Government mass surveillance will create a surge of technology spending

A simple graphic that shows how the NSA hacked Google.

As technology races ahead, from time to time public debate and the law of the land must catch up to it. Government surveillance is one of the most important technology issues of our times. In the US, the NSA files have already had a profound impact on the perceptions of Americans about surveillance and civil liberties. Outside the US, Germany is aghast that the US and UK, NATO allies would spy on Angela Merkel and Germany. On the other hand, there is some evidence that the NSA has aided in combating Mexican drug cartels and prevented terrorism.

 

 

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Our best defenders against Big Brother may be Google and Facebook

The big online companies are calling for urgent reforms to protect us from having data intercepted.

Over a few weeks’ worth of bedtimes in the summer of 1984, my dad read me Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. Though the dystopian context would have been lost on nine-year old me, the pervasive malevolence and the futility of the struggle was not.

 

 

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Taobao breaks mobile shopping record in less than an hour with over $100 million in sales

China’s leading e-commerce marketplace.

Taobao, China’s leading e-commerce marketplace, racked up RMB 1 billion ($164 million) in mobile purchases from over 14 million user accounts one hour into China’s annual Single’s Day shopping blitz,

 

 

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Optimizing Evil

Would the world be a better place if Adolph Hitler never existed?

While many people will argue over who exactly was the worst of the worst, with names like Pol Pot, Josef Stalin, Idi Amin, Ivan the Terrible, Genghis Khan, Nero, Osama bin Laden, Attila the Hun, and Hirohito entering the conversation, it’s easy to attribute a face to the evil we all despise.

 

 

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Top 19 fastest growing occupations

There will be significant growth for jobs that require a college education and occupations in health care, energy and technology.

The jobs market for the future currently looks bleak. The unemployment rate has been stuck above 7 percent since December 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And as futurist Thomas Frey recently told AOL Jobs, half of all the jobs in existence today will no longer be around by 2030.

 

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World’s first bitcoin ATM gets 348 transactions in first 8 days

The world’s first ever permanent bitcoin ATM.

The first Bitcoin ATM in North America made a lot of hoopla when it went live in a Vancouver coffee shop last week. The ATM trades cash for Bitcoins. How many people actually used it?  Here are some of the numbers:

 

 

 

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Why you should be a big fish in a little pond: Malcolm Gladwell

Gladwell lays out his argument for being a big fish in a little pond.

Attending an elite college or working for a famous company could kill your dreams is what Malcolm Gladwell seems to think. The popular author lays out his argument for being a big fish in a little pond in his latest book, “David and Goliath,” a work that aims to overturn conventional notions about what makes for a disadvantage and who should be considered an underdog.

 

 

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Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.