Category: Technology

Latest Read: Hello World

Post author By Don Kasprzak
Post date June 29, 2021

Hello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms by Hannah Fry, Today Hannah is a senior lecturer at University College London’s Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis.

Generally speaking, Hannah has written a wonderful book addressing algorithms and artificial intelligence. Society has certainly fallen behind the moral implications of algorithms and Hannah speaks truth to power.

Above all, do not let the idea of learning about algorithms, artificial intelligence, or machine learning intimate you. Hannah explains all of these terms with easy to understand examples. This is why her book is popular and well regarded.

I really appreciate how Hannah is addressing algorithm technology across the following chapters: Power, Data, Justice, Medicine, Cars, and Crime. However, I will save her best lesson for last.

Machines that see

So, Hannah reveals artificial intelligence allows a computer to identify dogs. Once a computer has identify over one million dog photos, artificial intelligence can identify dogs like an expert.

Yet, when applying this to breast cancer diagnosis the magic of machine learning can truly shine. Feed a computer millions images of breast cancer tissue images and a local doctor at a small community hospital in remote Iowa can tap into machine learning to help diagnose with a better degree of accuracy once only for a doctor with 20 years of breast cancer diagnosis at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

Tags algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, data brokers, Hannah Fry, Hello World, machine learning, privacy

Artificial Intelligence Education Google Innovation Reading Technology

Latest Read: A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence

Post author By Don Kasprzak
Post date June 23, 2021

A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence: What It Is, Where We Are, and Where We Are Going by Michael Wooldridge. Michael is Head of Department of Computer Science and Professor of Computer Science at the University of Oxford.

A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence Michal Wooldridge

Is artificial intelligence intimidating to you? Above all this is a very easy, enjoyable book. So, Michael states in his introduction “I’m writing a popular science introduction to artificial intelligence.”

Accordingly, Michael has researched artificial intelligence for over 30 years. He is focusing on multi-agent systems drawing upon ideas from game theory, logic, computational complexity, and agent-based modeling.

A short history begins with Alan Turing’s work in 1935 at Cambridge during World War II. This is beyond America’s cultural understanding of Turing’s life from the 2014 movie The Imitation Game. Alan Turing actually defined artificial intelligence.

Machine Learning

Chapter 5: Deep Breakthroughs, addresses why Google acquired DeepMind Technologies, a British-based research laboratory in 2014. Founded in September 2010, DeepMind was introducing a term bounced around a lot: Machine Learning.

There is certainly a great misunderstanding regarding machine learning and deep learning. Additionally, Micheal’s efforts are to be complimented in making this topic understandable.

Tags Artificial Intelligence, deep learning, DeepMind, machine learning, Michael Wooldridge

Education Innovation Reading Technology

Latest Read: Find Your Why

Post author By Don Kasprzak
Post date June 20, 2021

Find Your Why: A Practical Guide to Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team by Simon Sinek. Simon wrote a bestseller in 2009 called Start with Why.

This book is the workshop companion. It will certainly not stand alone without the original. Find Your Why is above all, lead by Simon, David Mead, and Peter Docker as a corporate workshop now part of Simon’s consulting company Sinek Partners.

In this book the authors walk through specific points to identify “Why”for teams and organizations.

At the same time, Find Your Why is positioned to be an anchor for a workgroup moderator. So again, without reading Start with Why, your organization will struggle with Find Your Why as a stand alone book.

However, I found Start with Why to be compelling so I eagerly absorbed how this companion book can bolster teams and organizations. At various points throughout the book I could forecast how this would be received by my organization and others during a pandemic, when everything was changing rapidly in the opening weeks of remote work.

Tags Find Your Why, Simon Sinek, start with why

Cyberinfrastructure Education Network Ransomware Reading Technology

HBO’s The Perfect Weapon

Post author By Don Kasprzak
Post date June 18, 2021

In 2020 HBO released the documentary The Perfect Weapon based upon the best-selling book by David Sanger a New York Times national security correspondent. The book was a fantastic review of cyber attacks conducted by Russia, China and other countries deemed hostile to the US and the West. Accordingly, this documentary reveals how cyber war began. This is certainly the primary strategy today for nation state attacks. This documentary is also available on Amazon Prime.

Stuxnet, known as the cyber attack “Olympic Games” was an original US/Israel joint cyber attack. The concern was understanding the risk to a nuclear war in the Middle East in supporting Israel’s defense. The Bush Administration chose to invoke a new type of warfare.

Tags china, cyber war, david sanger, Iran, Russia, the perfect weapon

Cyberinfrastructure Education Globalization Innovation Network Reading Technology

Latest Read: This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends

Post author By Don Kasprzak
Post date May 27, 2021

This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race by Nicole Perlroth. Nicole covers cybersecurity and digital espionage for The New York Times. Certainly this is one of the more anticipated books addressing a new cyber arms race. More than ever before, it is imperative to understand how a global market for Zero Day exploits began and today how it is certainly tipping the scales.

Quite frankly, Nicole’s reporting will stun readers. This book will also surprise long time IT professionals.

As it seems so often in life, by chance, a ‘stumbling’ idea took hold. Initially a company in 2003 began buying exploits from hackers for as little as $75. Fast forward to today, a good iOS zero day commands over $3 million dollars.

Nicole begins her reporting role at the NYTimes by reviewing secret documents leaked by Edward Snowden and Glen Greenwald.

This of course revealing the illegal spying on American citizens by the Bush Administration. At the same time, this project was tapping phone calls of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Guardian obtained copies via Greenwald who passed a copy to the NYTimes. This proved to be her introduction to the cyber world.

In addition, Nicole retells the hard lessons from Soviet spying (actually from within the US embassy) in Moscow back in the 1950s. This reveals a good baseline to today’s advanced attacks including the resources and dedication necessary to carry them out.

Cyber weapons for Board rooms

Chapter One’s Closet of Secrets is certainly mandatory reading for organizational leaders. It will become very apparent that organizations must reconsider their outdated understanding of information security. One cannot walk away from this book ignoring an often repeated message: your organization has already been hacked, or your organization does not yet realize it has been hacked. Thus, Nicole makes the case in her interviews with hackers that every computer, phone, network, or storage drive has been compromised.

Tags cyberweapons, Nicole Perlroth, nsa, olympic games, stuxnet, This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends, zero day