^CategoryBusiness and Finance

Office syndrome, Backache and Lower Back Pain Concept. a man touching his lower back at pain point

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 9, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Medicine and Health

Tagged
Featured, Managed Medicare, Medical insurance, Medical insurance and pre-authorization, Medicare, Richard Hurley, Robert J. Marks}

The Challenges of Medical Care When Insurance Algorithms Rule

_{Pain management physician Richard Hurley is a veteran of many successful appeals to insurance companies that have refused to pay for treatments} _{News

June 9, 2022

15

Business and Finance, Medicine and Health}

In the first portion of Episode 187, “Good and bad algorithms in the practice of medicine” (May 19, 2022), Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks and anesthetist Dr. Richard Hurley discussed where algorithms help in medicine… and where they don’t. In this portion, they turn to how to get good medical care when you are dealing with an insurance company as well as medical staff and institutions. The two types of institution are, as we will see, very different. Before we get started: Robert J. Marks, a Distinguished Professor of Computer and Electrical Engineering, Engineering at Baylor University, has a new book, coming out Non-Computable You (June, 2022), on the need for realism in another area as well — Read More ›

Abstract virtual microscheme illustration on flag of China and blurry cityscape background. Big data and database concept. Multiexposure

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 7, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, China

Tagged
Arjun Kharpal, Big Tech in China, Chang Che, China (competitiveness in AI), China crackdown on Big Tech, China easing Big Tech restrictions, Jane Li, Jeremy Goldkorn, Kevin Klyman, Nicholas Gordon}

Is China’s Crackdown on Big Tech Easing Up?

_{Depends on who you talk to. It could be wishful thinking on the part of investors} _{News

June 7, 2022

6

Business and Finance, China}

. As a China news site SupChina told the story mid-last year, Beijing practically nuked the Chinese Big Tech industries: Since the suspension of Ant Group’s IPO in November, Beijing has embarked on an unprecedented clampdown of its technology sector. The casualties include some of China’s leading tech companies, such as Tencent (internet conglomerate), Meituan (food delivery), Pinduoduo (ecommerce), Didi (ride-hailing app), Full Truck Alliance (freight logistics app), Kanzhun (recruitment), online private tutoring companies like New Oriental Education and TAL Education, and a crackdown on cryptocurrencies. Chang Che and Jeremy Goldkorn, “China’s ‘Big Tech crackdown’: A guide” at SupChina (August 2, 2021) SupChina offered a variety of explanations for the sudden lunge at Big Tech, which started in November 2020, from ideological purification through internal Party warfare. Summing up: What the tech crackdown tells us Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
May 25, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Economics, Work

Tagged
Ed Leamer, Ezra Klein, Featured, George Box, Great Depression (and economic theory), James Tobin, Janet Yellen, Jobs (and market forces), John Maynard Keynes (on wages vs. prices), Lawrence Summers (on market equilibrium), Market equilibrium, Market forces, Paul Krugman (on market equilibrium)}

Some Economic Models are Alluring, Others are Useful

_{In some markets, prices are affected by market forces and in others, like the job market, they are not} _{Gary Smith

May 25, 2022

6

Business and Finance, Economics, Work}

Statistician George Box is credited with the aphorism, “All models are wrong, but some are useful.” Unfortunately, as the brilliant economist Ed Leamer, once quipped, “Economists are like artists. They tend to fall in love with their models.” A large part of the art of economics is distinguishing between attractive models and useful models. The traditional bedrock of economics is the demand-and-supply model. Every introductory economics course explains how demand and supply are related to price and how the equilibrium price is where demand is equal to supply. This can be a very useful model for predicting how changes in demand and supply affect prices and trades — if we make the tempting assumption that the market price is equal Read More ›

Handsome bearded African man touches the touchscreen in his new high-tech electric vehicle while while talking by phone and smiling. Self driving vehicle concept

^{Type
post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
May 23, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Self-Driving Cars

