FutureVigil (r) » Internet

FUTURE OF THE NET

Jeffrey Newman — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 00:13:16 +0000

Before the year 2020, according to experts, the following changes will occur relating to the net:
*The mobile device will be the main connection too to the net
*Voice recognition will be prevalent, usable and used
*Personal and work time will not be divided off as more connections to the net will be commonplace and an integral part of work
*Virtual worlds, augmented virtual reality and personal information overlays will be integrated into every day life.

GOOGLE’S OUTAGES IN CHINA–THE END?

Jeffrey Newman — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:01:28 +0000

on Tuesday of this week, Google’s search engine site in China stopped working. Users in China received error messages for Google searches. Google also said that its mobile services were being partially blocked and that the Chinese government was definitely behind it. Beijing has expressed anger at Google for refusing to censors the site. Is this the beginning of the end for Google in China? If so, the company should be lauded for its courage and ultimately if other companies stood up to the goliath in the same way, it would change more quickly. The average modern chinese citizen wants to be more part of the modern world and the economic incentives for this abound. This is why I think the government will finally evolve on human rights and censorship issues–but no without prodding by such great companies as Google.

Bioshock 2 video game and what it says about the future

Jeffrey Newman — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:27:15 +0000

I am a video game lover. Not an addict-yet, a lover. For those who have seen SHUTTER ISLAND the world inside my head is like that inside the head of Leonardo DiCaprio. Worth seeing. I dream of games which will, by their sheer brilliance and capacity to understand societal dilemmas, lift us from our downward spiral. Instead, we get more shooter games. Bioshock creators have the ability to do more–their concepts are so unique and interesting. An underwater city where brilliant scientific minds are allowed to flourish. An advanced utopian creation gone awry. So we must shoot and kill. Here’s what I think. The video game population will unite and demand more…something greater than a blast em sock em immersion, because there is more for them–something far deeper and a capacity to unify the 100 million users world wide towards greater goals. A great convergence of brain power as the world as never seen. Players of Bioshock unite. take back the night. VIDEO GAME DEVELOPERS–CONSIDER THE AWSOME POTENTIAL YOU HAVE AND THE HUMAN RESOURCES TO MAKE REAL CHANGE IN THE WORLD. LOOK AHEAD. HOW LONG DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE BEFORE YOUR SHOOTER FORMATS ARE REJECTED?

Future of the Net: end of .com domination

Jeffrey Newman — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:08:43 +0000

For as long as the net has been around, .com has dominated the URL’s for web site addresses. Soon, new extensions will come into use and some believe that companies like GoDaddy will begin selling subscriptions for these extensions and there will be a renewed land grab for the most popular extensions.

THE HACK ATTACK ON GOOGLE-WE SEE THE FUTURE

Jeffrey Newman — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 08:36:55 +0000

The hackers which penetrated Google’s defenses recently demonstrated a level of sophistication which paints a frightening picture of just how vulnerable the internet is. The hackers used a combination of encryption, stealth programing and found an unknown hole in internet Explorer. A dozen or more pieces of malware and numerous lawyers of encryption allowed the hackers to bore deeply into company networks and hide their presence as stealthy aliens. The hackers stole intellectual property and gained access to the Gmail accounts of human rights activists and the attacks originated from China. The attacks which targeted 34 companies in the technology, financial and defense sectors was dubbed “Operation Aurora” as this was the name the hackers used for their mission and the name was on the computer of one of the hackers. The initial piece of code was shell code encrypted three times and then was activatedt to penetrate. One malicious code opened a remote backdoor to the computer established by an encrypted secret shannel hiding as an SSL connection to avoid detection. This allowed ongoing access to a computer which afforded the hackers entry to other parts of the network in order to search for login credentials and other data.

Google: Glimmer of a Soul?

Jeffrey Newman — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:36:58 +0000

Following on the heels of Google’s announcement that it may pull out of China, Joe Schoendorf, a Partner at Accel Partners, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm told the New York Times “Google has Microsoft on the ropes, and China is arguably the world’s most important market outside of the U.S. You don’t walk away from that on principle.” Mr. Schoendorf may be missing a critical point in long term corporate strategy. If Google is bold enough to take a stand now and close its operations in China, it will serve the establish the company as a leader on the world stage, placing it ahead of any other company in helping to formulate policies dealing with human rights and other legal issues. China, with its expanding role as a global economic power, has had few challenges by corporations or government intervention. Here we have the first glimmer of Google’s soul–what the company is at its heart. This will not be lost on consumers long term. Even publicly traded corporations cannot make decisions based solely on the best interests of its stockholders. Google would go a long way in establishing itself as the visionary company of our time if it pulls out of China. Other companies would do well to watch and do the same. The global arena of nations and companies cannot allow China to breach internation laws and human rights as it wishes. Th e long term ramifications to this are unthinkable, as China gains further strength. If Google wants to take its place as the greatest company in the world, surpassing Microsoft, it should stake its moral ground now.

