Episode 41: California vs. the Gig Economy, and Unicorns vs. Zebras
Release Date: 01/07/2020
Episode 205 - Overworking, AI, AR, and More!
The Killing IT Podcast
We're Baaaaaack! The Killing IT team returns . . . with a fun and educational Q4 show. Topic 1: Overworking Have you heard the term Over Employment or Overworking? These are folks who manage to hold down two or three full time jobs using apps and BS. Are these just eager, hardworking "gig" folks, or are they thieves who are simply more interested in making money than earning an honest living? A few links: They even have their own web site. Topic 2: Catch up on Artificial Intelligence Wow! What a year. Are we in the middle of a singularity? ow much is this like the early...
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Episode 204: KIT LIVE at the SMB Online Conference
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: How much will AI change our business in the next twelve months? ChatGPT now has over 100 million users. Government wants to regulate it. We’re past the hockey stick moment. --- Topic 2: Oh Dear God - Minority Report crack for Ryan: Movie clip reconstructed by an AI reading mice's brains as they watch Researchers have put together a 30-second movie clip based on a group of mice's brain activity data that was recorded while they watched the footage --- Topic 3: How dead is the metaverse? KP: Not every “cool” technology has a big future. It will find its...
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Epsiode 203: AI is Moving Fast, Killing IT Revisits the Cabana, & This Isn't Goodbye but See You Later
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: The Arms Race is Here...AI is Definitely Moving Fast, but Will It Break Things? ChatGPT is now integrated in Bing as “Prometheus.” That sounds ominous. But Bard is also coming. And now Ernie. And Claude. Soon there will be AI bots generating “conversations” and disrupting the search industry on all sides of the globe. Is that a good thing? Sample alternative tools - ...And also, apparently writing software is about to become a less-lucrative career path. --- Topic 2: Revisiting the Cabana... Four years ago, we set out to change the way our industry discussed...
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Episode 202: The Good Guys win the Cyber Wars, Scientist Using Wifi to See Through Walls, & AI and Ethics
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: Score 1 for the Good Guys in the Cyber Wars In a significant development in the fight against ransomware, the FBI announces that they have shut down a notorious cyber gang after infiltrating their system months ago and secretly giving decryption keys to ransomware victims. Topic 2: Ummmm … This is Some Seriously Scary Big Brother Stuff Scientists have announced that they are able to see people through walls using WiFi technology. And not just the “heat blob” from Hollywood movies … but detailed movements and positions. On a scientific note, this is cool. On a security /...
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Episode 201: Jobs Again, FBI Crime Data is NOT Good, & First Personal Drone to be Produced by India
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: Sorry: Let’s talk jobs. December: Total new jobs UP 235,000. That is despite the fact the enterprise companies (500 employees+) reduced jobs by 151,000 ← Great summary stats Spotify 600 (6% of workforce) Twitter 3,700 (50% of those who lasted this long) Salesforce 7,000 (10% of workforce) Microsoft 10,000 (5% of workforce) Tesla 10,000 (10% of workforce) Google 12,000 (6% of workforce) Amazon 18,000 (1% of workforce) Oh, and . . . Apple 0 (0% of workforce) - Minor adjustments at retail locations See also the big Layoff-Tracker Service at TrueUp -...
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Episode 200: Labor Hoarding, Tech Workforce 2023, We Got the Digital Workplace Wrong
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: Small companies are “labor hoarding” while large companies are laying off. Keeping employees at any cost! Topic 2: Understanding the Dynamics of the Tech Workforce in 2023 Data Point 1: Tech Layoffs are Happening … But Not Because Tech is Suddenly Less Valuable Data Point 2: Tech Jobs are Less Attractive to Young Professionals Data Point 3: Shifting Preference for Generalists vs. Specialists … Plus a Mainstream Rise of “Business IT” Contributors Amazon layoffs delivered by email. ← Low class or just modern times? Topic 3: Cal Newport on the Digital Workplace: We...
