweeting the word “president” and the S&P 500 index two days later; Trump tweeting the word “ever” and the temperature in Moscow four days later; Trump tweeting the word “more” and the price of tea in China four days Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
April 5, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Computer Security, Crime

Tagged
Chain of causation, David A. Kruger, Featured, Requirements analysis, Root cause analysis, Symptomatic solution fallacy}

The True Cause of Cybersecurity Failure and How to Fix It

_{Hint: The cause and fix are not what you think} _{News

April 5, 2022

12

Business and Finance, Computer Security, Crime}

Veteran software developer David A. Kruger offered some thoughts on computer security recently at Expensivity and we appreciate the opportunity to republish them here. He starts with “Root Cause Analysis 101” The classic line “I have a bad feeling about this” is repeated in every Star Wars movie. It’s become a meme for that uneasy feeling that as bad as things are now, they are about to get much worse. That’s an accurate portrayal of how many of us feel about cybersecurity. Our bad feeling has a sound empirical basis. Yearly cybersecurity losses and loss rates continually increase and never decrease despite annual US cybersecurity expenditures in the tens of billions of dollars and tens of millions of skilled cybersecurity Read More ›

Creative digital city background. Smart city, technology and innovation concept. Double exposure.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 31, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Censorship, Technocracy

Tagged
Bari Weiss, David Sacks (on emerging social credit system), Debanking, Debuying, Depublishing, Programmable digital currency (and social control), Social credit system (United States)}

PayPal Pioneer: The Ways Big Tech Is Strangling Our Freedoms

_{The conveniences offered come at a price: We can be much more easily surveilled and controlled. And yes, they ARE doing it} _{News

March 31, 2022

5

Business and Finance, Censorship, Technocracy}

In a continuing discussion with Bari Weiss, Paypal pioneer David Sacks warns hearers: BW: You have been making the case better than anyone else that, despite the fact that we live in a liberal democracy with a Bill of Rights and a Constitution and a First Amendment, whether most Americans are aware of it or not we also are living inside a soft version of a social credit system. So for the people who hear that and think: ‘That’s ridiculous. This isn’t China.’ I want you to make the case. DS: Let’s start by defining what a social credit system is. A social credit system is a system that pretends to give you civil liberties and freedom. It doesn’t overtly Read More ›

surreal image of a transparent mirror; concept of door to freedom

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 30, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Military

Tagged
Invisibility (and optics), Invisibility Shield Co., Optics (and invisibility)}

Invisibility Is No Longer Science Fiction (or Magic). It’s Here.

_{A new technique, the “invisibility shield,” which offers the user near invisibility, is reaching the marketing stage} _{News

March 30, 2022

4

Business and Finance, Military}

Have you ever wanted to be invisible just to get some privacy? Maybe when using a bank machine or sunbathing in the backyard? Experimentation over the last few years has come up with an “invisibility shield” that offers near invisibility without blocking the light. A British startup, Invisibility Shield Co., is raising seed money for a commercial venture that offers to ship the ones already manufactured to backers. A scam? It seems not: It wouldn’t likely shield anyone from the police or bill collectors but if all you want is privacy with sunlight, it’s certainly an option: The science behind the invention isn’t perfect. The shield can’t perfectly replicate the scene behind the subject, but rather recreates it as a Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
March 16, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance

Tagged
Greater Fool Theory, Investment, Kennedy half-dollar, Trump Coin}

In It For the Money: The Trump Coin Sham

_{Beware deceitful memorabilia hawkers who sell cheap mementos, hoping you'll be the fool that helps make them rich} _{Gary Smith

March 16, 2022

6

Business and Finance}

Americans have a seemingly insatiable demand for memorabilia, no matter how cheaply it is made or how cheesy it looks. Some are preparing for their nostalgic years; some think they are making smart investments in collectibles that become more valuable as time passes. The problem with “investing” in collectibles is that an investment’s intrinsic value depends on how much income it generates. Stocks, bonds, rental properties, and profitable businesses all have intrinsic value. Mementos don’t. They rely on the Greater Fool Theory. If fools don’t appear, memento collectors are stuck with cheap and cheesy trinkets. This sobering reality does little to discourage people intoxicated by dreams of riches. For example, the White House Gift Shop sells a large collection of Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 10, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Cryptocurrency, Economics, Surveillance

Tagged
Alexander Lee, Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), Cryptocurrencies (and fiat digital currencies), Programmable digital currency (and social control), Social credit system (United States)}

Government Control of What You Buy Grows More Popular

_{With governments, that is. You’d be surprised at how far along they are with digital currency and how detailed the control could be} _{News