Tagged
Elon Musk (full self-driving concept), Elon Musk (self-driving claims), Elon Musk's Crash Course (documentary), Featured, Full self-driving (limitations), Full Self-Driving concept (Elon Musk), Solar City, Tesla (self-driving claims), Transportation infrastructure (and self-driving vehicles)}

New York Times Documentary Takes on Musk’s “Self-Driving” Claims

_{In an era where Big Media tend to just play along with Big Tech hype and vaporware, a Season 2 film homes in for a closer look} _{Jonathan Bartlett

May 23, 2022

5

Business and Finance, Self-Driving Cars}

The New York Times has a new TV show through FX Networks, called The New York Times Presents, a series of standalone documentaries presented by journalists from the paper. Mind Matters News readers will likely take a special interest in the first documentary of Season 2 because it deals with the technology of self-driving cars at Tesla and we have been talking about these issues for years. The film, titled Elon Musk’s Crash Course, follows the development of Tesla Motors and its claims about full self-driving vehicles. On the whole, while the I can commend the documentary as one of the first large-scale media efforts to take the issues with Tesla self-driving cars seriously, overall it emphasizes the wrong issues. Read More ›

Big data futuristic visualization abstract illustration

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
May 16, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Computer Security

Tagged
Crypto wars, Cybersecurity (insurance issues), Encryption (and control of data), Facebook (tracking and market value), Human data collectors (HDCs), Insurance (cybersecurity issues), Wall Street and human data collection (HDC)}

How Software Makers Will Push Back Against Reforms

_{Software makers will grumble but insurers may force their hand. That, however, is NOT the Big Battle…} _{News

May 16, 2022

10

Business and Finance, Computer Security}

Veteran software developer David A. Kruger offered some thoughts on computer security recently at Expensivity and we appreciate the opportunity to republish them here as a series. On Friday, we looked at the claim that human data collectors should own your data because it is too complex for you to manage. In this final installment, we look at how tech companies will try to avoid actually having to change anything. Preview of Coming Attractions If policymakers start to move towards implementing the policies suggested above, there will be a pushback from software makers that are not HDCs. They will be unhappy about additional software development costs, and they will play the “It’s the cyberattackers, not us!” card, saying it’s unfair to hold Read More ›

Roboter auf Tastatur, Methapher für Chatbot / Socialbot, Algorithmen und künstliche Intelligenz

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
May 13, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Social Media

Tagged
Elon Musk (and Twitter), Elon Musk (Canadian connections), Elon Musk (media hostility), Jacob Carpenter, Media (advocating censorship), Twitter (and Elon Musk), Twitterbots}

Musk’s Twitter Deal Is at Risk Amid Fierce Attacks on Him

_{Tarred as a privileged white South African, Musk moved to Canada at 17 to avoid serving in South Africa’s apartheid army} _{Denyse O'Leary

May 13, 2022

4

Business and Finance, Social Media}

Traditional media and many tech mavens are elated that Elon Musk’s Twitter deal is now shaky. It’s no secret that they were unhappy with it and with him. The New York Times launched an extraordinary attack on Musk on May 5, tweeting “Elon Musk grew up in elite white communities in South Africa, detached from apartheid’s atrocities and surrounded by anti-Black propaganda. He sees his takeover of Twitter as a free speech win but in his youth did not suffer the effects of misinformation.” In reality, Musk left for Canada at the age of 17, to avoid serving in the South African military, whose principal purpose was to oppress black South Africans. He had Canadian citizenship by way of his Read More ›

Smart technologies in your smartphone, collection and analysis of big data

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
May 13, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Computer Security, Data Privacy

Tagged
Human data collection (proposed reforms), Human data collectors (HDCs), Privacy controls (shortcomings), Self-managed data}

Is Your Data About Yourself Too Complex for You to Manage?

