Gill Eapen's Blog, page 70
February 17, 2012
Identify this
Recent research (1) seems to bring back an old idea – let the user completely control her identity and the authentication mechanism, reducing identity theft and loss of anonymity & trust. Their article in the International Journal of Security and Networks seems to suggest that a large number of user controlled pseudonyms may do the trick. With identity knowledge limited to the user and a network authority server, the authors argue that the situation will improve. However, it is unclear if such a process will make the user's life any simpler in a world of increasing complexity driven by exploding personas and applications.
Developments in this area have been slow. Social behemoths have been focused on increasing revenues and in the process paid little attention to the trust of the user. Recent revelations that the googling eyes could not help inserting code into the "secure" safari on mobile phones to syphon off information of the users did not come as a surprise to those who have been watching this space. A culture of prying eyes is difficult to change and such a loss of trust will never be gained back. As long as the social network leaders consider consumers as a proxy for this quarter's profits, they will continue to degrade the environment of trust. This has huge implications for the future development of digital interactions and consumer experience. Only better technology can prevent the information monopolists from creating and implementing policies that destroy the future potential.
Space travel, self driving cars and green energy are socially responsible ideas – but keeping the promise to the consumer or at the very least not stealing their information could be even better.
(1) Who goes there? Published: Friday, February 17, 2012 - 16:38 in Mathematics & Economics. Source: Inderscience Publishers
February 11, 2012
Reengineering medicine
Recent research (1) demonstrates that cancer cells can be killed by introducing Carbon nanotubes into the tumors and selectively heating them using a specific kind of laser. This is yet another example of material scientists and engineers taking a different approach to medicine. Chemistry has been an exceptionally good tool, especially against invading biological entities. In the presently changing landscape, where the challenges are endemic and infrastructural, past tools are likely to be less effective. R&D productivity of organizations, sticking to the past, has steadily declined, some facing a complete elimination of internal IP generation by transforming themselves into the traders of knowledge, manufacturers of established chemicals and the testers at large scale. However, without a sustainable rate of IP generation, these businesses will look like those producing soap and oil.
Life sciences, an industry in transition, has to substantially change their focus, talent, business processes and technologies to be competitive. They have to embrace engineering advances not in manufacturing but in finding solutions to the underlying problems. The human, an electro-magnetic and chemical system cannot be mended by just chemical pathways although that has been simpler when the pathology afforded such simplicity. It is not the case anymore – we are over wars and antibiotics.
It is time to substantially rethink the discovery and practice of medicine. It is time to abandon conventions and move boldly to the future, where engineering and medicine will converge.
(1) Nanotube therapy takes aim at breast cancer stem cells. Published: Thursday, February 9, 2012 - 15:37 in Health & Medicine . Source: Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
February 9, 2012
Are computers, moral?
Morality has been a complex construct – both modern religions and science claim to both originate and practice it. In both cases, at the highest level, morality appears to be the adherence to a set of prescriptive rules, regardless of the process by which those rules were established and if such rules were universally and temporally true. The frameworks of modern religions and the standard models of science share many common characteristics including the establishment of rules that do not change quickly. In the case of religions, these rules change much slower than those of science. However, in the case of science, complexity, statistical noise and confirmation biases have compensated for the apparent brisk change of models. Currently, it is fair to characterize both as a compendium of unchanging and prescriptive rules and processes.
In modern religions, any deviation from established rules is categorized as immoral. In the case of science, any process that do not follow established norms such as data gathering, hypothesis testing, peer review and publication, is considered to be immoral. This rigid prescription, combined with confirmation bias, has slowed framework changes in science, rendering it akin to modern religions. The measurement of morality in both types of systems, thus, is similar – it is all about deviations from established rules, processes and metrics.
In this vein, computers are always moral – in that they follow prescriptive rules and processes. Computers, according to the modern definition, are the most moral entities in the world today. The real question is whether such morality enhances humanity and its ability to evolve into next generation societies.
February 3, 2012
Return on Children (RoC)
The highest return investments for most societies are in children. This is because, those systems, who do not invest optimally in the next generation, suffer from both higher costs such as disease and crime as well as lower productivity in the long run. Although this is intuitively clear to most modern societies, it is unclear that they do anything about it.
In the US, states have different policies and practices on how they take care of their children. Many appear to focus on education but seem to neglect who cannot raise their hands to be educated. Granted, it is important to educate those who are in school better but it is equally important to assure that education is not a privilege afforded by the selected. In this regard, societal designs have stagnated – most focused on identifying problems after they have happened and sub-optimally attempting to mend it. The issue remains to be abuse and neglect of children by their parents, who do not seem to understand the deleterious effects of their actions on themselves and the society, more generally.
