Category: Global Technology | Page 3

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Heather Zeiger
Date
January 20, 2022

Categorized
Global Technology

Tagged
2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Beijing, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), COVID-19}

Xi’an Lockdown: Beijing Continues to Pursue “Zero-Covid”

_{With the Winter Olympics quickly approaching, China faces great internal stress for its strict COVID response} _{Heather Zeiger
January 20, 2022

8

Global Technology}

First, I hoped to escape lockdownLater, I hoped to get out to buy foodNow, I only hope I’m not hauled off a poem widely shared on Weibo about Xi’an; translated and reported by China Digital Times Rather than shifting gears, as much of the world has, Beijing continues to chase its zero-covid agenda. But the Chinese government’s heavy-handed measures to control the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and its messaging to the public to justify those measures, may have backfired. China is beholden to its “zero-Covid” strategy as the February 2nd opening ceremonies for the Beijing Winter Olympics nears and the Omicron variant spreads across the world. The Chinese Communist Party constructed a narrative early in the pandemic claiming that China Read More ›

China from space on realistic model of planet Earth with network. Concept of digital technology, connectivity and travel.

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Heather Zeiger
Date
January 10, 2022

Categorized
Censorship, Global Technology, Social Media

Tagged
China, Denise Ho, Hannah Arendt, Jack Ma, Peng Shuai}

China’s Internet: The Biggest Influencer Is the State

_{How China uses social metrics to guide its censorship strategy} _{Heather Zeiger
January 10, 2022

7

Censorship, Global Technology, Social Media}

The Chinese Communist Party’s response to champion doubles tennis player Peng Shuai was about more than just dismissing an accusation and protecting a high-ranking Party member. It was about silencing influencers and suppressing social mobilization. In a previous article, we looked at how Beijing’s propaganda machine used fake Twitter accounts to amplify messaging around tennis champion Peng Shuai after she disappeared from the public and was censored on the Chinese internet. Wilson Center scholar Rui Zhong writes in Wired magazine, “This is not about topics. This censorship is fundamentally about the dismantling of social resources.” Rui Zhong’s article is helpful in contextualizing the Chinese Communist Party’s targets for online censorship. She says that most analyses of Chinese internet censorship focus on specific words, phrases, or topics, rather Read More ›

Tennis ball in net on flag China background.

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Heather Zeiger
Date
December 23, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Global Technology, Sports

Tagged
#WhereIsPengShuai, China, Peng Shuai, Steve Simon, Weibo}

Peng Shuai Backtracks Her Accusations

_{This comes as no surprise to anyone who knows how China's propaganda works} _{Heather Zeiger
December 23, 2021

9

Censorship, Global Technology, Sports}

On December 19, Peng Shuai was stopped by a journalist with Singaporean Chinese-language state-owned newspaper Lianhe Zaobao while she was in Shanghai for the International Ski Federation’s Cross-Country Skiing China City Tour. The Wall Street Journal reports that journalist Chen Qingqing, of the Chinese state media mouthpiece Global Times, posted a short video on Twitter of Peng with former NBA and CBA basketball player and current chairman of the China Basketball Association, Yao Ming hours before the Lianhe Zaobao interview was posted. In the interview Peng said that she never said or wrote about anyone sexually assaulting her. The Wall Street Journal reports: “There’s been a lot of misunderstanding,” Ms. Peng said in an interview, describing the situation as touching on “my personal privacy.” “There shouldn’t be any distorted interpretations,” she Read More ›

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Caitlin Cory
Date
December 22, 2021

Categorized
Data Privacy, Global Technology

Tagged
Thales}

A French-Based Company Wants to Make Your IDs Digital

_{What kinds of security concerns should be addressed before we consent to their vision of convenience?} _{Caitlin Cory
December 22, 2021

4

Data Privacy, Global Technology}

Imagine all of your information and documents – all of it – stored on your phone. We’ve grown accustomed to carrying around our banking and payment systems, address and phone books, and our social media apps on our phones, but now imagine even your passport and your driver’s license taking the form of a personal QR code. Imagine being asked to verify your identity not with a physical ID, but with the phone in your pocket. Thales Group, a French-based technology company, is asking you to imagine just such a reality. In October 2020, Thales posted a video to YouTube, showcasing their digital ID wallet and boasting of its many convenient qualities: The idea of storing your information in one Read More ›

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News
Date
December 14, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology

Tagged
Andrew McDiarmid, Erik Larson, Featured, GPT3, Jaron Lanier}

Understanding the de Facto Cold War With China

_{High tech is currently a battlefield between freedom and totalitarianism} _{News
December 14, 2021

13

Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology}

In “Hyping Artificial Intelligence Hinders Innovation” (podcast episode 163), Andrew McDiarmid interviewed Erik J. Larson, programmer and author of The Myth of Artificial Intelligence (Harvard University Press, 2021) on the wrong path he thinks some analysts are taking in terms of what machines can and can’t do. Plus they discussed Alan Turing’s change of heart. Then they looked at the critical fact that Big Data can easily be the enemy of new ideas. And now, the future …? https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/34ce0d74-aa74-4ad9-9599-e9ddf2be56a7-Mind-Matters-News-Episode-163-Erik-Larson-.mp3 This portion begins at roughly 38:23 min. A partial transcript and notes, Show Notes, and Additional Resources follow. They began with: How do we determine that we are not simply manipulated by social media? Larson recommended a book by computer scientist Read More ›

Big data futuristic visualization abstract illustration

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News
Date
December 7, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Global Technology, Machine Learning, Philosophy

Tagged
Andrew McDiarmid, Erik Larson, Featured}

How AI Changed — in a Very Big Way — Around the Year 2000

_{With the advent of huge amounts of data, AI companies switched from using deductive logic to inductive logic} _{News
December 7, 2021

10

Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Global Technology, Machine Learning, Philosophy}

In “Hyping Artificial Intelligence Hinders Innovation” (podcast episode 163), Andrew McDiarmid interviewed Erik J. Larson, author of The Myth of Artificial Intelligence: Why Computers Can’t Think the Way We Do (2021) (Harvard University Press, 2021) on the way “Machines will RULE!” hype discredits — and distracts attention from — actual progress in AI. Erik Larson has founded two two DARPA-funded artificial intelligence startups. Inthe book he urges us to go back to the drawing board with AI research and development. https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/34ce0d74-aa74-4ad9-9599-e9ddf2be56a7-Mind-Matters-News-Episode-163-Erik-Larson-.mp3 This portion begins at 01:59 min. A partial transcript and notes, Show Notes, and Additional Resources follow. Andrew McDiarmid: Can you paint a picture first for us of what the AI landscape looks like today and why it’s not Read More ›

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Heather Zeiger
Date
December 1, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Censorship, Global Technology

Tagged
#WhereIsPengShuai, 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Peng Shuai, Steve Simon, Weibo}

#WhereIsPengShuai: China’s Star Tennis Player Went Missing

_{Peng re-appeared after two weeks, but her disappearance sparked a global outcry against human rights violations under the Chinese Communist Party} _{Heather Zeiger
December 1, 2021

9

Arts & Culture, Censorship, Global Technology}

On November 2, two-time tennis doubles champion, singles semifinalist, and three-time Olympian Peng Shuai posted on her Weibo account an essay accusing the former vice premier of China, Zhang Gaoli, of rape and coercion. They had an on-and-off relationship that began ten years ago and, reportedly, had a fight several days before her post. (A partial translation of her post can be found here.) In 2014 Peng was the number one tennis doubles champion, having won two Grand Slams, and has toured with the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). She has also appeared in three Olympics for China. Zhang is a retired vice premier of the highest governing body in China, the Politburo Standing Committee, and unlike other government officials who have Read More ›

Chinese flag and big brother data surveillance

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News
Date
November 26, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Creativity, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy

Tagged
Communism, COSM}

On What Terms Is Co-Operation Between the US and China Possible?

_{China analyst Miles Maochun Yu thinks that China’s new goal is to become the new global power first, then implement its ideology} _{News
November 26, 2021

9

Artificial Intelligence, Creativity, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy}

A panel at COSM 2021 aired a disagreement between philosopher of technology George Gilder and political analyst Newt Gingrich. Gingrich argued that China is the greatest threat to global freedom while Gilder felt that claims about forced labor, for example, are overstated and that we must co-operate with China for technological advances. In the background is China’s 24/7 surveillance of the entire population, the door-to-door identification of and crackdown on religious believers, as well as on civil rights activists. The situation in China has changed a great deal over the past half decade which marked the Uyghur internment camps and the premature takeover of Hong Kong. As Michael Schuman puts it: China today is in the grip of the most Read More ›

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Heather Zeiger
Date
November 17, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Education, Global Technology, Programming