_{That’s the argument human data collectors (HDCs) make for why they should be allowed to collect and own your data} _{News

May 13, 2022

9

Business and Finance, Computer Security, Data Privacy}

Veteran software developer David A. Kruger offered some thoughts on computer security recently at Expensivity and we appreciate the opportunity to republish them here as a series. On Tuesday, we looked at how the current system punishes small businesses for data breaches that they could not have prevented. Today, we look at the claim that human data collectors should own your data because it is too complex for you to manage. The Easy Button The most common objection to data ownership is that self-management of owned data is overly complex. That view is based on the complexity of so-called “privacy controls” offered by big tech HDCs, controls which have every appearance of being deliberately obtuse. As a software developer and Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
May 12, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Surveillance

Tagged
Facebook, Featured, Google, Shoshana Zuboff, surveillance capitalism, Surveillance Capitalism (book)}

What You Need To Know About Surveillance Capitalism

_{A Harvard professor coined the term and her 2019 book sounds a warning about how Google and Facebook gain power and wealth selling YOU} _{News

May 12, 2022

4

Business and Finance, Surveillance}

The term “surveillance capitalism” was coined by Harvard professor Shoshana Zuboff in her book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. It’s a fascinating read, offering insight into the power that companies like Google and Facebook have amassed and the danger that power poses to our way of life. Here’s how she explained it to the United Kingdom’s Channel 4 News in 2019: Here’s how surveillance capitalism works, just in brief. It begins with these companies claiming, unilaterally claiming, our private human experience as their free source of raw material. So what do they do with that raw material? They lift out of it the rich predictive signals in our Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
May 10, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Computer Security

Tagged
Data breaches (liability), David Kruger}

Cybersecurity: Why a Poke in the Eye Does Not Work

_{The current system punishes small businesses for data breaches they could not have prevented} _{News

May 10, 2022

7

Business and Finance, Computer Security}

Veteran software developer David A. Kruger offered some thoughts on computer security recently at Expensivity and we appreciate the opportunity to republish them here as a series. Yesterday, we looked at how online human data collectors get free from legal responsibility. Today we look at how the current system punishes small businesses for data breaches that they could not have prevented. A Poke in the Eye Furthermore, in the domain of unintended consequences, deterrence polices are based on the technological symptomatic point solution fallacy. Businesses are assumed to be negligent if they have a data breach. That’s correct in some cases, but in others, businesses, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, suffer increased compliance costs or have been bankrupted by data breaches that they Read More ›

Transition effect in bar chart statistics and bright windows

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
April 27, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance

Tagged
Bloomberg, Gary Smith, Statistics}

Studies Based On Data Mining Can Turn Out To Be Nonsense

_{As business prof Gary Smith explains at Bloomberg, we can find a great deal of nonsense if all we rely on is a search engine} _{News

April 27, 2022

2

Business and Finance}

Many of the studies represented to us in media are not nearly as reliable as we would like to believe, as Gary Smith explains at Bloomberg. He starts with statistician John Ioannidis pointing out that of 34 “highly respected” medical studies and found that only 20 were confirmed by the Reproducibility Project.: I wrote a satirical paper that was intended to demonstrate the folly of data mining. I looked at Donald Trump’s voluminous tweets and found statistically significant correlations between: Trump tweeting the word “president” and the S&P 500 index two days later; Trump tweeting the word “ever” and the temperature in Moscow four days later; Trump tweeting the word “more” and the price of tea in China four days Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
April 5, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Computer Security, Crime

Tagged
Chain of causation, David A. Kruger, Featured, Requirements analysis, Root cause analysis, Symptomatic solution fallacy}

The True Cause of Cybersecurity Failure and How to Fix It

_{Hint: The cause and fix are not what you think} _{News

April 5, 2022

12

Business and Finance, Computer Security, Crime}

Veteran software developer David A. Kruger offered some thoughts on computer security recently at Expensivity and we appreciate the opportunity to republish them here. He starts with “Root Cause Analysis 101” The classic line “I have a bad feeling about this” is repeated in every Star Wars movie. It’s become a meme for that uneasy feeling that as bad as things are now, they are about to get much worse. That’s an accurate portrayal of how many of us feel about cybersecurity. Our bad feeling has a sound empirical basis. Yearly cybersecurity losses and loss rates continually increase and never decrease despite annual US cybersecurity expenditures in the tens of billions of dollars and tens of millions of skilled cybersecurity Read More ›

