^CategoryGlobal Technology

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
April 12, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Environment, Global Technology

Tagged
bitcoin, Blockchain, Cloud computing, cryptocurrency, Energy efficiency, Energy use, George Gilder, Jonathan Bartlett}

Cloud Computing? There’s a Lot of Smoke in Those Clouds

_{Big Tech creates many environment issues that we do not often hear about, the way we hear about coal mines and landfills} _{News

April 12, 2021

4

Business and Finance, Environment, Global Technology}

When we think about environment problems, we naturally imagine huge smokestacks turning the sky dark and coating the trees with soot. But glitzy high tech stuff like cloud computing and cryptocurrency use a lot of energy too. Cloud computing, where we use computing resources via the internet without installing and maintaining them, is a huge energy hog we never see: The music video for “Despacito” set an Internet record in April 2018 when it became the first video to hit five billion views on YouTube. In the process, “Despacito” reached a less celebrated milestone: it burned as much energy as 40,000 U.S. homes use in a year. Naomi Xu Elegant, “The Internet Cloud Has a Dirty Secret” at Fortune (September Read More ›

Young male employee in industrial espionage concept

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
April 9, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Creativity, Global Technology, Law

Tagged
Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), China (competitiveness in AI), Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Cisco (and Huawei), Ericcson (and Huawei), Ericcson (telecom), Great Firewall (Cisco), Huawei (industrial espionage), Industrial espionage, Meng Wanzhou, Motorola (and Huawei), National Intelligence Law (China 2017), Nortel (demise), Paul Cheever (and Huawei), Quintel Technology (and Huawei), Rui Oliveira (and Huawei), T-Mobile (and Huawei), U.S. Department of Justice (and Huawei), U.S. Entities list (and Huawei)}

Why Do Huawei’s “Inventions” Look Oddly Familiar?

_{One former Motorola employee was arrested at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago with more than 1,000 documents, on her way to Beijing on a one-way ticket} _{Heather Zeiger

April 9, 2021

7

Business and Finance, Creativity, Global Technology, Law}

Earlier we looked at how Huawei stole intellectual property from Canada’s once world-class Nortel, which most likely led to the company’s demise. But Nortel wasn’t the only company that Huawei targeted. Read More ›

Young girl playing with dolphin in Xel-ha park, Rivera Maya, Mexico

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
April 3, 2021

Categorized
Global Technology, Natural Intelligence, Science

Tagged
Carl Sagan, Cold War, Dolphinese, dolphins, Douglas Adams, Frank Drake, John C. Lilly, Order of the Dolphin, Space Race, Thomas Moynihan}

The Surprising Role Dolphins Have Played in the Search for ET

_{Dolphins, with their apparent alien intelligence, have been seen by scientists interested in ET as a stand-in} _{News

April 3, 2021

6

Global Technology, Natural Intelligence, Science}

In a recent essay, Thomas Moynihan, a researcher with Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute, puts the explosion of interest in dolphin intelligence in context: It began during the Space Race (1957–1998) — which helped fuel and fund the search for extraterrestrial intelligences. Its development also coincided withe Cold War (1946–1991) between the US and the USSR. In 1961, amid the growing tensions, neuroscientist John C. Lilly claimed that he had made contact with the first “alien” intelligence. But, as Moynihan says, Lilly “wasn’t talking about little green men from Tau Ceti, he was talking of minds much closer to home: bottlenose dolphins.” Why dolphins? As Moynihan recounts, from ancient times, mariners knew that dolphins were intelligent and modern zoologists like Read More ›

Arrested man handcuffed hands at the back

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
April 2, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Ethics, Global Technology, Law, Programming

Tagged
Canada, China, Hacking (Nortel), Hostage diplomacy, Huawei, Huawei (industrial espionage), Industrial espionage (Nortel), Kevin and Julia Garratt, Meng Wanzhou, Michael Kovrig, Michael Spavor}

How China’s “Hostage Diplomacy” Traps Unsuspecting Visitors

_{Canada’s “Two Michaels” await their fate in prison in China, hostages to the growing tensions in a high-tech war} _{Heather Zeiger

April 2, 2021

6

Business and Finance, Ethics, Global Technology, Law, Programming}

Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor (pictured) and former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig were arrested in China in 2018 on charges of espionage and sharing state secrets, and held in prison since then. Spavor’s trial was on March 19, 2021, in Dandong near China’s border with North Korea. Kovrig’s trial was on March 22 in Beijing. As of this writing, no verdict has been announced. Their trials coincided with the U.S-China Summit in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 18 and 19, 2020, which involved a tense back-and-forth between the two countries. Court proceedings were closed-door and Spavor’s and Kovrig’s lawyers were not allowed to be present. That, according to Canada’s deputy chief of mission in China, violates the Canada-China consular agreement. Prime Minister Read More ›

hand of scientist holding flask with lab glassware in chemical laboratory background, science laboratory research and development concept

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 24, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Global Technology, Programming

Tagged
China (and South America), Creativity, Gregory Chaitin, IBM (and innovation), Innovation, Innovation (decline), Robert J. Marks, Silicon Valley (decline), South America (and China), Texas (as high tech magnet)}

A Question Every Scientist Dreads: Has Science Passed the Peak?