Tagged
COSM 2021, Featured, Natural Language Learning, Phil Parker}

Search Engines: Closing the Gap for Minority Languages

_{Thousands of the world’s languages are spoken by fewer than 100,000 people. At COSM 2021, Phil Parker outlined a plan for giving them access to information} _{Heather Zeiger
November 17, 2021

3

Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Education, Global Technology, Programming}

We’ve all consulted “Dr. Google” for a health ailment or to find a recipe or learn how to fix something perhaps. Sometimes helpful, sometimes not. But what if you asked Google something — and it didn’t even recognize your language? Phil Parker, speaking at COSM 2021, told the story of a woman in Ethiopia searching for “lump in breast,” using one of the over 80 languages or dialects spoken in the region. Her language was one of thousands spoken by only a comparatively small population. The search engine did not recognize her input and returned no hits. She tried her query in Swahili, but there was nothing she found informative about “breast lumps” in Swahili. She finally tried her search Read More ›

Robots dancing in the park. Artificial intelligence industry in China.

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Heather Zeiger
Date
November 12, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Medicine and Health, Surveillance

Tagged
__has-video, AI Superpowers (book), Featured, Kai-Fu Lee, Natural Language Learning, video}

COSM 2021: Kai-Fu Lee Tries His Hand at Future Casting

_{The former president of Google China thinks that China is well equipped to lead the world in AI} _{Heather Zeiger
November 12, 2021

7

Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Medicine and Health, Surveillance}

At COSM 2021, Kai-Fu Lee — computer scientist, writer, venture capitalist and former head of Google China — provided a future cast of the five ways artificial intelligence will change the world. Lee’s predictions are compelling because he takes a tempered view of the capabilities of AI. Lee says some people misunderstand AI. It can’t replicate the human brain because it works differently from the brain. AI is good at using large amounts of data for numerical optimization and individualization, but very poor at extraction analysis, common sense, insight, and creativity. Lee told the gathering: … of course [AI] has no self-awareness, consciousness, or emotions or love. So, it is actually quite a good complement for human beings because we’re Read More ›

一个人漫步在故宫中，你能感觉到自己内心的宁静，倾听历史的声音。历史中的记忆，我们无法完全的复刻，但是建筑带给我们的震撼，却历久弥新。

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Heather Zeiger
Date
October 29, 2021

Categorized
Global Technology

Tagged
Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), common prosperity, Xi Jinping}

China Brief: Xi Jinping Is a Techno-Utopian

_{Is his optimism in fix-all technological solutions actually a weakness?} _{Heather Zeiger
October 29, 2021

5

Global Technology}

I attended a webinar hosted by the Center for Strategic & International Studies on Xi Jinping’s New Policy Framework. Jude Blanchette and Andrew Polk of CSIS Freeman Chair in China Studies laid out their take on Xi Jinping’s governance model, the goal of which is to make China into a “great socialist nation” by 2035. This is a change from the Deng Xiaoping goal of making China into a “moderately prosperous society” and includes his common prosperity initiative. For those interested in some of the ins-and-outs of macro-economic policy, you can read the CSIS report, “Chinese State Capitalism: Diagnosis and Prognosis” here. Two key takeaways from the webinar are 1) Xi Jinping’s model is not a rehash of Mao or Lenin, although both Read More ›

Blockchain , cryptocurrencies , bitcoin and distributed ledger technology concept..Block chain , network connect icons and earth furnished by NASA.

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News
Date
October 22, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Economics, Global Technology

Tagged
bitcoin, cryptocurrency, Featured, George Gilder, Peter Thiel, Peter Thiel (cryptocurrency)}

Is Bitcoin Just a Flash in the Pan? Peter Thiel Responds

_{He reveals that PayPal started out as a libertarian project to free money from central control but that proved harder than anticipated} _{News
October 22, 2021

10

Business and Finance, Economics, Global Technology}

In this fourth and final episode based on his talk at COSM 2019, Peter Thiel — who founded PayPal in part to help break up currency monopolies — offers some thoughts on cryptocurrencies’ future. In the earlier episodes of his discussion at COSM 1919 with philosopher of technology George Gilder, top venture capitalist Peter Thiel offered Three Contrarian Ideas: 1.Big Tech, as it operates today, is communist. 2. Big Tech is also slowing down. And 3. Learning today has almost nothing to do with the so-called educational system. Now, about the future of cryptos: This portion begins at 27:21 min. A partial transcript and notes, Show Notes, and Additional Resources follow. George Gilder: Peter, you started PayPal, in part to Read More ›

Old-fashioned Telephones Mounted On Wall

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News
Date
October 22, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Events, Global Technology, Social Media

Tagged
COSM 2021, Featured}

COSM: The Trek From Phone to Smart Phone: What Have We Learned?