In a world driven by information and technology, access to education has become a necessary condition for survival. All through human history, advanced cultures have always provided the best possible choice set for children. In the modern world however, full of pride and ignorance, this idea seem to have been reversed. There are more children in today's world who have not been given the access to basic education and information and they are left behind for no fault of theirs.
As policy makers and the elite burn the midnight oil to find solutions for a better tomorrow, they should not forget what is obvious – without a coherent and consistent policy to provide all available information and possible education to those who are growing, they will fail miserably.
January 28, 2012
Oil dreams
A recent article (1) seems to restate what many people have been talking about for over a century – the world is slowly running out of oil and the prices are slowly approaching infinity, with disastrous consequences on the economy. They cite the continual decrease in production from established fields and the high cost of reaching oil in yet to be discovered areas. They note that shale gas is not a solution as such production techniques deplete the resources faster. Finally they conclude the obvious, "Historically, there has been a tight link between oil production and global economic growth - If oil production can't grow, the implication is that the economy can't grow either."
These observations are fair enough. Since the authors like historical data, they may want to extend the study a little further into the past. They may want to ask how economies grew before black gold was gushing out of the wells, world over. More importantly, history may also tell them that findings similar to theirs have been around for over hundred years. Ever since the "tight link," between economic growth and oil production was discovered, people have been worried about running out of it.
However, such analysis is not giving due credit to the spirit of innovation and the already fast developing world of alternative energy sources. Oil has always been a transitional energy source – something that gave tactical benefits in production and storage but with long term costs. Increasing cost of oil will act as a significant boost to alternatives already fast approaching parity. The two engineering challenges – production and storage of electricity from renewables – need to be solved and we are well on our way to do that. With little help from increasing oil prices, we will likely reach there faster.
Panicking is never a good answer to solving any problem – especially if you find that such panic has been present for over a century. Most generations were afraid of the "tipping point," just like ours. Those who need something to panic about, the most obvious choice is a meteor hit that will vaporize the earth - oil and all.
(1) Commentary in Nature: Can economy bear what oil prices have in store?Published: Friday, January 27, 2012 - 14:35 in Mathematics & Economics. Source: University of Washington
Oil dreams
A recent article (1) seems to restate what many people have been talking about for over a century – the world is slowly running out of oil and the prices are slowly approaching infinity, with disastrous consequences on the economy. They cite the continual decrease in production from established fields and the high cost of reaching oil in yet to be discovered areas. They note that shale gas is not a solution as such production techniques deplete the resources faster. Finally they conclude the obvious, "Historically, there has been a tight link between oil production and global economic growth - If oil production can't grow, the implication is that the economy can't grow either."
These observations are fair enough. Since the authors like historical data, they may want to extend the study a little further into the past. They may want to ask how economies grew before black gold was gushing out of the wells, world over. More importantly, history may also tell them that findings similar to theirs have been around for over hundred years. Ever since the "tight link," between economic growth and oil production was discovered, people have been worried about running out of it.
However, such analysis is not giving due credit to the spirit of innovation and the already fast developing world of alternative energy sources. Oil has always been a transitional energy source – something that gave tactical benefits in production and storage but with long term costs. Increasing cost of oil will act as a significant boost to alternatives already fast approaching parity. The two engineering challenges – production and storage of electricity from renewables – need to be solved and we are well on our way to do that. With little help from increasing oil prices, we will likely reach there faster.
Panicking is never a good answer to solving any problem – especially if you find that such panic has been present for over a century. Most generations were afraid of the "tipping point," just like ours. Those who need something to panic about, the most obvious choice is a meteor hit that will vaporize the earth - oil and all.
(1) Commentary in Nature: Can economy bear what oil prices have in store?Published: Friday, January 27, 2012 - 14:35 in Mathematics & Economics. Source: University of Washington
Bigger data
The next sustainable fad has arrived – it is called "big data." Ever since computers and the internet arrived a few decades ago, the collection, analysis and storage of data has been an allure to almost everyone. In the 80s, Artificial Intelligence threatened to solve all problems faced by humans. Two decades long irrational exuberance in Enterprise Resource Planning systems and business analytics continue to burn holes in the budgets of companies who can afford it. Giants of the internet, googled their way to stardom with algorithms that understand who you are and what you are made off. The influx of jobless Physicists into Wall street, where data is cooked and served every microsecond, created yet another class of hedgers who got wedged by volatility, later.
