by Dr. Moshe Yudkowsky,
author of The Pebble and The Avalanche: How Taking Things Apart Creates Revolutions
Wed, 2010-Jun-02, 10:02
I read this blog about chemistry on a regular basis, because every once in a while it's great fun.
Today's article is about a company that offers a new miracle drug process. The blog's author is circumspect. As a physicist I personally find the web site hilariously funny, but I guess you have understand quantum electrodynamics to enjoy the incongruity.
Thu, 2010-May-27, 08:04
I don't own an iPod, iPad, or iPhone because I object strongly to Apple's control over the devices. Apple simply won't let you put any application you like onto the device; they can even magically erase applications you've bought and paid for.
Of course this relates to disaggregation of ownership and authority. Google's Android phone — which allows anyone to not only create applications but even to manufacture the phone itself — poses a huge challenge to Apple. I've got an Android phone, and while I miss some of the applications that appear only on the iPhone, I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is and support the disaggregated, open platform.
Topics: · business · engineering
Wed, 2010-May-12, 11:39
I don't have a Kindle because of Amazon's obnoxious policies about book ownership — the most famous instance being when Amazon decided to delete books that people had already purchased. In my opinion, you merely rent a book from Amazon, and Amazon is a terrible landlord.
Kindle lets you highlight books you rent. Now Amazon has begun to collect that data from you without notice and shares it with others in aggregation — so Amazon claims that there's no privacy violation.
I'm boggled at Amazon's brazen attitude. What comes next, highlighting-based marketing campaigns?
Mon, 2010-May-10, 09:24
Security expert and author David Levine will delete his Facebook account because of Facebook's policies on information privacy.
The specific problem that pushed him over the edge was applications added to your account without your permission — something that Facebook claims was a bug, but as Levine points out, Facebook's implementation of web technology makes mistakes and outright scams possible. Then there's the controversy pointed out by TechCrunch. I believe I'll be leaving Facebook myself as well.
Sun, 2010-Apr-04, 16:06
Today's email inbox includes spam from an outfit that calls itself "OptionAlarm," which offers some financial service or other that I of course would not touch with a ten-foot pole.
This particular piece of spam arrived on an email address that I gave only to the financial information web site Motley Fool. Two possibilites exist: either Motley Fool sold my name to spammers, or spammers hacked into Motley Fool to obtain the information. Neither alternative does Motley Fool any credit.
Tue, 2010-Mar-23, 09:11
Hyper-disaggregation in the credit card industry — five thousand different credit card types issued by a single bank? — leads to the realization that perhaps they've gone too far.
Topics: · business
Tue, 2010-Mar-02, 14:29
The Wall Street Journal blogs that somone filed a lawsuit against Yelp alleging extortion. The lawsuit alleges that Yelp will take down negative reviews in return for money; others allege that Yelp will take down positive reviews if you do not purchase an advertising package.
Let's say that someone is collecting money for removing negative reviews from Yelp. Is it really Yelp?
I expect it's easy enough for a criminal ring to target business owners. They crooks put up several negative reviews; instead of waiting for the business to complain to Yelp, the crooks contact the business directly and offer their "package." The business owner, convinced that he's doing business with Yelp, pays up; the negative reviews disappear; maybe the crooks are smart even smart enough to pay some of the ill-gotten gains for promised advertising.
When I want to prove I own a web page, the person I'm doing business with will ask me to put a comment into the web page's source code, a token that only the web page editor can insert. That's a level of sophisticated identity authentication that I expect most business owners do not have.
Now I admit I'm curious... even if this lawsuit does not involve crooks, does a ring such as the one I describe exist on Yelp or elsewhere?
P.S. The most damage to Yelp would not be to their reputation, or even the proceeds from the lawsuit. I will guess that the most damage would be to their loss of Section 230 safe harbor protection — a smart lawyer could easily (and very profitably) argue that Yelp loses that protection if they manipulate positive and negative reviews to force businesses to subscribe to their services.
Thu, 2010-Feb-18, 08:13
I seem to have lost the Gold — my Gold frequent-flyer privileges, that is. My airline kindly sent me a letter offering to extend my privileges for only $300 or $500 per month, I forget which. I suspect that they're not going to get many takers, and in fact I think they're foolish to revoke my privileges when I have a long history of extensive travel.
Be that as it may, according to today's Wall Street Journal, I'm in good company. Many corporate travelers now fly coach instead of business class; many others (including myself) use videoconferences instead of travel whenever possible. One of my current projects has participants literally all over the world; we never meet in person and spend most of our time on Skype.
I think airlines don't quite realize that their higher prices — and especially their deliberate nickel-and-diming passengers by charging them for checked bags on the ground and cookies in the air — will result in permanent changes in traveling habits. If I can teach a course in San Francisco and New York without travel costs for me or my students, I have not only saved a chunk of money but I've also save irreplaceable time.
As technology improves, the idea of a "meeting" will continue to separate from the idea of "in person." I think business travel, as measured in meetings or miles per person, will never recover to previous levels.
Topics: · business
Mon, 2009-Dec-21, 08:26
Some time ago — in the pre-iPhone era, no less — I was asked on two separate occasions for an idea for an automotive product. In both cases my response was the same: an iPhone-style computer for cars, one that can accept clever applications from anywhere. Neither company took my advice.
I see that Ford has implemented this idea with an in-car computer. I can't quite determine if the computer is in production from the news articles, and certainly it does not seem to have the world on fire just yet. (In a remarkably annoying blunder that also keeps search engines away, Ford's home page is completely dependent on Flash, which means I won't bother accessing the Ford web site; I'm left to wonder how software developers will be enticed into working with Ford.) I personally don't hold out high hopes for this computer because it depends on a Microsoft operating system: to my mind this means lack of security, bloated software, bugs, and annoying applications.
Still, I admit that it's nice to be vindicated, and I look forward to the next release of this style of computer, perhaps something that runs on Linus or the Android operating system.
Topics: · business · technology
Thu, 2009-Dec-10, 09:10
The US government's "pay czar," Kenneth Feinberg, will impose pay caps on hundreds of financial-sector employees, according to recent newspaper reports.
Mr. Feinberg made no effort to conceal the explicity political motives behind this initiative. For example, the numbers he uses are plucked out of thin air. Why a $500,000 cap? Why not a $400,000, or $600,000, or $502,409.95? Why does he want to expand the caps to more employees — was the previous round of pay caps somehow ineffective, and if so, how? Not only has Mr. Feinberg failed to answer these questions, he's failed to ask these questions, because these pay limits are a political exercise.
The strength of the US financial system stems from its independence from government interference. The Obama administration continues to chip away at the disaggregation between government policy and business activities, which argues that the Obama administration does not know or does not care about the consequential inevitable damage to business innnovation.
Topics: · business