_{Daniel Berninger, a pioneer and activist in VOIP communications, shares his insights about keeping the internet free and accessible} _{News
October 22, 2021

4

Business and Finance, Events, Global Technology, Social Media}

Daniel Berninger, an activist in the transition from plain old telephone service (POTS) to the online world of the cell phone (“disruptive communications”), will be speaking at COSM 2021. He has been involved in VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) since 1995, starting with the original assessment of VoIP at Bell Laboratories and was a founder of the VON Coalition, “keeping IP communications free from government regulation.” He is a frequently cited resource on regulatory, antitrust, and VoIP issues (for example, in Business Week, WSJ, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg, Forbes, Associated Press, Dow Jones, Info World and the trade press). He is also a founder of VCXC (Voice Communication Exchange Committee). His interests and approach: ➤ the decline of the Read More ›

Planet Earth from Space, People's Republic of China warm glow highlighted state borders and counties animation, city lights, 3d illustration

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Heather Zeiger
Date
October 20, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Censorship, Global Technology

Tagged
Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, censorship, China, Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), LinkedIn}

LinkedIn Says Goodbye to China

_{If the blasé business world of LinkedIn cannot pass the Cyberspace Administration of China’s rules, then what platform can?} _{Heather Zeiger
October 20, 2021

6

Business and Finance, Censorship, Global Technology}

LinkedIn announced that it will no longer host social media and content sharing in China. Instead, it’s China-only app will be a job-board site. This comes after LinkedIn received criticism for blocking certain researcher profiles in China as well as human rights advocates and journalists who write on China. LinkedIn, which was bought by Microsoft in 2016, was one of the only U.S.-based social media outlets still operating within China. Twitter, Facebook (including Instagram, WhatsApp), and YouTube (owned by Alphabet, Inc.) are banned. Google (also owned by Alphabet, Inc.) left in 2010. Signal and Clubhouse were banned in 2021. Other apps, such as TikTok (owned by ByteDance, Inc.) have their own Chinese version that complies with censors and data regulators. Read More ›

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Heather Zeiger
Date
October 12, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Global Technology

Tagged
China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), common prosperity, Jack Ma, Kai Strittmatter, Marxism, Massimo Introvigne, Soviet Union, We Have Been Harmonized (book), Xi Jinping}

Xi Jinping’s Ruthless March Toward “Common Prosperity”

_{Part II: The roots of Xi Jinping's "common prosperity" vision and why he's making changes to China's technology sector now} _{Heather Zeiger
October 12, 2021

7

Business and Finance, Global Technology}

In my previous article we looked at the sweeping crackdown of China’s technology sector, beginning with Jack Ma and Ant Financial, and how this is part of Xi Jinping’s goal of “common prosperity.” While corruption and debt excesses needed to be reined in and people wanted better data privacy protections, Xi’s common prosperity initiative is also about concentrating power, redistributing wealth, and controlling the unpredictable market. In this article we’ll look at the roots of common prosperity and why analysts believe Xi is making these changes now. Appealing to the Working Class In his speech celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party in China, Xi said that the Party will make “notable and substantive progress toward achieving well-rounded human Read More ›

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Heather Zeiger
Date
October 8, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Global Technology

Tagged
Alibaba, Ant Group, antitrust, Baidu, ByteDance, China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Didi Global Inc., Jack Ma, Xi Jinping}

Will China’s Huge Tech Sector Crackdown Stifle Innovation?

_{Part I: How will the Common Prosperity program really play out in the private sector?} _{Heather Zeiger
October 8, 2021

5

Business and Finance, Global Technology}

Didi Chuxing (Didi Global, Inc.), the largest ride-hailing company in the world, was reprimanded when it opened on the New York Stock Exchange after regulators warned it needed to shore up its data security issues. Meituan, China’s massive shopping and coupon app, was recently fined $533 million for “anticompetitive behavior.” Alibaba, owned by tech billionaire Jack Ma, had to pay a $2.8 billion fine for the same reasons. Antitrust regulators dinged Tencent, Baidu (China’s Google alternative), ByteDance (parent company for TikTok), and ecommerce company JD.com Inc. The billion-dollar online private tutoring industry sank after the Chinese government declared that after-school tutoring is now non-profit only. Then the online gaming industry was hit when the Chinese government declared children are only allowed to play for a few Read More ›