March 10, 2022

6

Business and Finance, Cryptocurrency, Economics, Surveillance}

Recently, we looked at a new idea governments are looking at — programmable digital currency. It’s all digital, issued by government, constantly trackable, and can’t be spent on items not approved by government (or only with penalties). The Federal Reserve Board (the United States’ central bank) explains, bureaucratically, Potential benefits of the “digital cash” model using programmable UTXOs are the ability to specify spending constraints on any discrete amount of value and a greater facility to trace the provenance of any particular “virtual banknote.” Alexander Lee, “What is programmable money?” at FEDS Notes (June 23, 2021) In other words, the two benefits of these central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are that the government can potentially control what the money is Read More ›

Personal social credit score. Machine Learning analytics identify person technology,Artificial intelligence no privacy security camera technology concept. Software ui analytics and recognition people.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 9, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Censorship, Surveillance

Tagged
Banks (debanking), Credit card companies (debanking), Debanking, Freedom of speech (and debanking), Kara Fredericks, Social credit system (Canada), Social credit system (United States)}

Is an AI-Driven Social Control System Emerging in America?

_{The gradual merger of Big Tech and Big Government is worthy of close analysis} _{News

March 9, 2022

5

Business and Finance, Censorship, Surveillance}

Readers may assume that a “social credit system” where government monitors a citizen’s every move and assigns a score or takes action, could only happen in China. But increasingly, governments can monitor a citizen’s every move in North America too. Technology policy analyst Kara Fredericks explains: As Canada demonstrated, Western governments and tech companies are mobilizing to cut off mainstream citizens from public life and constrain their private lives. Actions like protesting government overreach, expressing “anti-authority” ideologies, or even sharing “disinformation” on social media may now be classified as terrorism… In the United States, the increasingly oppressive collaboration between public and private entities is not enforced at the barrel of a gun. It arises from an ideological symbiosis between tech Read More ›

San Francisco aerial view from sea side. Port of San Francisco in the front. City downtown and skyscrapers at sunrise.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 7, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Medicine and Health

Tagged
Elizabeth Holmes, Ellen Pao, Fake it until you make it (strategy), Gary Smith, Jeffrey Funk, John Ioannidis (on Theranos), Lab-based meats, Silicon Valley (fraud), Theranos, Vaporware}

When Silicon Valley Turns From Hype Over Vaporware to Fraud…

_{Jeffrey Funk and Gary Smith discuss the famous Theranos case, which resulted huge losses and in convictions for fraud} _{News

March 7, 2022

4

Business and Finance, Medicine and Health}

In a column published today at MarketWatch, Jeffrey Funk and Gary Smith talk about that unpleasant subject, the shady side of Silicon Valley. They’re not looking at the unicorns naively chasing rainbows but rather the cases of apparently deliberate deception. One of them is vaporware— announcing a product that won’t really exist any time soon (perhaps in the hope of dissuading potential buyers from investing in a competitor’s product). Another is “fake it until you make it,” the topic of today’s column. Investors sign on by throwing money at the company, which the company then spends trying to develop what it said it already has. Either way, the company keeps lying as long as necessary, or until its cover is Read More ›

young sample plant growing in test tube , biotechnology research concept

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 2, 2022

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Medicine and Health

Tagged
Biotechnology, COSM 2021, Featured, Jay Richards, Matt McIlwain, Matt Scholz, Venture capitalism (and biotechnology)}

What Biotech Innovations Can Help Us Live Longer, Healthier?

_{Jay Richards interviews venture capitalist Matt McIlwain, whose firm invests in new tech on current promising new directions} _{News

March 2, 2022

4

Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Medicine and Health}

At COSM 2021, business prof Jay Richards interviewed venture capitalist Matt McIlwain, CEO of the Madrona Group, which invests in a wide range of promising software applications: McIlwain chaired a panel on innovations in biotech, “Killing Disease and Living Longer” on November 11, 2021: Matt Mcilwain (Moderator) — Managing Director, Madrona Venture GroupStephen C. Meyer — Director, Center for Science and CultureJim Tour — T.t. and W.f. Chao Professor of Chemistry, Rice UniversityMatthew Scholz — CEO, Oisin Biotechnologies Casey Luskin offers an account of McIlwain’s 2021 panel at “Manipulating molecules: Combining info + nano for better medicine”: Yesterday at COSM 2021, philosopher of science Stephen Meyer, synthetic organic chemist James Tour, and biotech entrepreneur Matthew Scholz looked at how nanotechnology Read More ›

The forest and the trees are in the light. Concepts of environmental conservation and global warming plant growing inside lamp bulb over dry soil in saving earth concept

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
February 25, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Economics

Tagged
Featured, Gale Pooley, Information (as resource), Jay Richards, Julian Simon, Natural resources (abundance), Time (as measure of value), Wealth (as knowledge put to work)}