Why Does Denmark Lead the Way for Digital Healthcare?

Jeffrey Newman — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:33:04 +0000

Denmark has spearheaded the use of electronic healthrecords and use of telemedicine via the internet to assist doctors in treating their patients. There are a number of telemedicine projects allowing monitoring patients in their home saves doctors an average of 50 minutes a day in administrative work. Apparently Denmark’s success may relate to its small size and homogeneous population as well as its regulated population. However, what it does is not complicated. One hospital uses IBM software that takes data from the patient’s records and superimposes it on a three dimensional image of the human body. This allows the doctor to quickly assess the person’s medical history and the doctor can click on ailments to get more info. Since most experts agree that institution of these systems will save money, lives and reduce time expenditure all with off the shelf existing technologies, the question remains is why the United States isn’t advancing more quickly like Denmark?

THE MOBILE DEVICE INVENTION I’D LIKE TO SEE IN 2010

Jeffrey Newman — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:12:26 +0000

There is one invention concerning mobile devices that I’d like to see advanced next year, for the safety of the American public and my sanity. I would estimate that over half of the drivers in America text while driving. This estimate is entirely anecdotal, based on my own observation of accidents, near misses and crazy driving during texting/emailing. It drives me insane (excuse the pun). I realize that the temptation to do so is enormous, given the pace of business and the obsession to stay connected , but the fact of doing it is aburd. I can’t really understand why a device has not been developed to allow a person to respond to an email via voice recognition. I envision it working this way. An email comes in and a voice says to you, “you have an email from Donald Cramer, would you like to respond to it?” “Yes,” you say. “Ok. Donald says, ‘hi. Can we meet at at 2 today?’”
“Sure Donald,” you respond and the device translates this and types a response to Donald via email. Now it is my understanding that technology such as this already exists on the shelf. If it does, not only should this device be embraced, the government should create a tax credit for individuals to use it, as it might prevent people from texting while driving, a phenominon which I am sure is costing thousands of lives and even more injuries now. So all of you inventors and techies, please help to launch this product. I thank you in advance. Jeff

SOCIAL MEDIA TO PREVENT MURDERS AND SUICIDES?

Jeffrey Newman — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:49:57 +0000

This tidbit of creative thinking was found on the site of Jonathan Nguyen, who works in PR andcrises management. He saw a news story about George Sodini, who murdered three and wounded nine others in a Pennsylvania gym before killing himself. Sodini had talked about his plans on his blog, as have many others. Now, there are social media monitoring tools such as Radian6 which can read and listen to conversations on the web, including the blogosphere via an heuristic analysis engine. It is used sometimes to protect brands from disparagement and to guage sentiment on products. The questions raised is whether it could be modified to watch for potential homicidal or suicidal acts? Outstanding lateral thinking Jonathan! Present uses of social media are rudimentary and limited.

SOCIAL MEDIA PREDICTIONS FOR 2010

Jeffrey Newman — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:48:32 +0000

Social media has become the subject of a lot of writing and discussion and its hard for someone not in the field to get a sense of the realistic trends for the coming year in this arena. Here is what I have come up with for social media predictions (probable trends) for 2010; 1) New kinds of searching on the internet will evolve. Instead of going to sites like Google, users will receive customized search results in the context of what they are currently doing (similar to Amazon only more broadly applied). So, if you are researching travel plans, you will be sent links and summaries rirectly related to the topic. If you are researching an illness, you will be sent articles and summaries of studies closely on point, automatically; 2) Social media interaction on mobile devices will skyrocket, especially as tablets come on the market next year; 3) Augmented reality will continue to emerge in the form of applications on mobile phones and tablets which superimpose computer-generated info like instructions or labels or pricing over real world data; 4) Facebook will continue to grow in popularity and will come into greater use as a business networking device like Linkedin, only with more flexibility and less rigidity. In addition, Facebook will become a repository of directory information to find stuff; 5) Twitter will also continue to expand, as will the development of more uses for it including the immediate distribution of critical news and information to users on a highly customized format. Twitter will evolve quickly from its present use as a fun tool to an essential one.