Episode 188: Japan pushes for digitization, Drone swarms, & Australia increase penalties for data breaches
Release Date: 11/01/2022
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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_outlineTopic 1: Japan pushes for digitization
https://apnews.com/article/technology-health-japan-covid-public-d47817295a647379f69da9bb16160d13
Japan has stepped up its push to catch up on digitization by telling a reluctant public they have to sign up for digital IDs or possibly lose access to their public health insurance.
As the naming implies, the initiative is about assigning numbers to people, similar to Social Security numbers in the U.S. Many Japanese worry the information might be misused or that their personal information might be stolen. Some view the My Number effort as a violation of their right to privacy.
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Topic 2: Drone Swarms! No … really.
What has been thought of until now as a sci-fi plot or a Hollywood movie trick is now an actual budget line item for the US Navy. We have seen choreographed drones in large-scale performances at the Super Bowl and the Olympics … but (as far as we know) none of those drones were carrying warheads. That’s no longer a safe assumption. And the US military isn’t the only country making progress on this weaponization of small-form UAV technology.
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Topic 3: (NK) Australia flags increased penalties for data breaches following major cyberattacks
Australia will introduce laws to parliament to increase penalties for companies subject to major data breaches, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said, after high-profile cyberattacks hit millions of Australians in recent weeks.
The proposed changes would lift maximum penalties for serious or repeated privacy breaches from the current A$2.22 million ($1.4 million) to the greater of A$50 million, three times the value of the benefit obtained through the misuse of information, or 30% of turnover in the relevant period, he said.
"Significant privacy breaches in recent weeks have shown existing safeguards are inadequate. It's not enough for a penalty for a major data breach to be seen as the cost of doing business," Dreyfus said.
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