_{Gregory Chaitin worries about the growth of bureaucracy in science: You have to learn from your failures. If you don’t fail, it means you’re not innovating enough} _{News

March 24, 2021

11

Business and Finance, Global Technology, Programming}

In this week’s podcast, “The Chaitin Interview III: The Changing Landscape for Mathematics,” Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks interviewed mathematician and computer scientist Gregory Chaitin on many things, including whether the great discoveries in science are behind us — not due to lack of creativity or ability on the part of scientists — but to the growing power of corporate and government bureaucracies to stifle research. But then a question arises: Could science, succumbing to the swamp of bureaucracy, be losing that inventive edge? https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-126-Gregory-Chaitin.mp3 This portion begins at 24:56 min. A partial transcript, Show Notes, and Additional Resources follow. Gregory Chaitin: What did an airplane engineers say once in a speech I heard? He said, “In the Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
March 11, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Economics, Ethics, Global Technology

Tagged
Alison Killin, Amelia Pang, bitcoin, China, Cotton, cryptocurrencies, Falun Gong, Falun Gong (persecution), Fashion industry, Featured, Forced labor, Forced labor (opposition), Made in China (book), Megha Rajagopalan, Newlines Institute, Norwegian Wealth Fund, Olivia Enos, Solar panels industry, UN Genocide Convention (1948), Uyghurs, Xinjiang}

In China, Forced Uyghur Labor Produces Many Fashionable Products

_{Industries such as fashion and solar panels rely heavily on supplies from detention centers and concentration camps in China} _{Heather Zeiger

March 11, 2021

8

Business and Finance, Economics, Ethics, Global Technology}

China has been called the “world’s factory.” American companies like Apple, may assemble their tech in the U.S., but the parts are made elsewhere, including Xinjiang, China (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region). Industries such as fashion and solar panels also rely heavily on Xinjiang for their supply lines. Reports from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and the Center for Strategic and International Studies in the U.S., as well as testimonials from Uyghurs, show that many such factories in Xinjiang involve the forced labor of Uyghurs in what are called “vocational training schools.” These vocational training schools are more appropriately described as detention centers. In many cases, they are essentially concentration camps. Many Uyghurs are also sent from Xinjiang to other Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
February 13, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Surveillance

Tagged
Black ball technology, Matthew van der Merwe, Nick Bostrom, Nuclear warfare, Vulnerable world hypothesis}

AI profs: Beware “Black Ball” Tech That Could Destroy the Planet

_{Oxford Future of Humanity researchers contemplate a technology with immense destructive powers that is easy to access and use} _{News

February 13, 2021

5

Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Surveillance}

Nick Bostrom and Matthew van der Merwe of Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute offer a sticky question: What if we invented a “black ball” technology, one that destroyed human civilization? In the wake of Hiroshima, many people predicted that nuclear technologies would destroy the world. Albert Einstein is purported to have said, “I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” However, say Bostrom and van der Merwe, to make nuclear technology work for you, you need to be a nuclear physicist. One might add that radioactive materials also “send messages.” Figuring out what untrusted actors are doing with nukes did not prove to be Read More ›

New York, NY - MARCH, 2019: Deepfake Face Manipulation of Asian Male

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
February 5, 2021

Categorized
Global Technology, Military

Tagged
Alexander Litvineko, Arctic, Deepfakes, Denise Simon, Featured, Novichok, Polonium, Robert J. Marks, robotics, Russia, Sergei Skripal, Vladimir Putin}

Today’s Russian Diplomacy: Deepfakes and Radioactive Poisons

_{Because deepfakes are getting harder to spot, American news platforms waste time and energy trying to root them out} _{News

