News — At The Edge — 3/3

Technologically, near-term issues — voice activated earpieces and surveillance capitalism — offer a mixed bag.

Political issues bleeding into the future — rise of autocrats and new WMD — are taking a dark, dystopian turn.

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Technologically, the near-term future issuesApple said to debut voice-activated Siri AirPods in 2018, water-resistant model in 2019 —

“[T[he fully wireless earbud-style headphones…[will add] ability to activate Siri just by voice, rather than by physically tapping the AirPod in your ear, as [now]…[shifting] to a voice-first interface device….

[2019] will add…water-resistance… to protect against ‘splashes of water and rain,’ rather than full submersion.” https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/22/apple-said-to-debut-voice-activated-siri-airpods-in-2018-water-resistant-model-in-2019/

Virtual Assistants — Where’s the Beef?

Obama isn’t happy with Facebook and Google, either —

“Google and Facebook aren’t just…companies — they are ‘public goods’ with a responsibility to serve the public ….’They’re not just an invisible platform, they’re shaping our culture in powerful ways’….

[A] duopoly…contributing to a fractured media environment that allowed users to construct alternate realities, without a common set of facts.

‘We have to have a serious conversation about, what are the business models, the algorithms, the mechanisms, whereby we can create more of a common conversation. And that can not just be a commercially driven conversation’….

[He] made a point of saying he was opposed to the heavy regulation…[but] comes amid an increasing drumbeat of criticism of Facebook and Google.” https://www.recode.net/2018/2/27/17057686/barack-obama-facebook-google-speech-mit-sloan-regulation-public-good

Congress should close the loophole allowing warrantless digital car searches —

“Fourth Amendment…protects individuals from illegal searches…to their digital lives…[so] unless law enforcement [has]…a warrant, the government cannot search a person’s phone or computer….

[But] as ‘connected cars’ become increasingly linked to people’s digital identities, there is a risk…police will use [an] exception to conduct digital searches without warrants….

[Supreme] court has extended warrant protections to cell phones and vehicle GPS tracking, and…currently reviewing whether law enforcement…should be required to get a warrant to obtain cellphone location information from wireless carriers….

[Now] law enforcement…can stop and search a vehicle based on probable cause without having to get a warrant….

Next-generation vehicles generate gigabytes of data while driving…[and] law enforcement could gain access…without a warrant. For example, police could access in-car apps that contain sensitive information, such as…travel history, social media apps that store messages…past purchases…[and] likely be unlocked when police pull over a driver…[Also] drivers may be intimidated into revealing their passwords during a stop, as has happened…at border crossings….

Already, some police use special devices…to circumvent built-in security measures on citizens’ phones and quickly copy their contents — similar devices could be designed for cars….

[Despite] risks, a car’s ability to collect information is not inherently privacy-invasive….Policymakers should close this loophole….Just as Congress has been working to close the loophole for cloud computing, it should…require law enforcement…to obtain a warrant.” https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/25/congress-should-close-the-loophole-allowing-warrantless-digital-car-searches/

Political issues bleeding into the futureWhen the Cat’s Away …

“[I]t’s springtime for strongmen….

[China’s] Xi wants to be emperor, not president. Russia’s Vladimir Putin wants to be czar, not president. Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to be caliph, not president. Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi wants to be pharaoh, not president. Hungary’s Viktor Orban wants to be king, not prime minister. And Iran’s Ali Khamenei already has the most coveted title du jour, supreme leader….

[Trump’s] comfortable with foreign strongmen, but [with]…Putin and Xi, seems to be awed by them, and may even be envious of them….

[He’s] also reflecting a widespread exhaustion in the country…[starting] ‘with Bush getting bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan’….[Also] who’d look at our democracy…as a model for emulation? It takes $1 billion to run for the White House, Congress has become a forum for legalized bribery…[with] our own major state-run network, Fox News, that treats our president as ‘Dear Leader’….

[There’ also] more refugees on the road around the world…to be very useful boogeymen for all these strongmen, who combine a kind of aggressive nationalism of historical destiny…[with] defense of national boundaries….[This] works to tighten their grip on power…and to deflect attention from how much they and their cronies are stealing….

[Changes] have come so fast for some people that they’re looking for leaders who will…stop the winds of change and bring back the 1950s….[But] there’s technology…for autocrats to use facial recognition, cyberspying or data mining to more efficiently track, arrest and silence all of them.” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/27/opinion/trump-strongmen-democracy.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fopinion&action=click&contentCollection=opinion&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront

Quicksand of Our Past

Putin claims Russia has nuclear arsenal capable of avoiding missile defenses —

“[New] nuclear-powered cruise missiles capable to hitting any point on the globe…[Putin] warned that Moscow would consider any nuclear attack, of any size, on it or its allies an attack on Russia that would lead to an immediate response….

[A] cruise missile…propelled by a nuclear-powered engine…[has] practically unlimited range…[and] able to fly close to the ground and follow an unpredictable flight path, rendering existing missile defenses ‘useless’… a major breakthrough.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/putin-claims-russia-has-nuclear-arsenal-capable-of-avoiding-missile-defenses/2018/03/01/d2dcf522-1d3b-11e8-b2d9-08e748f892c0_story.html?utm_term=.e9d6667f4985

Civilization’s Anti-Human, Not Machines

An alien cyberattack? As if we didn’t have enough to worry about —

“[A]n alien message from outer space could contain malicious data designed to wreak havoc on Earth…[because] impossible to ‘decontaminate with certainty’ and could pose an ‘existential threat….

[Many] debated whether humanity would benefit from contact with extraterrestrial intelligence, or ETI…. So far, no one has heard anything very life-like….

[Still] it is cheaper for ETI to send a malicious message to eradicate humans compared to sending battleships’…. [There’s] several different types of malicious communications. A simple one might contain a threat like ‘We will make your sun go supernova tomorrow. True or not, it could cause widespread panic’….

Messages that contain big diagrams, algorithms or equations could come with viruses hidden in them…[or] algorithm needed to decompress them could also be code…[that] could unleash the malware…[or] header of such a message might read: ‘We are friends. The galactic library is attached. It is in the form of an artificial intelligence which quickly learns your language and will answer your questions.…

’Extraordinary steps could be taken to isolate the artificial intelligence…[but] efforts to imprison an [AI]…delivered by extraterrestrials would probably fail. Even a military-style experiment could go awry…[if] the artificial intelligence could offer a cure for cancer in exchange for an increase in computer capacity….

‘We can never exclude human error and emotion’….Once the artificial intelligence is out, it could do all kinds of damage….Understanding the risks is what’s important….The potential benefits from joining a galactic network might be considerable.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/02/28/an-alien-cyberattack-as-if-we-didnt-have-enough-to-worry-about/?utm_term=.31fb55499331

Find more of my ideas on Medium at, A Passion to Evolve.Or click the Follow button below to add me to your feed.Prefer a weekly email newsletter — no ads, no spam, & never sell the list — email me dochuston1@gmail.com with“add me” in the subject line.May you live long and prosper!Doc Huston

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