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Algorithms in need of MGMT Training, Microsoft drops $1B on ChatGPT, & Apple to Create Their Own Chip
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: Algorithms Need Management Training, Too! From Wired Magazine. Human beings excel at avoiding responsibility for difficult decisions. Management and personnel decisions are often difficult. Therefore, they are great candidates for turning decision-making over to the bots. What could possibly go wrong? Topic 2: Microsoft drops $1 Billion on ChatGPT I should have bought more Microsoft stock yesterday. :-) Looking to the true “next level” of product development. Microsoft was an early investor in ChatGPT Topic 3: Apple to drop Broadcom chip and make their own. Is this...
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Episode 198: the Generative AI Race, Last Pass Security Incident, and Intelligent Elevators
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: Generative AI is Fun … Until the “Other” Guys Start Doing It Too China is aggressively building their own versions of generative AI platforms (with some obvious / inevitable filters) that do essentially the same thing as ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion. The question is whether they will be able to out-race us to the auto-content future … and whether that is a problem. Topic 2: LastPass - Lessons for the Channel Should we be worried? What do we expect from vendors? What’s reasonable and realistic? Is this worth discussing as a larger topic of always-on monitoring and...
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Episode 197: Military Fingerprints and Iris Scans on Ebay, the Remote Worker Whistleblower, Mab Simulates Time Travel with AI
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: For Sale on eBay: A Military Database of Fingerprints and Iris Scans Great topic for ITSPs - especially as clients get rid of equipment at the end of year. Old machines of all kinds might have sensitive data. Not this juicy, perhaps, but stories like this are great for you client-facing newsletters. Topic 2: The age of the work-from-home whistleblower Why are so many remote workers deciding to squeal on their companies? Topic 3: Man Simulates Time Travel So, what is our weekly update with AI? On the up-less existential-side, we have some fun: Time traveling with the aid of...
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Episode 196: Scammers Scamming the Scam, "Luddite" Teens, and the Drones are Here
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: Meta scamming: Scammers Are Scamming Other Scammers Out of Millions of Dollars On cybercrime forums, user complaints about being duped may accidentally expose their real identities. Topic 2: Teens are Self-Liberating from Social Media ‘Luddite’ Teens Don’t Want Your Likes Topic 3: The Drones Are Coming (to 22 Select Locations Around the Country … Within Driving Distance of a Wal-Mart) Wal-mart announces legitimate progress on rolling out drone delivery to customers in key metropolitan areas. The forecast is to expand to 34 stores in 23 cities by year end to reach a...
info_outlineRyan and I kick off the year and Dave joins us mid-way through.
Topic 1: California Privacy . . . Coming your way.
California has a new privacy law that will affect lots of other areas . . . because you probably do business in California. And, of course, once one state starts regulating something, other states will follow.
Very soon we'll all have to post policies about how we collect, sell, and share data about people we work with. You may not be collecting this information, but you should definitely find out whether your clients need to comply. As we've mentioned many times, compliance is your friend.
Help make your clients' lives easier!
Link:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/california-consumer-privacy-act-explained_n_5e0649b9c5b6b5a713adf862
Topic 2: California Law Might Kill the Gig Economy
Big changes are coming to the world of the "gig" economy. How do you know if you're an employee or contractor? This is one that you *have to* pay attention to. Once again, once a state begins to legislate, the other states will jump in.
Dave makes the excellent point that this binary view of employment is simply broken. Our current economy was never built on this binary distinction: contractors have been around forever.
Topic 3: Unicorn vs. Zebra
"Unicorns" are super successful startups who reach $1 Billion in value. Now enter the Zebra - a company that is fundamentally sustainable. See the link to the Zebra manifesto below.
The new(ish) movement is to focus on sustainable business models rather than the over-hyped expectations from massively expensive startups. AND almost all of us in SMB business space are building zebras rather than unicorns!
https://www.pcmag.com/news/372112/why-silicon-valley-needs-to-dump-unicorns-for-zebras
Startup cycle graphic on Wikipedia is in this article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Startup_company
Feedback always welcome at https://killingit.smallbizthoughts.com
:-)