February 5, 2021

8

Global Technology, Military}

In a recent podcast, Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks hosted Denise Simon, an intelligence analyst, talking about the way hostile foreign powers can use AI to generate false information. Denise Simon discusses both deepfake attacks—and some much more sinister ones. https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-119-Denise-Simon.mp3 A partial transcript follows. This portion begins at about 17:50. Show notes and links follow. Denise Simon: That [the Maskirovka Technique of deception and deepfakes] is another component of how we try to decipher what’s real coming out of the Kremlin and what isn’t real. And even if it isn’t real, what consequences it has on influence and activities. Robert J. Marks: One of the things that Russia is invested in is artificial intelligence. Vladimir Putin has Read More ›

Binary digits stolen computer data, cyber attack threat

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
February 4, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Military

Tagged
Denise Simon, Donald Trump, Evgeny Primakov, Fake companies, Featured, Gerasimov Doctrine, Kremlin, Money laundering, Mueller Report, Primakov Doctrine, Robert Gates, Robert J. Marks, Russia, Valery Gerasimov}

How Russia Uses New Tech to Create Chaos in the United States

_{Information warfare is part of the new Russian warfare strategy known as the Gerasimov and Primakov doctrines} _{News

February 4, 2021

7

Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Military}

In last Thursday’s podcast, Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks hosted Denise Simon, an intelligence analyst, talking about the way hostile foreign powers can use AI to generate false information. Denise Simon describes that and other techniques as a “new art form” and this time she explains how Russia uses it against the United States. https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-119-Denise-Simon.mp3 A partial transcript follows. This portion begins at about 09.33. Show notes and links follow. Robert J. Marks: We’ve been talking primarily about disrupting media with fake news. What other sort of things are the Russians doing? Denise Simon: They will create fake companies in the United States. They will hide money and people in the United States. In fact, they just found Read More ›

Kashgar, China - with more than 80% of the population made by Uyghurs, Kashgar displays a lot of Islamic landmarks. Here in particular the Id Kah Mosque, the biggest mosque in China

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
February 3, 2021

Categorized
Data Privacy, Global Technology, Surveillance

Tagged
Biometric databases, Cell phone surveillance, China, Featured, Human rights, Human Rights Watch, Intercept (publication), iTap, Police databases (China), Sharp Eyes Initiative (China), Strike Hard Campaign (China), Uyghurs}

Leaked Police Database: Total Surveillance of China’s Uyghurs

_{Human Rights Watch notes that many countries engage in human rights abuses, but “more than any other government, Beijing has made technology central to its repression.”} _{Heather Zeiger

February 3, 2021

8

Data Privacy, Global Technology, Surveillance}

Human Rights Watch has released its 2021 annual report of global human rights abuses in 2020. In his keynote article, Executive Director Kenneth Roth said “this has been the darkest period for human rights in China since the 1989 massacre that ended the Tiananmen Square democracy movement.” The report outlines several ways that the Chinese Communist Party has repressed Chinese citizens. Among those are the Uyghurs, an ethnically Turkish majority Muslim people living in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in western China. The CCP continues to use every means, including massive technological surveillance, to control the Uyghur population. This is the second year that China has been one of the biggest offenders of human rights. Last year’s keynote article pointed out Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
January 25, 2021

Categorized
Ethics, Global Technology, Technocracy

Tagged
Antonio Gramsci, Charles Darwin, Critical theory, Leninism, Marxism, Saul Alinsky}

Why “Critical Theory” Might Shape Your Life Going Forward

_{Critical Theory has begun to rule the public square and we need to understand it} _{Michael Egnor

January 25, 2021

7

Ethics, Global Technology, Technocracy}

2020 was the year that Critical Theory came to dominate culture in America. It ruled academia for a half century but only in the past year has it begun to rule the American public square as well. Perhaps you’re not interested in Critical Theory but Critical Theory is interested in you. It behooves us to understand it better, because it will be a central theme in American culture for the foreseeable future. For readers who are not familiar with it, I provide here a synopsis. There is a connection to Darwinism at the heart of Critical Theory, as we will see. Critical theory is, at its root, cultural Marxism. It emerged from the failure of Leninism to capture the hearts Read More ›

Desert locust Schistocerca gregaria is a species of locust, a periodically swarming, short-horned grasshopper in the family Acrididae

^{Type
post

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
January 7, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Machine Learning

Tagged
ADALINE (Adaptive Linear Neuron), Bernard Widrow, Featured, Kuzi early warning tool, Locusts, Oracle ergodic data, Power load demands}

AI Tool Now Predicts Attacks of Locust Swarms for African Farmers

_{Under the right circumstances, data from the past can be used to predict data in the future} _{Robert J. Marks