Creative digital city background. Smart city, technology and innovation concept. Double exposure.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 31, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Censorship, Technocracy

Tagged
Bari Weiss, David Sacks (on emerging social credit system), Debanking, Debuying, Depublishing, Programmable digital currency (and social control), Social credit system (United States)}

PayPal Pioneer: The Ways Big Tech Is Strangling Our Freedoms

_{The conveniences offered come at a price: We can be much more easily surveilled and controlled. And yes, they ARE doing it} _{News

March 31, 2022

5

Business and Finance, Censorship, Technocracy}

In a continuing discussion with Bari Weiss, Paypal pioneer David Sacks warns hearers: BW: You have been making the case better than anyone else that, despite the fact that we live in a liberal democracy with a Bill of Rights and a Constitution and a First Amendment, whether most Americans are aware of it or not we also are living inside a soft version of a social credit system. So for the people who hear that and think: ‘That’s ridiculous. This isn’t China.’ I want you to make the case. DS: Let’s start by defining what a social credit system is. A social credit system is a system that pretends to give you civil liberties and freedom. It doesn’t overtly Read More ›

surreal image of a transparent mirror; concept of door to freedom

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 30, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Military

Tagged
Invisibility (and optics), Invisibility Shield Co., Optics (and invisibility)}

Invisibility Is No Longer Science Fiction (or Magic). It’s Here.

_{A new technique, the “invisibility shield,” which offers the user near invisibility, is reaching the marketing stage} _{News

March 30, 2022

4

Business and Finance, Military}

Have you ever wanted to be invisible just to get some privacy? Maybe when using a bank machine or sunbathing in the backyard? Experimentation over the last few years has come up with an “invisibility shield” that offers near invisibility without blocking the light. A British startup, Invisibility Shield Co., is raising seed money for a commercial venture that offers to ship the ones already manufactured to backers. A scam? It seems not: It wouldn’t likely shield anyone from the police or bill collectors but if all you want is privacy with sunlight, it’s certainly an option: The science behind the invention isn’t perfect. The shield can’t perfectly replicate the scene behind the subject, but rather recreates it as a Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
March 16, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance

Tagged
Greater Fool Theory, Investment, Kennedy half-dollar, Trump Coin}

In It For the Money: The Trump Coin Sham

_{Beware deceitful memorabilia hawkers who sell cheap mementos, hoping you'll be the fool that helps make them rich} _{Gary Smith

March 16, 2022

6

Business and Finance}

Americans have a seemingly insatiable demand for memorabilia, no matter how cheaply it is made or how cheesy it looks. Some are preparing for their nostalgic years; some think they are making smart investments in collectibles that become more valuable as time passes. The problem with “investing” in collectibles is that an investment’s intrinsic value depends on how much income it generates. Stocks, bonds, rental properties, and profitable businesses all have intrinsic value. Mementos don’t. They rely on the Greater Fool Theory. If fools don’t appear, memento collectors are stuck with cheap and cheesy trinkets. This sobering reality does little to discourage people intoxicated by dreams of riches. For example, the White House Gift Shop sells a large collection of Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 10, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Cryptocurrency, Economics, Surveillance

Tagged
Alexander Lee, Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), Cryptocurrencies (and fiat digital currencies), Programmable digital currency (and social control), Social credit system (United States)}

Government Control of What You Buy Grows More Popular

_{With governments, that is. You’d be surprised at how far along they are with digital currency and how detailed the control could be} _{News

March 10, 2022

6

Business and Finance, Cryptocurrency, Economics, Surveillance}

Recently, we looked at a new idea governments are looking at — programmable digital currency. It’s all digital, issued by government, constantly trackable, and can’t be spent on items not approved by government (or only with penalties). The Federal Reserve Board (the United States’ central bank) explains, bureaucratically, Potential benefits of the “digital cash” model using programmable UTXOs are the ability to specify spending constraints on any discrete amount of value and a greater facility to trace the provenance of any particular “virtual banknote.” Alexander Lee, “What is programmable money?” at FEDS Notes (June 23, 2021) In other words, the two benefits of these central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are that the government can potentially control what the money is Read More ›

