Technological Automation of Jobs Debate

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The topic of job displacement has, throughout US history, ignited frustration over technological advances and their tendency to make traditional jobs obsolete; artisans protested textile mills in the early 19th century, for example. In recent years, start-ups and the high-tech industry have become the focus of this discussion. A recent Pew Research Center study found that technology experts are almost evenly split on whether robots and artificial intelligence will displace a significant number of jobs over the next decade, so there is plenty of room for debate.

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Idea Jam and The Future of Jobs with Futurist, Thomas Frey

Futurist Thomas Frey at Idea Jam 2c1x7z

On November 7, 2014, I attended the “Idea Jam – Innovating for the Future” session put on by the Pacific Center for Workforce Innovation in San Diego. The purpose of the session was to identify the major challenges to the San Diego workforce in the coming years and to generate audience participation in visioning exercises to explore new and innovative workforce development ideas. The event was held at Colman University, and major sponsors were SDG&E, Qualcomm, the Eastridge Group, Point Loma Nazarene College, and Cal State University, San Marcos.

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Coding Education & Tech Trends of 2014

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Audrey Watters:  “The business of ed-tech” is also the “politics of ed-tech.” The business and the politics of ed-tech together dictate almost all the other trends that I’ll cover in this year-end series. MOOCs. Big data. Learning analytics. Privacy. Competency-based education. Buzzwords.

One way to identify the dominant ed-tech trends is to look at what venture capitalists are funding. Another is to look at what government policies are demanding. The state of Maryland, for example, said this year that it would need to invest $100 million in technology upgrades in order to be ready for the new online testing mandated by the Common Core State Standards.

New hardware. New infrastructure. New curriculum. New expenditures.  So… who benefits?

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The Rise of Technological Unemployment

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A machine that administers sedatives recently began treating patients at a Seattle hospital. At a Silicon Valley hotel, a bellhop robot delivers items to people’s rooms. Last spring, a software algorithm wrote a breaking news article about an earthquake that The Los Angeles Times published.

Although fears that technology will displace jobs are at least as old as the Luddites, there are signs that this time may really be different. The technological breakthroughs of recent years — allowing machines to mimic the human mind — are enabling machines to do knowledge jobs and service jobs, in addition to factory and clerical work.

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Russian cash has already fled the country

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Russian Rouble hits all time low

It may already be too late for Russia’s Central Bank to regain control. The collapse of the ruble has prompted a flight of capital as investors and savers in Russia seek shelter outside the country’s borders.

A CNBC.com analysis of money flows monitored by the Russian Central Bank shows that large cash hoards have already left the country. Nations in the ex-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have been disproportionate recipients of those funds. Ukraine is also a major destination for Russian cash.

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FAA Drags Feet on Drone Rulings

Many new drones are now making their debut – Image by media.salon.com

In August, the Federal Aviation Administration missed a key deadline for developing rules for small commercial drones. That failure has infuriated businesses that want to test and use drones for delivering goods, monitoring crops and doing other awesome things. Some have even threatened to move their drone research overseas if they can’t get permission to operate in the United States.
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Why Left-handed People Make Less Money

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There’s a stereotype that left-handed people are clumsier, but that might have something to do with the fact that they live in a world of objects optimized for the right-handed: scissors, the computer mouse, surgical tools, and guns, to name a few. The discrimination against the 12 percent of the population who are lefties has disarming historical roots. In the Middle Ages, left-handed writers were said to be the devil’s voice boxes, and the Jewish scholar Maimonides included sinistrality in his list of 100 imperfections that should preclude someone from priesthood.

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The Future of Cryptocurrency

 Matt Bernier at the DaVinci Institute’s “Night with a Futurist” talking about the future of cryptocurrencies

The first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was created in 2009 by a mysterious developer using the pseudo-name Satoshi Nakamoto. In 2010, the secretive Satoshi handed the reigns of Bitcoin over to Gavin Andresen, a like-minded developer who now manages the operation along with a team of five senior developers.

Less than a third of the original Satoshi code still exists. The rest has been rewritten by Gavin and his team to plug security holes, improve usability, and make it operationally more efficient. Andresen is the one who conceived of the nonprofit Bitcoin Foundation—established in 2013—which is the closest thing to a central authority in the world of Bitcoin.

While we hear a lot about Bitcoin there are many other cryptocurrencies entering the startup arena.

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The video game industry is growing 4 times faster than the U.S. economy

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An Electronic Arts employee works on a character for “MySims.”

The U.S. economy is on the upswing. Unemployment is down to 5.8 percent, and we’re adding hundreds of thousands of new jobs every months — and the video game industry is partially responsible for that.

 

 

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Why this is the best moment in history to be born in 23 charts

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There seems to be bad news everywhere you look these days. Sometimes it seems like the world is falling apart. Between Ebola, climate change, Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine, and the ongoing war in Iraq and Syria.

 

 

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Is it better to rent or buy a home? Comparing the monthly costs

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Renting vs. owning

Ever since the financial crisis left many Americans in dire financial straits, the debate over renting versus buying a home has heated up. American households’ spending on housing is on average 33% of their annual expenses, but until recently we didn’t have data to show the differences in costs between monthly mortgage payments versus rent.

 

 

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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.