January 7, 2021

4

Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Machine Learning}

A new free AI tool now forewarns African farmers about impending locust attacks: “Farmers and pastoralists receive free SMS alerts 2-3 months in advance of when locusts are highly likely to attack farms and livestock forage in their areas, allowing for early intervention.” The Kuzi early warning tool is one of a number of new tools that can predict reasonably expected futures. This sort of forecasting is possible if there is large body of oracle ergodic data to train machine intelligence. “Oracle ergodic” simply means that data from the past can be used to predict data in the future. That’s not self-evident. Flipping a coin, for example, is not oracle ergodic in the sense that a history of past flips Read More ›

cropped shot of radio host speaking in microphone in broadcasitng studio

^{Type
post

Author
Stephen Berger
Date
January 6, 2021

Categorized
Global Technology, Programming

Tagged
Dynamic spectrum access networks (DySPAN), Featured, Policy-based radio, Risk management, Wireless}

Radio Is Changing From Hardware to Software: New Policies Needed!

_{Perhaps surprisingly, theology may play a role in determining how radio will be used} _{Stephen Berger

January 6, 2021

10

Global Technology, Programming}

As I noted in an article earlier this week, dynamic spectrum access networks (DySPAN), implementing policy-based radio, are defining the future of wireless. The new networks are based on ontologies. Ontology is the study of the essential nature of a subject. It identifies the objects or variables that are involved. It then identifies the relationships between them. An ontology identifies the variables and how they relate to one another. That knowledge is then used to develop solutions. The initial ontology focuses on the variables that may result in one radio service interfering with another. The subject is the transmission level. The purpose is to improve coexistence. The goal is to get transmitters to share the same spectrum with a minimum Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
December 20, 2020

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Global Technology, Machine Learning

Tagged
Japan, Love, marriage, romance}

Can AI Find You the Love of Your Life?

_{Faced with a steeply declining birth rate, Japan’s government has decided to try AI matchmaking} _{News

December 20, 2020

4

Arts & Culture, Global Technology, Machine Learning}

Well, outsourcing everything to technology is the thing these days and the Japanese government, faced with a steeply declining birthrate, is giving AI matchmaking a try: Around half of the nation’s 47 prefectures offer matchmaking services and some of them have already introduced AI systems, according to the Cabinet Office. The human-run matchmaking services often use standardized forms to list people’s interests and hobbies, and AI systems can perform more advanced analysis of this data. “We are especially planning to offer subsidies to local governments operating or starting up matchmaking projects that use AI,” the official said. AFP-JIJI, “We have a match! Japan taps AI to boost birth rate slump” at Japan Times (December 7, 2020) Declining birthrate? Japan Times Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
November 25, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Global Technology, Surveillance

Tagged
Africa, African Union (AU), Belt and Road, China, Cyber espionage, Featured, Huawei, International Telecommunications Union, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Zimbabwe}

China’s Eyes Are Watching Africa Closely

_{In exchange for help with high-tech communication systems, China gets to install mass surveillance technology} _{Heather Zeiger

November 25, 2020

7

Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Global Technology, Surveillance}

Depending on who you talk to, the twenty-year relationship between China and several countries in the African Union has been described as everything from mutually beneficial to asymmetric and dysfunctional right down to exploitative and neo-colonialist. Recent pre-COVID-19 surveys indicate that citizens of several African nations see their country’s interaction with China as largely positive. But if some African science fiction writers are any indicator, others see a dystopian future. The current onslaught of high-tech surveillance technologies from China provides a chance to compare the two views. Recently, I have written about racial tensions between African nationals and local government in Guangzhou amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and about how the pandemic has worsened African countries’ debt crisis, particularly due to Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
November 18, 2020

Categorized
Economics, Global Technology

Tagged
Carbon, Carbon computing, Computers, Energy efficiency, Environment, Featured, Gaming AI (book), George Gilder, Robert J. Marks}

Could Carbon Computing Make Computers More Environment Friendly?

_{As a key component of life forms, carbon is abundant and energy efficient} _{News

November 18, 2020

6

Economics, Global Technology}

Carbon, a very abundant chemical element, is one of the building blocks of life, partly on account of its stability. It is a minimalist element, compared to the silicon used in computing today: … carbon dioxide is is a small gaseous molecule consisting of two oxygens both forming a double bond with a single carbon while silicon dioxide is a massive behemoth of a molecule made of huge numbers of alternating oxygen and silicon atoms and is more commonly known as sand. S. E. Gould, “Shine on you crazy diamond: why humans are carbon-based lifeforms” at Scientific American (November 11, 2012) But there’s something else about carbon. As George Gilder puts it, carbon-based life forms, like humans, consume very little Read More ›

Rolled Yuan bill on the map of Africa. Chinese investment in African economy

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
November 13, 2020

Categorized
Business and Finance, Global Technology

Tagged
Africa, Belt and Road, Brahma Chellaney, China, Chinese in Africa, COVID-19, Deborah Bautingam, Debt, Debt Suspension Service Initiative (DSSI), Debt-trap diplomacy, Howard W. French, Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia}

China and Africa: Debt-Trap Diplomacy?

