The new government in Finland has committed to a Basic Income experiment as part of its program for government which was published in May. The commitment consists of one line: ‘Implement a Basic Income experiment’, in the ‘Health and Welfare’ section of the program.
Continue reading… “Finland’s new government commits to Basic Income experiment”
Scott Santens has been reflecting on the aphorism, “If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he eats for life.” But what Santens really wants to know is, “If you build a robot to fish, do all men starve, or do all men eat?” Continue reading… “What if we didn’t all have to work to get paid?”
According to new estimates from the International Monetary Fund, which puts the cost of subsidizing fossil fuels at an enormous $5.3 trillion a year, or around $10 million a minute every day, global energy subsidies are quite a lot larger than most of us thought. Continue reading… “Fossil fuels subsidies cost the world $10 million a minute”
Glenn Greenwald, the writer who first reported on Edward Snowden’s stolen files, says that stronger encryption in Apple’s iPhones and on websites like Facebook has “petrified” the U.S. government because it has made it harder to spy on communications. Continue reading… “Greenwald: iPhone encryption ‘petrified’ NSA”
A question that social scientists and economists have long puzzled over, how corruption arises in different cultures and why it is more prevalent in some countries than others. But finding correlations between corruption and other measures of economic or social activity has always been difficult. Continue reading… “Data mining shows global link between wealth and corruption”
In the same way that it has torn apart newspapers, radio and the postal service, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney worries that technology will disrupt the banking and financial services industry. His biggest concern is governments will fail regulate it until it’s too late – “an Uber-type situation,” as he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. Continue reading… “Will the sharing economy disrupt the banking industry?”
Surveillance cameras
The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly reports that mass surveillance practices are a fundamental threat to human rights, as thoroughly detailed in many reports following the extensive Edward Snowden leaks.
Continue reading… “Mass surveillance threatens human rights, says European report”
The U.S. Justice Department announced today that state and local police will no longer be able to use a federal law that allowed the seizure of assets of people for only believing a crime was committed. Continue reading… “Justice Department making it harder for cops to seize your assets”
If the fundamental premise of President Obama’s new initiative to make community college free is to open up career and life opportunities for the nation’s young — especially those from underprivileged backgrounds — then the federal government should also be thinking of ways to cover the tuition costs of individuals attending coding boot camps. Instead of paying for a two-year community college program, the government could instead get more bang for less buck by paying for a 12-week program. That’s something that the nation’s first coding president should understand.
The market for marijuana is changing, at least in the states where the drug has been legalized. In Colorado and Washington, where recreational marijuana is legal for adults, cannabis sellers are finding new approaches to the way they sell their products. The new business plan, for many, includes advertising and marketing — a shifting image.
Continue reading… “The Branding of Marijuana in the Marketplace”
The last decade was a boom time for patent trolls. Their names and lawsuits made the news; This American Life dedicated two hour-long episodes to them. The number of defendants in patent troll lawsuits increased sixfold from 2003 through last year. But now the tides seem to be turning for them: After growing very rapidly since 2009, the number of lawsuits filed by “non-practicing entities” will be significantly lower this year compared to 2013. Although the level of litigation will still be at a historic high, is this indicative that they are finally being reigned in?
Continue reading… “Preventing Patent Trolling”
Futurist Thomas Frey
Thomas Frey is currently Google’s Top Rated Futurist Speaker. He serves as the Senior Futurist and Executive Director of the DaVinci Institute. Read his article “The Complexity Disease”.
Continue reading… “Complexity in Systems Increase Cost”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
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