Showing 1-10 of 14 results
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Transpacific cable is cut, for now
Life, James Hein, Published on 16/09/2020
» In light of the problems between the USA and China, and that those in power in Beijing want to grab data from US networks, Google and Facebook have dropped plans to build an undersea cable between the US and Hong Kong. The new target limits the landing points to the Philippines and Taiwan and now excludes Hong Kong. The HK section of the cable is built but will not now be activated due to a national security agreement between the US and Google and Facebook. I will predict that if Joe Biden wins the next US election this decision will be revisited.
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Predictions for 2024
Life, James Hein, Published on 03/01/2024
» I hope you all had a great holiday break and are ready to dive into whatever 2024 brings us. Once again I will try and guess what we will see this year. The first one is easy, a bigger focus on artificial intelligence and even more marketing using the term AI. I wonder if we will see Turbo-AI appear. There will be more funds diverted to the growth of AI in many of the major manufacturers. I'm not convinced we will reach General AI this year but it is a possibility.
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Microsoft stock booming on AI run
Life, James Hein, Published on 07/06/2023
» It's not a good time to be working for Microsoft, but it is a good time to be a shareholder or executive. Stock is up over 30%, net income is up and the CEO Satya Nadella got a nice 10% raise. Regular workers received no pay rise, or effectively a 5% pay cut due to inflation. Microsoft has rationalised it as pat and generic reasons like a "competitive environment" and the "global macroeconomic uncertainties". In reality, Microsoft is using the money to jump into the AI wave through a multibillion-dollar partnership with OpenAI.
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Tech giants, gatekeepers of the cloud
Life, James Hein, Published on 11/05/2022
» AWS, Microsoft and Google collectively made up 65% of global spend on cloud computing in Q1 2022, and their share is increasing year-on-year. At least two of these organisations have shut down users and companies they decided did not align with their ideologies. If you put your data on the cloud, it sits somewhere. In many cases, it's on the servers of these three companies who may or may not decide to cut you off without warning sometime in the future. It is also important to remember these three companies have servers across the globe and if a country decides to remove itself from the pack, it could take a peek at what you are storing there.
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Covid computing
Life, James Hein, Published on 06/05/2020
» Things are quiet on the IT front. Well, that's not necessarily true, as many are trying to come to grips with the whole working-from-home existence. Many, including myself, are spending a lot of time in front of a screen. Instead of getting up and conferring with a colleague at their desk, it is a Skype chat. Instead of a walk to the meeting room, often on another floor, it is a Skype meeting or similar. Many do not have a video camera at home so it is voice only. There are new collaboration technologies like Microsoft Teams to get used to. Instead of handing a report to someone, it is uploaded into a shared area for all to browse. I find that I am sharing my screen more often to go over a document or diagram. On the plus side I recently had an upgrade to my Internet speed. This has helped with downloads but not much else, as a chat takes up very little bandwidth.
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Learning in the time of crisis
Life, James Hein, Published on 08/04/2020
» There is a mix of good and bad information regarding Covid-19 on the internet so be careful that what you are reading isn't fake news, especially when it comes to numbers and cures. The numbers available are those reported by each country and are based on testing and the honesty of each government, so will vary from the actual state. This is where the major social media platforms are being exposed even more. They are deleting valid information, such as on hydroxychloroquine trials, while promoting hit pieces on globalisation.
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The limits of simulations
Life, James Hein, Published on 09/10/2019
» I've recently been assigned to a team working on a simulator to model and test some business scenarios. The details aren't important but the upshot is that a model will be built, some decision points assigned percentages and times, then 1,000 transactions run through to see what the baseline is.
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Silicon Valley is not an arbiter of free expression
Life, James Hein, Published on 15/08/2018
» It is somewhat disconcerting that Silicon Valley -- which occupies about 300 square miles, and where most think the same and have the same politics -- can determine allowable content for the rest of the planet. Some of us remember that many of the major platforms were developed using government grants and public funding. With this base they should represent all views, of all types, and not just the ones they happen to like. This was the initial declaration at least, but in the modern world, that seems to have changed. I am certainly no great fan of Alex Jones, but that a cabal of providers can effectively execute social termination is very worrying for the future of open platforms and freedom of expression.
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The eternal debate between privacy and security
Life, James Hein, Published on 01/03/2017
» What is the line dividing privacy from national security? If you are a privacy advocate, the line is closer to "everything is private". If you are a nation state wanting to protect its interests, that line falls somewhere nearer to your preschool diary. Homeland in the US is working on a policy requiring selected non-citizens entering the US to provide the passwords to their social media accounts to gain entry. This has triggered feedback from human rights groups, civil liberties groups and a bunch of professors. Given that every nation has a right to protect its borders and a customs official can search everything else you bring in, why not information in the digital realm?
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iPhone fans may need to temper expectations
Life, James Hein, Published on 14/09/2016
» So the iPhone 7 is announced and is basically as expected. Still the small 4.7-inch screen, a 12MP camera, tiny 2GB of RAM average pixel density, reasonable CPU and 4K video recording. All yawn-worthy by comparison to other brands. The model will be somewhat waterproof with the IP67 rating but still no removable battery or microSD support. The 7MP selfie camera is a little bit of an upgrade. While I'm sure the Apple lovers will be over the moon with the new phone, taking a more rational approach there is certainly no wow factor in any of the specs. So apart from the usual upgrades, what is the real attraction with this new model? I do not expect there to be a huge number of sales outside of the usual purchasers for this version.
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