Personal social credit score. Machine Learning analytics identify person technology,Artificial intelligence no privacy security camera technology concept. Software ui analytics and recognition people.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 9, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Censorship, Surveillance

Tagged
Banks (debanking), Credit card companies (debanking), Debanking, Freedom of speech (and debanking), Kara Fredericks, Social credit system (Canada), Social credit system (United States)}

Is an AI-Driven Social Control System Emerging in America?

_{The gradual merger of Big Tech and Big Government is worthy of close analysis} _{News

March 9, 2022

5

Business and Finance, Censorship, Surveillance}

Readers may assume that a “social credit system” where government monitors a citizen’s every move and assigns a score or takes action, could only happen in China. But increasingly, governments can monitor a citizen’s every move in North America too. Technology policy analyst Kara Fredericks explains: As Canada demonstrated, Western governments and tech companies are mobilizing to cut off mainstream citizens from public life and constrain their private lives. Actions like protesting government overreach, expressing “anti-authority” ideologies, or even sharing “disinformation” on social media may now be classified as terrorism… In the United States, the increasingly oppressive collaboration between public and private entities is not enforced at the barrel of a gun. It arises from an ideological symbiosis between tech Read More ›

San Francisco aerial view from sea side. Port of San Francisco in the front. City downtown and skyscrapers at sunrise.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 7, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Medicine and Health

Tagged
Elizabeth Holmes, Ellen Pao, Fake it until you make it (strategy), Gary Smith, Jeffrey Funk, John Ioannidis (on Theranos), Lab-based meats, Silicon Valley (fraud), Theranos, Vaporware}

When Silicon Valley Turns From Hype Over Vaporware to Fraud…

_{Jeffrey Funk and Gary Smith discuss the famous Theranos case, which resulted huge losses and in convictions for fraud} _{News

March 7, 2022

4

Business and Finance, Medicine and Health}

In a column published today at MarketWatch, Jeffrey Funk and Gary Smith talk about that unpleasant subject, the shady side of Silicon Valley. They’re not looking at the unicorns naively chasing rainbows but rather the cases of apparently deliberate deception. One of them is vaporware— announcing a product that won’t really exist any time soon (perhaps in the hope of dissuading potential buyers from investing in a competitor’s product). Another is “fake it until you make it,” the topic of today’s column. Investors sign on by throwing money at the company, which the company then spends trying to develop what it said it already has. Either way, the company keeps lying as long as necessary, or until its cover is Read More ›

young sample plant growing in test tube , biotechnology research concept

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 2, 2022

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Medicine and Health

Tagged
Biotechnology, COSM 2021, Featured, Jay Richards, Matt McIlwain, Matt Scholz, Venture capitalism (and biotechnology)}

What Biotech Innovations Can Help Us Live Longer, Healthier?

_{Jay Richards interviews venture capitalist Matt McIlwain, whose firm invests in new tech on current promising new directions} _{News

March 2, 2022

4

Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Medicine and Health}

At COSM 2021, business prof Jay Richards interviewed venture capitalist Matt McIlwain, CEO of the Madrona Group, which invests in a wide range of promising software applications: McIlwain chaired a panel on innovations in biotech, “Killing Disease and Living Longer” on November 11, 2021: Matt Mcilwain (Moderator) — Managing Director, Madrona Venture GroupStephen C. Meyer — Director, Center for Science and CultureJim Tour — T.t. and W.f. Chao Professor of Chemistry, Rice UniversityMatthew Scholz — CEO, Oisin Biotechnologies Casey Luskin offers an account of McIlwain’s 2021 panel at “Manipulating molecules: Combining info + nano for better medicine”: Yesterday at COSM 2021, philosopher of science Stephen Meyer, synthetic organic chemist James Tour, and biotech entrepreneur Matthew Scholz looked at how nanotechnology Read More ›