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”
An incredible 56.1% of ads on the internet are not seen by humans, according to new research released today by Google.
“With the advancement of new technologies we now know that many display ads that are served never actually have the opportunity to be seen by a user,” said Google group product manager Sanaz Ahari in a blog post.
Continue reading… “56.1% of Paid Online Ads are Never Seen”
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.
Continue reading… “Technological Automation of Jobs Debate”
Robin Speronis lives off the grid in Florida, completely independent of the city’s water and electric system. A few weeks ago, officials ruled her off-grid home illegal. Officials cited the International Property Maintenance Code, which mandates that homes be connected to an electricity grid and a running water source.
That’s like saying our dependency on corporations isn’t even a choice. The choice to live without most utilities has been ongoing for Robin, the self-sufficient woman has lived for more than a year and a half using solar energy, a propane camping stove and rain water.
In the end, she was found not guilty of not having a proper sewer or electrical system; but was guilty of not being hooked up to an approved water supply.
Continue reading… “It’s Illegal to Live off the Grid in the State of Florida”
For many more people than realize it, electric cars are already adequate for their needs and better than a gasmobile for their bank account and quality of life. However, it often isn’t good enough for disruptive technology to be better than the incumbents. It has to be much better. The target for electric cars, in order to meet that challenge, is a very long-range and affordable electric car. That would bring electric car convenience to another level, and leave gasmobiles with not a single actual advantage over electric cars, compared to nearly 10 for electric cars.
Continue reading… “Nissan’s New Electric Car will go farther than ever”
The Federal Aviation Administration recently released a report detailing more than 190 safety incidents involving drones and commercial aircraft. In response, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has vowed to push legislation that would crack down on the commercial use of drones, also called Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). India’s Directorate General for Civil Aviation has already banned all use of drones in the country — even for civilian purposes.
Continue reading… “Ready or Not, Drone Technology will Change Everything”
There’s no such thing as a quiet year for gaming, and 2014 has certainly been a noisy one. It’s been a year very much focused on the PS4 and Xbox One finding their feet, but the two titans haven’t totally hogged the limelight. We’ve seen virtual reality continue to burgeon, we’ve witnessed free-to-play open up some interesting discussions about in-app payments, and we played Rambo: The Video Game. The less said about that last one, the better.
Continue reading… “Five Landmark Innovations in Gaming for 2015”
Article By Heather Wood Rudolph
Alaina Percival never envisioned a career in technology. But after a successful career in marketing and brand management that took her around the world, the 34-year-old quit her job, learned to code, and changed careers. Today she runs Women Who Code, a nonprofit mentoring and education group focused on increasing the number of women in all areas of the technology industry. Percival talks to Cosmopolitan.com about feeling the gender gap in tech and the importance of a good challenge.
Continue reading… “One woman who plans to teach a million how to code”
Ray Kurzweil: Stephen Hawking, the pre-eminent physicist, recently warned that artificial intelligence (AI), once it surpasses human intelligence, could pose a threat to the existence of human civilization. Elon Musk, the pioneer of digital money, private spaceflight and electric cars, has voiced similar concerns.
Continue reading… “Ray Kurzweil believes we don’t need to fear artificial intelligence”
With little ceremony and only two days before Christmas, Google filed an antitrust law against Visa and MasterCard for setting “supracompetitive” interchange rates from 2004 to 2012. This is but one more volley in the Battle Royale between big companies like Wal-Mart, Target, and Macy’s and major players in the payments industry.
Continue reading… “Google sues Visa and MasterCard”
College is stressful enough without being blindsided by the true cost of attending
Many of the students now applying to U.S. colleges and universities have almost no idea what it will really cost to go there, if they get accepted. Save the jokes about these kids needing to do their homework. This is not the fault of prospective students—or their families.
If transparent pricing is the key to a healthy market, the U.S. higher education industry should be in an iron lung. Sticker prices for university tuition and fees have surged roughly 1,200 percent since 1978, far outpacing the overall 280 percent inflation over the same period. The average cost of a year of private school tuition is $25,000, with the full cost of many top schools topping $60,000.
Continue reading… “Once again Government’s fuzzy math is confusing the true cost of college”
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.
Continue reading… “The Rise of Technological Unemployment”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
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