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Heather Zeiger
Date
August 30, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Global Technology, Law

Tagged
Algorithms, Big Data, China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), Didi Global Inc., European Union, Facial Recognition, Jack Ma, Xi Jinping}

China’s Data Laws Restrict Businesses and Favor the State

_{The Data Security Law and the Personal Information Protection Law are part of the Chinese government’s plan to steer the private sector toward State goals} _{Heather Zeiger
August 30, 2021

8

Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Global Technology, Law}

In previous articles, I looked at how the Chinese government is reigning in China’s tech sector first of Jack Ma and Ant Group’s initial public offering on the Shenzhen and Hong Kong stock exchanges and then Didi Global, Inc. The Chinese government has since passed two data laws and released an update that clarifies the 2017 Cybersecurity Law. The result is better protections of citizens’ data from being used, exploited, or sold by private companies, and encroaching government presumption of the private sector in which the State has virtually unrestricted access to and jurisdiction over private companies’ data. Clarification of the 2017 Cybersecurity Law The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) gained oversight powers over other state agencies in 2014 under Xi Jinping. Jane Read More ›

burning wires on the computer power on a black background, close-up, burnt computer equipment

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News
Date
August 20, 2021

Categorized
Environment, Global Technology, Military, Science

Tagged
electromagnetic pulses (EMPs), EMPs (defense expenses), Featured, Robert J. Marks, Sarah Seguin}

EMPs From the Sun Can Wipe Computers — and Streetlights

_{Electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) can do that as accidents of nature. But they can also be weaponized. Russia and China both have the technology to detonate at EMP from space.} _{News
August 20, 2021

17

Environment, Global Technology, Military, Science}

In “Are your electronics protected against sudden surges?, Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks spoke with electrical engineer Sarah Seguin about electromagnetic pulses. (August 5, 2021) Whether natural or designed, these surges can wreck unexpected havoc with electronics. In this second podcast, “EMPs. Be afraid. Be very afraid,” Marks, himself a computer and electrical engineer, and Seguin delve further into the risks (August 12, 2021). For example, in 1989, an electromagnetic coronal mass ejection from the sun infiltrated power plants across North America and northern Europe and destroyed a nuclear power plant’s transformer: https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-147-Sarah-Seguin.mp3 This portion begins at 00:13 min. A partial transcript, Show Notes, and Additional Resources follow. Robert J. Marks: Welcome to Mind Matters News. I’m your Read More ›

For electronic devices, photonic computer

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News
Date
August 18, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Global Technology

Tagged
Photonics}

Photonics: Because Light Travels Faster Than Electricity

_{Fibre optics (light) is used to transmit data via the internet but on the stationary computer, it’s the slower electrons that rule. Some researchers hope to change that} _{News
August 18, 2021

3

Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Global Technology}

As Ryan Hamerly explains at IEEE Spectrum, optical fibers can carry more than electrical wires. But they face a limitation: But there is a big difference between communicating data and computing with it. And this is where analog optical approaches hit a roadblock. Conventional computers are based on transistors, which are highly nonlinear circuit elements—meaning that their outputs aren’t just proportional to their inputs, at least when used for computing. Nonlinearity is what lets transistors switch on and off, allowing them to be fashioned into logic gates. This switching is easy to accomplish with electronics, for which nonlinearities are a dime a dozen. But photons follow Maxwell’s equations, which are annoyingly linear, meaning that the output of an optical device Read More ›

Majestic Unicorn posing in an enchanted forest

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News
Date
August 18, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Global Technology

Tagged
Featured, Gary Smith, Jeffrey Funk}

The Unicorn Might Be Very Profitable — If It Existed

_{The statistical reality is that most new businesses flop} _{News
August 18, 2021

3

Business and Finance, Global Technology}

Jeffrey Funk and Gary Smith, well known to many of our readers, have just published an article at MarketWatch, warning against heedless optimism about “unicorn” stocks. As they put it, “The stock market unleashes its ‘animal spirits’ on an animal that doesn’t exist.” They begin by pointing out that most new businesses flop. The president of one venture capital company estimated the chance of success at one in 1,000. An SEC study of 500 randomly selected new issues found that 43% were confirmed bankrupt, 25% were losing money but still afloat, and 12% had disappeared without a trace. Of the remaining 20%, just 12 companies seemed solid successes — a scant 2% of the companies surveyed. Jeffrey Funk and Gary Read More ›