Sunday, August 19, 2012

I've been saying that! Haven't I been saying that? I have! This is Business Continuity 101. How come these guys are only now listening to me?
Data Loss Prevention Is Better -- And Cheaper -- Than The Cure
If you don’t have an up-to-date backup of your important data, then this tale of woe should encourage you to make one over the weekend.


Lawyers in the Cloud” (sung to the tune of “Ghost Riders in the Sky”)
August 18, 2012
Interoperability Case Study: Cloud Computing
Berkman Center for Internet Law: "This case study is part of an ongoing series developed in support of a larger text on interoperability by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser Interop: The Promise and Perils of Highly Interconnected Systems (Basic Books, June 2012). The book is an extension of their 2007 study and paper, Breaking Down Digital Barriers: When and How ICT Interoperability Drives Innovation (Berkman Center Research Publication, 2007). Interop: The Promise and Perils of Highly Interconnected Systems focuses on the relationship between interoperability and innovation in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) environment and beyond. Palfrey and Gasser seek to sharpen the definition of interoperability and identify its relevance for consumers, companies, governments, and the public by examining its driving forces and inhibitors, while considering how it can best be achieved, and why. You can download this case study at SSRN. See also Urs Gasser's blog post about this publication."


I was kind of hoping for a list of vehicles that had EDRs and what each model was recording. Silly me.
August 18, 2012
NHTSA Event Data Recorder Research Web site
"Since the term "EDR" can be used to cover many different types of devices, we believe it is important to define the term for purposes of this research site. When we use the term EDR in this site, we are referring to a device installed in a motor vehicle to record technical vehicle and occupant information for a brief period of time (seconds, not minutes) before, during and after a crash. For instance, EDRs may record (1) pre-crash vehicle dynamics and system status, (2) driver inputs, (3) vehicle crash signature, (4) restraint usage/deployment status, and (5) post-crash data such as the activation of an automatic collision notification (ACN) system. We are not using the term to include any type of device that either makes an audio or video record, or logs data such as hours of service for truck operators. EDRs are devices which record information related to an "event." In the context of this site the event is defined as a highway vehicle crash. EDRs can be simple or complex in design, scope, and reach. They can make a major impact on highway safety, assisting in real-world data collection to better define the auto safety problem, aiding in law enforcement, and understanding the specific aspects of a crash." [via EPIC, installation on vehicles effective on September 1, 2012]


Could have something to do with Japan's earlier experience with radiation...
An anonymous reader points out an article in the Wall Street Journal about how irrational fear of nuclear reactors made people worry much more about last year's incident at Fukushima than they should have. Quoting:
"Denver has particularly high natural radioactivity. It comes primarily from radioactive radon gas, emitted from tiny concentrations of uranium found in local granite. If you live there, you get, on average, an extra dose of .3 rem of radiation per year (on top of the .62 rem that the average American absorbs annually from various sources). A rem is the unit of measure used to gauge radiation damage to human tissue. ... Now consider the most famous victim of the March 2011 tsunami in Japan: the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Two workers at the reactor were killed by the tsunami, which is believed to have been 50 feet high at the site. But over the following weeks and months, the fear grew that the ultimate victims of this
damaged nuke would number in the thousands or tens of thousands. The 'hot spots' in Japan that frightened many people showed radiation at the level of .1 rem, a number quite small compared with the average excess dose that people happily live with in Denver. What explains the disparity? Why this enormous difference in what is considered an acceptable level of exposure to radiation?"


Perspective The definition of “Advertising” is changing to include success (sale) metrics. Paying for that my drop personal service costs to zero. (Perhaps you could get “paid to shop?”)
Payment Data Is More Valuable Than Payment Fees
We are in the midst of a great revolution in the payments space: anyone with a phone can now accept credit cards; online-to-offline commerce is allowing online payment for offline purchase and significant friction is being removed from the consumer purchase experience thanks to mobile. All of this innovation (read: competition), combined with government intervention, means that payment fees are falling, threatening revenue streams for incumbents and startups alike in the payments space. But a broader opportunity exists: using the data of payments to build a more valuable, more defensible business model, one not dependent on fees. The result will revolutionize offline commerce and online advertising.
… Imagine that Wendy’s, or even a local handyman, wants to advertise on the Internet. What’s the point? What does a click, or an impression, really mean? It’s clear what it means online, since every click can be measured to “action” (e.g., purchase) for an ecommerce company. Who can tell Wendy’s, or the local handyman, if that online advertisement worked?
In an increasingly cashless society, the answer is pretty clear: the payment infrastructure. Tracking that purchase back to the originating source (Google? Yelp? Patch? etc) is known as “closing the loop” and will revolutionize offline commerce and advertising alike.


I fear change. Imagine changing from “I'm going to lunch.” to “Watch me eat this Double Whopper with Super-Sized Mega-Fries and an Uber-Cola!” On the other hand, it might be a way to answer student questions.
The way we share information on Facebook is again set to change as Ustream readies a new app for live streaming on Facebook. If you have an iPhone (or an iPad), you can very soon broadcast directly to your Facebook timelines.
The iPhone app called Broadcast For Friends (BFF) is being readied for launch and you can sign-up for an early invitation on their site. As soon as Apple approves it, it should be available for download from the App Store.

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