Business Prof: We Live in an Era of Unprecedented Abundance

_{If we’re not making good use of it or it’s not fairly distributed, those are different problems} _{News

February 25, 2022

5

Business and Finance, Economics}

At COSM 2021, business studies prof Jay Richards of the Catholic University of America spoke with Gale Pooley, also a business studies prof at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, on a fact we don’t hear much about in popular media focused on current events: Increasing knowledge and the subsequent dropping over of time prices have ushered in a vast improvement in standards of living. Many will ask, what about rising prices? Well, for example, we must compare rising prices due to various global events today to what things cost in the past: At COSM 2021, Pooley focused on the fact that, in real-world economics, the value of our time is the most critical factor we need to figure in: Brigham Young University Read More ›

Young man putting goods on counter in supermarket

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
February 25, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Censorship, Law

Tagged
Canada (Emergencies Act and banks), Canadian banks (freezing accounts), Consumer health choices, Eric Adams (and veganism), Michael Bloomberg (and large sodas), Programmable digital currency, Programmable digital currency (and social control)}

Government Mulls Money That Can Only Be Spent on Approved Items

_{Programmable digital currency restricts citizens’ freedoms for “socially beneficial outcomes”} _{News

February 25, 2022

6

Business and Finance, Censorship, Law}

A story from mid-last year reveals a creepy side to digital currency: “The Bank of England has called on ministers to decide whether a central bank digital currency should be ‘programmable’, ultimately giving ‘the issuer control over “how it is spent by the recipient”: Tom Mutton, a director at the Bank of England, said during a conference on Monday that programming could become a key feature of any future central bank digital currency, in which the money would be programmed to be released only when something happened. He said: “You could introduce programmability – what happens if one of the participants in a transaction puts a restriction on [future use of the money]? “There could be some socially beneficial outcomes Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
February 22, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Censorship, Economics, Law

Tagged
Canada (social credit system), David Sacks, Jonathan Bartlett (on debanking), PayPal (and no-buy lists), Social credit system (Canada)}

No-Buy Lists Are the Next Big Thing After Debanking

_{When a big online financial service like PayPal works closely with government to monitor citizens, it is violating its founding ideals} _{News

February 22, 2022

5

Business and Finance, Censorship, Economics, Law}

Yesterday, Jonathan Bartlett was writing about the way banks were becoming political in terms of who they are choosing to do business with, otherwise known as debanking. Another trend to watch for is no-buy lists, according to former PayPal COO David Sacks: When I helped create PayPal in 1999, it was in furtherance of a revolutionary idea. No longer would ordinary people be dependent on large financial institutions to start a business. Our democratized payment system caught fire and grew exponentially with millions of users who appreciated its ease and simplicity. Traditional banks were too slow and bureaucratic to adapt. Instead, the revolution we spawned two decades ago inspired new startups like Ally, Chime, Square, and Stripe, which have further Read More ›

Big red semi tractor trailer room for copy

^{Type
post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
February 21, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Cryptocurrency

Tagged
Bank of America, banks, bitcoin, Canada, Canadian truckers, Candace Owens, Christian bakeries, Citi, cryptocurrency, GiveSendGo, GoFundMe, Justin Trudeau, Patriot Act}

Trudeau’s Truckers Reveal Problems with Banking Infrastructure

_{And crypto isn't the solution you might think it is} _{Jonathan Bartlett

February 21, 2022

6

Business and Finance, Cryptocurrency}

On February 14th, Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, invoked the Emergencies Act in order to stop the flow of funding to the truckers who were protesting vaccine mandates in Canada. This order allows and encourages banks to freeze the accounts of anyone suspected of involvement with the protest. The Canadian use of the Emergencies Act in this way has been widely criticized for its draconian and expansive overreach of governmental authority. However, that hasn’t stopped the Canadian government from moving forward with the plan, and they have said that they have already begun freezing accounts. Even before this, though, a Canadian judge had halted access to funds donated to the truckers through the GiveSendGo website. Additionally, GoFundMe, of Read More ›

Art director checking the photos on a monitor

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
February 17, 2022

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Business and Finance

Tagged
Advertising (and decentralization), Ari Emanuel, Content creators (in digital era), Endeavor (talent agency), Featured, George Gilder, Media (and decentralization), Social media (and content creators)}

How the Digital Age Is Transforming the Entertainment World

_{Principally by creating many new opportunities that, as Ari Emanuel puts it, are Not Showing at a Theater Near You} _{News

February 17, 2022

6

Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Business and Finance}

Philosopher of technology George Gilder interviews Ari Emanuel, CEO of entertainment and media agency Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc., about the new decentralized media landscape powered by dramatic advances in technology. Endeavor, which was founded in 1898 and has 6500 employees, represents “talent across entertainment, sports, and fashion, such as actors, directors, writers, athletes, models, musicians, and other artists in various mediums comprising film, television, art, books, and live events.” (Yahoo Finance) A partial transcript of the talk Emanuel gave at COSM 2021 (November 10, 1:00 pm), on navigating the new media landscape, follows: George Gilder: What did you see in the early nineties that led you to leave your comfortable position and then move out and create a new force Read More ›

Bearish stock financial, bear market chart falling prices down turn from global economic and financial crisis.

