Tech Byte with MARK STROSS

The Internet of Things is all about non-human devices connecting together to provide improved analysis and processing of data. When everything is connected, entities can make smarter real-time decisions faster and more accurately than before. Also known as the IofT, the Internet of Things allows for efficiency on steroids. What does this mean to you as an individual? Mark Stoss does his thing and breaks it down for you so you know what you need to know, and why you need to know it. 

It's a global pandemic. The authorities are trying to monitor your whereabouts. Governor Garry Newsom of California wants to restrict the number of people in one family who get together this holiday. Even if it's at your home. Mark Stross, America's technologist, helps you "disappear" as you move about during the pandemic. Once the government starts tracking us, will they ever stop? This episode should be required listening for those who want to maintain their freedom as the government legalizes spying and tracking of innocent citizens. Why you need to understand this and what you need to do about it. 

Robots are among us, walking right up to the President of the United States at an event. This took the Secret Service by total surprise. Was it harmless? or was it going to blow up? Totally interactive, robots are getting better and better, delivering food, sorting and delivering packages, greeting people, beating humans at games, performing medical operations, doing chores, and driving vehicles. What does this mean for our future? Will they replace humans altogether? 

"Is this normal or have we fallen under a spell?" said Tristan Harris, the president and co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology. What is technology ethics? Why do we need it? Users (you and me) are clueless when it comes to what we are dealing with. Every on/off, keyboard or mouse click can be recorded and monitored. And we are allowing it. Does big tech consider the ethics of their reach, power, and practice? Certainly not enough. And the user has no idea how they are being manipulated!

'Getting my Instagram Account Deleted Was Similar To Somebody Murdering Me,' Says 21-Year-Old. This is a real headline in 2020. Another? 'Long Island Man Allegedly Threatens to Kill Boy Over Fortnite Loss." It's safe to say that people love their digital stuff. From their social media accounts to their game missions, they are willing to protect these things with their life, or take another's. These cases are extreme, but Mark Stross teaches you how to safeguard your own accounts, your own digital assets, so you are caught trying to recover lost digital information. Includes the Twenty Commandments of Online Safety.  

Microsoft has a video authenticator made to detect deepfakes. Deepfakes refers to audio or video files created using AI (artificial intelligence) to manipulate or alter peoples' voices or image; making it look like they said and did things they never did. There are some amazing deepfakes out there on the internet. Some look funny and harmless, but as this technology gets better, and the AI gets smarter, these deepfakes have the potential to become very dangerous indeed. Why is it important that we be able to detect these? Mark Stross brings you up to speed with this alternative reality and how it will create fake news. 

The singularity is when computer and man become intellectual equivalents and from that point on, the computers grow in intelligence that surpasses human potential. But it's more than that. Merging unlimited real-time data with human intellect explodes the possibilities for advances in all areas. Do we have the ability to manage this? What are neural networks and how do they fit into this future reality? Mark Stross will simplify these concepts, so you are informed, and ready for what's next. 

This is bound to happen. A self-driving vehicle is faced with a decision as it approaches an oncoming, inevitable collision. Both choices result in a fatality. Whose life should it save? The pedestrian or the passenger? The one or the many? The young or the old? Complete with cameras, LIDAR, and onboard computers, autonomous vehicles are hitting the road. Soon. Are we ready? What happens when they enter a situation that they have no answer for? Or will they make the wrong answer? We will see. 

Robots come in different shapes and sizes and today, they don't even need batteries to run. Nanobots are nanometers in size. That's a million times smaller than an ant. To put it into perspective, a strand of our DNA is 2.5 nanometers in diameter. Nanorobots are the perfect tool to work on our DNA. At UC, San Diego, they are already cleaning our blood, removing harmful bacteria as they swim along our bloodstream. These and many other implantable devices are not just science fiction, but medical fact. What does this mean to individuals, our rights and freedoms, and what will it take for our laws to catch up? What you need to know and what to watch for. 

We register time as BC or AD, but what about AB? After Bandwidth. In today's AB era, we can spread people out with modern transportation. The pandemic is teaching us that we don't need to be consolidated in high rise buildings to be productive. Most homes have enough bandwidth to allow quality video conferencing, replacing the workplace cubby with bedside offices or laptops on the couch. Mark Stross reads the writing on the wall. Rented real estate and brick and mortar office buildings are over; welcome to the After-Bandwidth Era.