Now, big data has arrived. This is good news for both hardware vendors and software makers. The former can now focus on making bigger storage bins and faster processors and the later can create code that will create music from randomness. Such sustainable fads are actually good for the economy – they will likely create stimulus faster than just showering money from the clouds. In this case, they are indeed making clouds that can rain data at a moment's notice to anywhere. Just as in previous sustained fads, "big data," is also process oriented – in which the first step is to lay out how to collect and grow the data. The focus is on designing processes and constructs that can consume the big beast. How such a process will add value will be dealt with later. For now, consultants and the IT gurus cannot afford to think about that, for lack of time.
Data – the lifeblood of business – will grow again – uncontrollably, migrating into clouds and underground warehouses. One has to brace for the arrival of the next fad, when knowledge may finally migrate to the clouds as well – completing the process of making intelligence, truly artificial.
Ref: Flexibility : Flexible Companies for the Uncertain World
http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9781439816325/
Bigger data
The next sustainable fad has arrived – it is called "big data." Ever since computers and the internet arrived a few decades ago, the collection, analysis and storage of data has been an allure to almost everyone. In the 80s, Artificial Intelligence threatened to solve all problems faced by humans. Two decades long irrational exuberance in Enterprise Resource Planning systems and business analytics continue to burn holes in the budgets of companies who can afford it. Giants of the internet, googled their way to stardom with algorithms that understand who you are and what you are made off. The influx of jobless Physicists into Wall street, where data is cooked and served every microsecond, created yet another class of hedgers who got wedged by volatility, later.
Now, big data has arrived. This is good news for both hardware vendors and software makers. The former can now focus on making bigger storage bins and faster processors and the later can create code that will create music from randomness. Such sustainable fads are actually good for the economy – they will likely create stimulus faster than just showering money from the clouds. In this case, they are indeed making clouds that can rain data at a moment's notice to anywhere. Just as in previous sustained fads, "big data," is also process oriented – in which the first step is to lay out how to collect and grow the data. The focus is on designing processes and constructs that can consume the big beast. How such a process will add value will be dealt with later. For now, consultants and the IT gurus cannot afford to think about that, for lack of time.
Data – the lifeblood of business – will grow again – uncontrollably, migrating into clouds and underground warehouses. One has to brace for the arrival of the next fad, when knowledge may finally migrate to the clouds as well – completing the process of making intelligence, truly artificial.
Ref: Flexibility : Flexible Companies for the Uncertain World
http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9781439816325/
January 27, 2012
The hangover
The boomers of today lived a significantly different life growing up than what is available in the modern world. Their senses are finely tuned to an era when certain archaic constructs such as the war and drugs, reigned supreme. They had abundant opportunities in a world that was growing. They participated in two fundamental step function changes in the economy – the computer and the internet – that provided them with plenty of opportunity. Their outlook of life is shaped by what they have been endowed and what they know.
In the modern world, however, this is akin to a hangover. This hangover is killing companies and countries led by people who do not have any connection to the present. They look to the X and Y generation and find them lazy and they see the Z generation as utterly dumb. This perception cannot be any further from the truth. The hangover that prevents the next generation from taking control of their lives, companies and countries is the biggest threat to humanity today. To make matters worse, the boomers are in firm control of most of the productive assets of the world and they are getting more powerful.
The boomers are out of touch with the current realities. It is a different world – the next generation do not want segmentation and their faces are in a singular book across the world. They use networks and not bombs to unseat autocrats and they are constantly in touch using always-on technologies. Boomers simply do not have the competence or the knowledge to lead in today's world. It is time for them to retire and usher in a much more productive world led by innovation and not bureaucratic friction.
The hangover
The boomers of today lived a significantly different life growing up than what is available in the modern world. Their senses are finely tuned to an era when certain archaic constructs such as the war and drugs, reigned supreme. They had abundant opportunities in a world that was growing. They participated in two fundamental step function changes in the economy – the computer and the internet – that provided them with plenty of opportunity. Their outlook of life is shaped by what they have been endowed and what they know.
In the modern world, however, this is akin to a hangover. This hangover is killing companies and countries led by people who do not have any connection to the present. They look to the X and Y generation and find them lazy and they see the Z generation as utterly dumb. This perception cannot be any further from the truth. The hangover that prevents the next generation from taking control of their lives, companies and countries is the biggest threat to humanity today. To make matters worse, the boomers are in firm control of most of the productive assets of the world and they are getting more powerful.
The boomers are out of touch with the current realities. It is a different world – the next generation do not want segmentation and their faces are in a singular book across the world. They use networks and not bombs to unseat autocrats and they are constantly in touch using always-on technologies. Boomers simply do not have the competence or the knowledge to lead in today's world. It is time for them to retire and usher in a much more productive world led by innovation and not bureaucratic friction.
