FF 04: May 4, 2017 News and Interview with Professor Mark Mueller-Eberstein, Blockchain

Today’s Guest with a Discussion on Blockchain

Special thanks to Professor Mark Mueller-Eberstein, CEO and Founder of the Adgetec Corporation

Mark’s Website:  http://www.mueller-eberstein.com/

Adgetec’s Website:  http://www.adgetec.com  

Be sure to check out Mark’s TED Talk, :Lad and be the change”  http://www.mueller-eberstein.com/  

In the News

The U.S. House of Representatives may vote on a bill to replace and repeal Obamacare on Thursday.  There is still talk of having a high risk pool with additional funding that will help to insure Americans will pre-existing conditions.  Details regarding the bill are still emerging.

FBI Director, James Comey defended his actions as director in front of a Senate panel on Wednesday for nearly 4 hours.  Director Comey stated that he felt mildly nauseous” at the idea that his decisions regarding investigations into Hillary Clinton could have swayed the U.S. presidential election.  However, he stated that he had no regrets and continued, “...I think I’ve done the right thing at each turn.”

Two people were found dead at North Lake College near Dallas, Texas on Wednesday.  The Irving, Texas police department stated that the incident appeared to include one victim and the shooter who committed suicide.  The police continued to investigate while ensuring that the campus was safe.    

According to the Federal Reserve:  Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in March indicates that the labor market has continued to strengthen even as growth in economic activity slowed. Job gains were solid, on average, in recent months, and the unemployment rate declined. Household spending rose only modestly.  The Fed also decided to leave the target rate range at ¾ percent to 1 percent.  

FOMC Statement:  https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20170503a.htm  

The Pew Research Center released a report today regarding the future of jobs and jobs training.  “As robots, automation and artificial intelligence perform more tasks and there is massive disruption of jobs, experts say a wider array of education and skills-building programs will be created to meet new demands.” But there are uncertainties that include the question of whether  well-prepared workers be able to keep up in the race with AI tools?

Pew Research Center, “The Future of Jobs and Jobs Training”:  http://www.pewinternet.org/2017/05/03/the-future-of-jobs-and-jobs-training/

In Tech News

Google is investigating a sophisticated phishing email that appears as Google Docs and as of late Wednesday, Google claims to have disabled the offending accounts.  Users of Google Docs are encouraged not to click the links and report the phishing attempt within Gmail.  You can visit the Gmail Twitter account for updates.  

Gmail Twitter Account:  https://twitter.com/gmail   

Facebook reported its quarterly earnings which revealed that revenue rose from 49 percent to $8.03 billion compared to the same period last year.  Solid gains are partly attributed to significant increases in ad revenue which saw a 51% year over year increase.  

Facebook Quarterly Earning Report: https://s21.q4cdn.com/399680738/files/doc_financials/2017/Facebook-Reports-First-Quarter-2017-Results.pdf