First Derivative [16]
design ethics—russian ops—Amazon antitrust—quantum networks—infrastructure costs—national narratives—rent-seeking—personalized medicine—blockchain
a bit more eclectic than usual. Enjoy!
How Technology Hijacks People's Minds - from a Magician and Google Design Ethicist
“It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they've been fooled.” — Unknown. I'm an expert on how technology hijacks our psychological vulnerabilities. That's why I…
This will become more and more important. How can we ensure that our technologies empower us rather than just monetize our attention for advertising dollars. Check out Tim Wu's books on this to dig deeper—TK
Amazon is the titan of twenty-first century commerce. In addition to being a retailer, it is now a marketing platform, a delivery and logistics network, a payment service, a credit lender, an auction house, a major book publisher, a…
Accessible note on antitrust law in the age of tech giants. Timely, with Amazon announcing acq. of Whole Foods today. Argues for new framework, updating current considerations of consumer welfare based on competition/prices short-term vs market structure—TK
How Russia Targets the U.S. Military
In the fall of 2013, Veterans Today, a fringe American news site that also offers former service members help finding jobs and paying medical bills, struck up a new partnership. It began posting content from New Eastern Outlook, a geopolitical…
Russian Breach of 39 States Threatens Future U.S. Elections
Russia's cyberattack on the U.S. electoral system before Donald Trump's election was far more widespread than has been publicly revealed, including incursions into voter databases and software systems in almost twice as many states as previously…
Following up on the intercept piece from last week—TK
Chinese Satellite Relays a Quantum Signal Between Cities
On a clear night at the end of last year, a green dot appeared on the horizon near the Chinese-Myanmar border. “It was like a very bright green star,” says physicist Chao-Yang Lu. Lu, a professor at the University of Science and…
Breakthrough in quantum networking by... the Chinese. Take note—TK
America Is Awash in the Wrong Kinds of Stories
One of the rare feel-good stories of our current political moment is also terribly sad. On a train in Portland, Oregon, three very different men tried to protect two young women, one wearing a hijab, from a ranting white supremacist who turned out…
the right take on national narratives. So much room to build positive narratives. Can't have robust policies without strong underlying narratives—TK
Is America Encouraging the Wrong Kind of Entrepreneurship?
In a 1990 paper, “Entrepreneurship: Productive, Unproductive, and Destructive,” late economist William Baumol argued that not all entrepreneurs are equal: there are both “productive” and “unproductive”…
Image not available Teddy Kim Interesting question, in light of the design ethics piece. How much of our innovation is just using UX/UI + psychology to steal our attention from traditional media? Does this add new value around or is it just shifting around advertising money?
The U.S. Has Forgotten How to Do Infrastructure
As Vox's Matthew Yglesias points out, the problem with high infrastructure costs is that they force us to debate the wrong things. If costs were reasonable, even skeptics would probably agree to fix roads and build better trains. But when the price…
why does our infrastructure cost so much?? why is it hyperloop or bust?—TK
The blockchain paradox: Why distributed ledger technologies may do little to transform the economy
Bitcoin's underlying technology, the blockchain, is widely expected to find applications far beyond digital payments. It is celebrated as a “paradigm shift in the very idea of economic organization”. But the OII's Professor Vili…
another counterperspective to blockchain hype. Suggests the governance issue remains for blockchain despite its pitch as being so decentralized. Issues such as forks and protocols means the question is still relevant: who decides?—TK
Sergey Brin's Search for a Parkinson's Cure
Several evenings a week, after a day's work at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, Sergey Brin drives up the road to a local pool. There, he changes into swim trunks, steps out on a 3-meter springboard, looks at the water below, and…
reread this piece this week. wasn't able to spend much more time on it, but will look into what progress has happened in the last 7 years—TK