_{The story of China helping Africa modernize resists simple formulas} _{Heather Zeiger

November 13, 2020

8

Business and Finance, Global Technology}

Last week, I reported on the accusations of racism on the part of the the Chinese authorities against African residents of the city of Guangzhou in Guangdong province. While Africa and China have enjoyed a seemingly amicable relationship since the 1970s, several African leaders have pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic as highlighting unresolved underlying tensions. One of those tensions is several African countries’ debt burden. China’s response to requests for deferral in the midst of a pandemic has strained Sino-African relations. China isn’t the African countries’ only creditor. As of this writing, G20 leaders will be meeting to discuss debt-relief and extending the Debt Suspension Service Initiative (DSSI). The service has deferred debt payments by poor countries due to the Read More ›

Blockchain technology. Information blocks in digital space. Decentralized global network. Cyberspace data protection. 3D illustration with elements of a binary code

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
November 12, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Global Technology

Tagged
bitcoin, Blockchain, China, Facial Recognition, Featured, Gaming AI (book), George Gilder, Internet security, Life after Google (book), Robert J. Marks}

While the West Hesitates, China Is Moving to Blockchain

_{Life After Google by George Gilder, advocating blockchain, became a best seller in China and received a social sciences award} _{News

November 12, 2020

7

Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Global Technology}

In this week’s podcast, “George Gilder on blockchain and carbon computing,” tech philosopher George Gilder and computer engineer Robert J. Marks, our Walter Bradley Center director, continued their discussion of the impact of artificial intelligence (AI). This time, they focused on the future of blockchain, of quantum computing, and carbon computing.What difference will they make? Quite a lot it seems. Today, we will look at what happens when blockchain goes global. You can download Gilder’s new book, Gaming AI, for free here. The three earlier episodes and transcripts in this series are also linked below. And so now… https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-108-George-Gilder.mp3 Gilder and Marks discussed both the huge surge of interest in blockchain in China and the central weakness of Bitcoin, whose Read More ›

Ai identify person technology for recognize, classify and predict human behavior for safety. Futuristic artificial intelligence. Surveillance and data collection of citizens through city cameras.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
November 6, 2020

Categorized
Data Privacy, Ethics, Global Technology, Surveillance

Tagged
Alexa, Amazon, Amazon Ring, Anonymization, COVID-19, Data buying, Deanonymizing data, Door cameras, Freedom House, Police surveillance, Smart TVs}

The Information We Just Give Away Obliterates Privacy

_{Privacy may turn out to be one of the biggest political issues of the new decade} _{News

November 6, 2020

6

Data Privacy, Ethics, Global Technology, Surveillance}

A story came to light at VICE in 2017, that the CIA spied on people through their smart TVs. Without getting into those weeds, note this conventional warning offered by manufacturers: “Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition.” An old birdwatcher’s tip: If you can see them, assume they can see you. If the internet is wide open to us, we are potentially wide open to the internet. Here are three surveillance issues worth pondering, about the systems we take for granted: ➤ Alexa employees listen in: Amazon.com Inc. employs thousands of people Read More ›

With the global spread of the new coronavirus pneumonia, an automated line of disposable medical masks makes the masks ready for an epidemic 24 hours a day, COVID-19 outbreak

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
November 5, 2020

Categorized
Ethics, Global Technology, Medicine and Health, Surveillance

Tagged
Africa, Africans in China, China, COVID-19, Featured, Guangzhou, Racism}

COVID-19 Response Exposes Racism in China, amid Harmony Claims

_{The lid blew off when African leaders broke the accustomed silence imposed by their dependence on Chinese high-tech loans} _{Heather Zeiger

November 5, 2020

8

Ethics, Global Technology, Medicine and Health, Surveillance}

The coronavirus COVID-19 epidemic has exposed two longstanding ugly problems: underlying racist views of Africans living in China and the burden debt to China lays on several African countries. The key flashpoints creating tension between China and Africa are 1) Mistreatment of citizens of African countries living in China, particularly in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province (pictured) and 2) Beijing’s position on granting debt relief to countries in Africa so they can direct resources to dealing with the coronavirus. In one incident, Nigeria’s speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, posted a video of himself summoning Chinese Ambassador Zhou Pingjian to his office where he expressed his displeasure about a Nigerian man being evicted from his home. While nobody Read More ›