^{Type
post

Author
Caitlin Bassett
Date
February 9, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Social Media

Tagged
antitrust, apple, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, metaverse, stock market, TikTok}

Zuckerberg’s New Meta Pummeled by Stock Market

_{Meta (Facebook reimagined) faces a gauntlet of challenges only months after Zuckerberg announced his new "metaverse" initiative} _{Caitlin Bassett

February 9, 2022

4

Business and Finance, Social Media}

Last October, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would be undergoing a major facelift to become Meta. The Facebook platform we all know and love would remain as is, but Meta would become Facebook’s parent company with a primary focus of developing the “metaverse,” an immersive online experience that Zuckerberg called “the next frontier” of the internet. But Meta is off to a rough start. Facebook’s parent company shed more than $230 billion in market value Thursday, a one-day loss that is the biggest ever for a U.S. company and increases pressure on a stock market long powered by technology shares…. The Facebook parent company surprised investors with a deeper-than-expected decline in profit and a downbeat outlook. The company Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
February 7, 2022

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance

Tagged
Autopilot, full self driving, Tesla}

Driving Technology Needs Public Scrutiny

_{It is not good enough for safety-related data to be made available to regulators. They must be made available to the public at large} _{Jonathan Bartlett

February 7, 2022

4

Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance}

As more and more automation is added to automobiles, the need for public review and scrutiny becomes ever more clear. Unlike other technologies, cars are used on public roads at high velocities, so everyone has an interest in understanding the safety implications of decisions made by car manufacturers. As such, it is important that all safety-related data be made publicly available and subject to public scrutiny. It is not good enough for these things to be made available to regulators. They must be made available to the public at large. To see why, let’s look at the history of Tesla claims about the safety of its Autopilot system. Note that the Autopilot system, despite the confusing name, is not the same thing Read More ›

Robot hand making contact with human hand on dark background 3D rendering

^{Type
post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
January 31, 2022

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance

Tagged
Elon Musk, Moravec's Paradox, Optimus, Robots, Tesla}

Musk Goes All-In on the Tesla Robot

_{Musk puts all other projects on hold to pursue the dream of eliminating human labor, despite the reality that humans are irreplaceable} _{Jonathan Bartlett

January 31, 2022

5

Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance}

In August, during Tesla’s “AI Day” presentations, Musk unveiled the “Tesla Robot.” Or, in reality, a dancing person in a robot costume, along with some made-up specifications about the robot. Many (including the present writer) found this idea for a product line ludicrous, and a mere headline grab. However, in a recent conference call with investors, Elon Musk has doubled down on the Tesla Robot, now named “Optimus,” as being the foundation for the future of the company. In fact, it looks like Tesla has put all of its other development projects on hold in order to work on the robot. The Cybertruck (announced 2019, originally expected in 2021), Semi-truck (announced in 2017, originally expected in 2020), and Roadster 2.0 (announced in 2017, Read More ›

Close up of top important cryptocurrencies which dollar bank note in background. which including of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dash, Zcash and Ripple coin. Business and financial as concept.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 24, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Economics

Tagged
China (outlaws cryptocurrencies), Coinopsy, Cryptocurrencies (energy consumption arms race), Cryptocurrencies (energy consumption), Cryptocurrencies (government hostility), Cryptocurrencies (incentivization trap), Dead coins (failed cryptocurrencies), Digital dilapidation, Ross Ulbricht}

Why Cryptocurrencies Like Bitcoin Are Not Ready for Prime Time

_{Bernard Fickser at Expensivity — friendly to cryptos in principle — offers an unsparing look at the current problems} _{News

January 24, 2022

21

Business and Finance, Economics}

At Expensivity, Bernard Fickser, who has explained how to sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs) now offers “The Truth About Cryptocurrencies: A Clearheaded Guide to the Crypto World.” (January 15, 2022) For your convenience, we are serializing his work, which can be read in whole here. Here’s Part 6 (of 6): 6 Conclusion: Is Crypto a Mature Technology? So far, this article’s approach to crypto has been a balancing act, weighing pros against cons. Thus, we’ve seen much to commend crypto, but also much to raise doubts about it. In this closing section, I’m going negative. My concluding thesis is this: peer-to-peer distributed blockchain-based cryptocurrencies as they exist now represent an immature technology and miss much of what we would like to see Read More ›