Peter Vander Auwera - Issue #82

The very best

About thinking like an algorithm. Disturbing.

About humans becoming the last slavery line in large scale robo-commerce. Who delivers Amazon orders? Increasingly, it’s plainclothes contractors with few labor protections, driving their own cars, competing for shifts on the company’s own Uber-like platform. Though it’s deployed in dozens of cities and associated with one of the world’s biggest companies, government agencies and customers alike are nearly oblivious to the program’s existence.

About the absurdity and delusion of blockchains. Why hasn't blockchain overcome our financial institutions? It suffers from an internal governing crisis, it consumes too much energy and is a bubble.

About practice redesign and edge workgroups. In an unpredictable and constantly shifting business environment, it’s not enough to continue emphasizing efficiency and automation. Organizations can pick up the pace by redesigning business practices, focusing on helping frontline workgroups to learn faster and accelerate performance improvements.

About the societal obligations of platform companies. In an increasingly bifurcated and contentious society, however, Tim O’Reilly challenges companies to do a better job in ensuring that their architectures let new ideas in.

Last week, the world’s largest technology conference was happening on one side of Lisbon, while a very different one was unfolding across town. The former — Web Summit — witnessed technologists…

Both of my children have chosen artistic careers and this is the choice most of their friends have made too. They are young, energetic and passionate about their work. They didn’t choose this life…

Where’s the advantage? In traditional business strategy, the answer was easy: build a wall. The companies with the highest and strongest walls would win. In the Big Shift, that answer becomes less credible. Walls work in stable worlds but they...

Data and Society

For better and worse, toys powered by AI are becoming an intimate part of kids’ lives.

Zeitgeist

Thinkers50 Gala on November 13, 2017 in London was an eye-opening event.

At least five people, including one past speaker, reported being harassed or groped by attendees at Vancouver conference

Taming the masters of the tech universe

Innovation

Not every start-up that scores venture funding from a prominent Silicon Valley firm turns out like Juicero or Theranos.

Just a year ago, GE was the poster child for corporate transformation, turning jet engines into digital data, running whimsical ads that attracted top tech talent to the century-plus old industrial…

It’s too easy to be excited by a shiny new idea without considering how it will operate in reality.

Future of work

Bill Gates buys land for a 36 square mile smart city west of Phoenix Arizona

Who delivers Amazon orders? Increasingly, it’s plainclothes contractors with few labor protections, driving their own cars, competing for shifts on the company’s own Uber-like platform. Though it’s deployed in dozens of cities and associated with one of the world’s biggest companies, government agencies and customers alike are nearly oblivious to the program’s existence.

Internet Culture

The newspaper created a platform to tackle its own challenges. Then, with Amazon-like spirit, it realized there was a business in helping other publishers do the same.

The inventor of the world wide web remains an optimist but sees a ‘nasty wind’ blowing amid concerns over advertising, net neutrality and fake news

isher in existence involved in any sort of news or political news coverage who says to themselves, my readers are demanding more of their news on video as opposed to text. Not a single one. The move to video is driven entirely by advertiser demand.

We are witnessing the emergence of a new type of conversational interfaces. You may be used to the idea of chatting with a Slack chatbot or talking with an Echo Dot. Your experience may have been…

FinTech

Square is testing cryptocurrency support in their Cash app, according to TechCrunch reader Zach Miles on Twitter and confirmed by the company. The trial,..

Hundreds reject tech jobs after Brexit vote

The network of partners working with enterprise software firm R3 to develop distributed ledger technology (DLT) based applications on its Corda platform...

Singapore backs up its fintech ambitions with new initiatives

Last week, the Singapore Fintech Festival, one of the world's largest gatherings dedicated to fintech, welcomed more than 25,000 participants.

Rainmaking is a global cooperative of entrepreneurs. We create positive change through entrepreneurship.

Payments made by American Express’ business customers on its FXIP platform will now be routed through Ripple’s enterprise blockchain network.

Through a platform established by uPort, Zug has officially opened ID registration on the Ethereum blockchain.

Current approaches to identity are too backward looking and need revision, according to a UK-based business management consultant

AI, Robots, Algorythms

Campaign to Stop Killer Robots | Slaughterbots In response to growing concerns about autonomous weapons, the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, a coalition of

Art related

the levitating 'double halo' is an evolution of vincent leroy's 'boreal halo' installation which first pulled us into his imaginary world back in 2014...

About the artist, egomaniac and womaniser Picasso

THE WORD MAGAZINE is Belgium’s leading English-speaking free media platform, documenting and championing the best in neighbourhood living, music and art. Published every two months, the magazine is distributed in over 500 distribution points across the country.

René Thom's mathematical theorems passed their sell-by date in the 1970s, but applied to the human form, will they captivate a new generation?

Other

Aiming to remake a multibillion-dollar industry, the automaker said it would have a semi for sale in two years that would be nearly self-driving.

Something inside me is unravelling. The desert is doing its thing - evaporating all the tightness and crap and stress from the past months/year. My last three sleeps (here at the dome) have been deep and full of bliss. I wake up more refreshed and calm than I have in...

Self Promo department

Slidedeck of my @FinnoSummit #FSMiami https://www.slideshare.net/thepierre/finno-summit-2017-miami-petervan via @SlideShare > without the live poems, videos, soundscapes...