Category: Technology

Latest Read: The Kill Chain

Post author By Don Kasprzak
Post date June 11, 2022

Kill Chain: The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins by Andrew Cockburn. Andrew is a British journalist and the Washington DC editor of Harper’s Magazine and has written extensively about US military issues.

The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare

This book reveals the evolution of drone and air technology warfare. The US military strategy has certainly shifted to developing assassination machines since World War II. In addition, Andrew writes admirably about the US defense industry’s long desire to fight wars after Vietnam with advanced air technology.

The opening chapter documents human error by pilots of a MQ-1 Predator flown during Operation Noble Justice that mistakenly killed several Afghan civilians. Accordingly, Afghanistan President Hamid Kaarzai protested to President Bush.

Indeed, upon review by US military, payments to families of the dead included $5,000. Andrew is revealing this event was simply apart of a long history of hardware and human flaws regarding drone and airborne attacks. From the QH-50C drone to today’s modern Predator, drone technology continues failing to yield results from very lofty ambitions. The long and disappointing development of the Predator is very interesting. Andrew reveals much as political forces, not military or intelligence pushed this drone technology.

In addition, the 2010 leak of a drone footage in Baghdad that killed two Reuters journalists in 2007 were the result of remote pilots mistakenly viewing footage and acting upon false information. Audio statements included the idea that the Reuters journalists were carrying long rifles. Upon review, the two were in fact, carrying digital cameras.

Tags Andrew Cockburn, Drone, kill chain, Technology, Vietnam War

Education Reading Technology

Latest Read: This Machine Kills Secrets

Post author By Don Kasprzak
Post date June 7, 2022

This Machine Kills Secrets: How WikiLeakers, Cypherpunks, and Hacktivists Aim to Free the World’s Information by Andy Greenberg. Andy a senior writer at Wired magazine and previously wrote for Forbes. This Machine Kills Secrets is a New York Times Editors’ Choice selection.

Andy is focusing on politically motivated whistleblowing resulting in data leaks of state secrets. In addition, stories of famous hackers including WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, L0pht, and Anonymous. A core understanding of cypherpunks and hacktivists is necessary. The bulk of the book is about WikiLeaks.

Perhaps Andy’s timing was unknowingly off by less than on year after publication. Edward Snowden had not yet leaked his trove of data.

However Andy begins with the long, famous history of The Pentagon Papers. Perhaps the most important takeaway is the timeframe of Daniel Ellsberg. I very much appreciated the efforts Andy shared that Daniel confronted in 1969

The key element not be overlooked is the use of technology. In 2022, technology used to leak the Pentagon Papers is in fact a common part of everyday life. A second factor is where Andy looks at Daniel’s vast role in the conduct of the war while at RAND, and his deep knowledge.

In contrast, Assange just wants anyone with access to sensitive data to steal and share it. WikiLeaks somewhat began under the principle of “principled leaking,” that allowed globally connected individuals to use the metaphors of a wiki to fight corruption. Yet the scale and impact of technology has greatly changed this landscape:

One of Manning’s Lady Gaga CDs offered enough capacity to have stored the Pentagon Papers about fifty times over, and the laser head that wrote to those discs could have accomplished in a minute or two what required a year of off-and-on work for Ellsberg and his photocopier.
p.39

Chaos pure and simple

Now add the ability for Putin’s old KGB to manipulate WikiLeaks. In fact, Assange drove WikiLeaks to become a source for classified documents:

The other goal in WikiLeaks’ game—or perhaps just a bonus perk for a fire-starter like Assange—was its potential for explosive chaos.
p. 219

This should not be understated: The goal Assange wanted to create was indeed chaos. Putin saw an opportunity.

Tags Andy Greenberg, Anonymous, Hackers, Julian Assange, L0pht, This Machine Kills Secrets, Whistleblowing, wikileaks

3D Printing Blockchain Education Innovation Reading Technology Virtual Reality

Latest Read: The Future Is Faster Than You Think

Post author By Don Kasprzak
Post date March 6, 2022

The Future Is Faster Than You Think: How Converging Technologies Are Transforming Business, Industries, and Our Lives by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler.

Peter is an engineer, physician, and entrepreneur. He founded The X Prize Foundation, and executive chairman of Singularity University. Steven is an American author and entrepreneur. He has been published in The New York Times Magazine, Los Angles Times, Wired, Time magazine, GQ, Discover, and Popular Science.

Together they have published a series of books Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think and BOLD: How to Go Big, Create Wealth, and Impact the World. The Future Is Faster Than You Think is the third and last of this series.

As usual, whenever predictions of the future are written, they are never accurate. It is somewhat difficult to believe it has been thirteen years since reading The Next 100 Years by George Friedman.We all know, somehow the future gets in the way of….their future. Peter and Steven’s book is not an exception.

So, reading this during the hopefully fading months of the COVID pandemic reveals so much of their hype (including dates) never materialized. It is a shame the published date of their book was less than 60 days before our country went on lockdown.

Tags forecasting, Peter Diamandis, Steven Kotler, Technology, The Future Is Faster Than You Think

3D Printing Blockchain Education Innovation IoT Network Reading Technology

Latest Read: The Internet of Things

Post author By Don Kasprzak
Post date February 28, 2022

The Internet of Things By Samuel Greengard. Samuel is a business and technology writer whose work has appeared in Wired, Entrepreneur, and other publications. He holds a degree in journalism from California State University-Northridge and is a past president of the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

This book is a very lightweight, suitable for a complete novice to technology. However, this content is outside previous MIT Press titles by select content experts. However, every book has an audience and this is perfect for anyone seeking to understand IoT

In fact, beginning with the example when a lamp was merely a lamp. This provides the backdrop to the integration of modern wifi and bluetooth technologies into devices like a lamp, providing lighting controls via a mobile app.

For this reason, Samuel provides how IoT is changing everything in modern society. He helps define the concepts and key terms with mobility as the baseline for all these technologies. However it is the area where he communicates the recent emerging digital technology has now defined IoT. This products now tie services, data, and people. Those models are outlined as Automation, Computer Vision, Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Edge AI, Analytics, Robotics, 3D Printing, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Blockchain.

Tags Internet of Things, IoT, Samuel Greengard

Education Innovation Reading Technology

Latest Read: A World Without Email

Post author By Don Kasprzak
Post date December 31, 2021

A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload by Cal Newport, an associate professor of computer science at Georgetown University.

Certainly glad to read this book at the end of 2021. So, the holiday provided a much needed opportunity for refection on the role of email across my organization.

There will be dozens of reference points while reading this book that will provide insights to your organization’s culture. This will reveal approaches to email versus a meeting-driven culture.

In addition, Cal is straight forward about how attempts like ‘Email free Fridays’ actually do more harm than good. Above all, this compliments Ozan Varol’s book How to Think Like a Rocket Scientist. Inspirational ideas to make organizations see efficiencies.

The key message throughout the book is the “hyperactive hive mind” which certainly indicates the impact of how your organization is managing communications.

In addition, this refers to the approach of deliberate advanced planning and the impact of tasks coordinated with ad-hoc messaging between teams, internal customers and key stakeholders.

Tags A World Without Email, Cal Newport, communications, Jira, Slack, Trello