Month: January 2021
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Reader service card
I was looking at old tech magazines online and came across the reader service card. It was a proverbial blast from the past. Occasionally I come across them, usually in my books where a card was used as an impromptu bookmark. In the same way that my Dad still uses old AOL discs as a…
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Brazilian data breach + more things
Massive Brazilian Data Breach – Schneier on Security – some 220 million people affected in the Brazilian data breach. So it is one of the biggest data breaches to date. I do wonder why the Brazilian data breach has not a lot of coverage outside of Portuguese language media? More related content here. Why Ericsson took…
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Ahistoric technology & things that caught my eye this week
Wired magazine had an interesting article on revisiting old technology magazines. The idea was that while in some ways technology has progressed. In other ways, good ideas got bypassed. There are a number of Good ideas that might have more currency now. There is a contrasting ahistoric technology view held by some Silicon Valley luminaries.…
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Collapse OS + more things
Collapse OS — Bootstrap post-collapse technology – a vision of dystopian technology that fits right in with William Gibson’s more recent views of the future with the Jackpot. A slow moving systemic collapse due to global warming, flooding, pollution, global conflict, terrorism and pandemics The battle inside Signal – Platformer – Casey Newton has pulled together…
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Gray house
The gray house phenomenon is a fascinating microcosm of urban development. Gray because its a specifically American phenomenon, rather than grey. But some of the aspects of it will be equally familiar to city dwellers elsewhere. Quick fix The act of painting a brick house is a quick fix by developers, rather like body filler…
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VR Headset + more things
Apple’s first VR headset will reportedly be powerful and pricey – CNET – its a rumour so take with a pinch of salt, the approach outlined reminded me of being rather similar the way Oculus was in their early model VR headset devices. It is also interesting how they consider a VR headset as a…
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Mask shops & things that caught my eye this week
Mask Shops In Hong Kong Mask shops have now become a thing. When I lived in Hong Kong, you would buy your masks from the local pharmacy chain store depending whether you were near a Watsons or a Mannings. It was good form among locals to wear a mask when you felt unwell; particularly with…
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Doughnutism
Doughnutism is a phrase that I found out about from a presentation of Carat’s 2021 trends paper. In the paper itself it is called the donut problem, but when talked about the phrase doughnutism was used. COVID-19 has changed behaviours. More people are telecommuting, which has changed people’s travel needs. As a consequence, there has…
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Stott on Hong Kong + more things
Clifford Stott did a call with the Hong Kong Democrat Party on the Hong Kong protests. His responses also cover issues around COVID-19 and how western nations handle crises. Stott believes that China will be a malign authoritarian influence beyond Hong Kong. Clifford Stoff is an expert on deescalation and riot prevention. He came to…