The US congress now has an Artificial Intelligence “Caucus” considering regulating how Artificial Intelligence (AI). One the items they are looking into is figuring out if citizens should have a right to know that they are talking / chatting with an Artificially Intelligent piece of software or a human. Many people feel tricked when they find out that they have been talking or chatting with an AI when the default assumption has been that people are talking or chatting with…
Now that much of the dust has settled on Cambridge Analytica‘s misuse of Facebook users data the sad story can now be told. It is critical to note upfront that Facebook was not hacked and that the information that was misused was provided voluntarily by Facebook Users. The only breach was a breach of misplaced trust. Timeline of the Facebook / Cambridge Analytica Scandal: January 2015: Cambridge University’s Professor Alexander Krogan created ‘ThisIsYourDigitalLife’ personality survey app on Facebook, under his company…
If you are interested in fully electric cars or plug-in hybrids there is a myriad of misleading information to wade through. One of the big questions is, ‘Is it is cheaper to run own and operate an electric car vs a gasoline powered car?’. Before we get into the numbers, you need to be aware of two things: Most electric vehicles are plugged in at work during the day at no additional cost to the employee The price of electricity…
On Monday January 22, 2018, the Trump administration brought in a 30% tax on imported solar panels. This new solar tax will last four years and decrease over time to 15% in its last year. “Over the last 5 years, nearly 30 American solar manufacturers collapsed; today the President is sending a message that American innovation and manufacturing will not be bullied out of existence without a fight… This is a step forward for this high-tech solar manufacturing industry we…
First world governments around the world, including Canada have come down on the side of Net Neutrality (the idea that internet providers can not advance or block one website or stream). The notable exception to this is the United States under President Trump’s appointed FCC leader (and former Verizon executive) Ajit Pai, which has eliminated the Obama era rules protecting an open internet in December 2017. The Republican / Ajit Pai / Trump argument is that the infrastructure is owned by…
Canada already had several Gold Rushes that left environmental devastation and abandoned towns. China’s BitMain is opening a server farm in Quebec and others are trying to open in Manitoba. Manitoba is thinking this could be another path to destruction that they do not want to participate in.
Autonomous cars and trucks are steaming at us at a surprisingly rapid pace. Fully autonomous vehicles are not the stuff of 2025, they are the stuff of late 2018. Seven US States already allow GM, Tesla, Uber and other autonomous car makers to drive limited numbers of vehicles with no driver. In Canada, Ontario allows autonomous vehicles in approved cities and towns. GM executives told investors in 2016 that by 2025, autonomous vehicle cost reductions and increased consumer adoption would…
There is a global crisis with municipal recycling programs that is affecting YOUR community as of January 1st 2018. China is now rejecting all used plastic, except “high grades”. High Grades are used materials that are fully sorted. This means mixed plastics, aka Low Grade, will no longer be taken. The problem for us is that we rely on China’s cheap and efficient labour force to sort low grade plastics for us. This video explains the Chinese “National Sword” policies…
While governments around the world grapple with Genetically Modified Products (GMO’s) like wheat and canola, there is a new issue they will have to address shortly: man made meat. This video explains that Israels “Super Meat” just raised millions of dollars to COMPLETE their lab produced chicken product. Man made chicken will be available for sale in two or three years to specialty markets and will almost certainly be in your grocery store within a decade. THIS article from 2015…
A brief panel discussion about the legal (and therefore political) implications of data collection in cars.