Posts By: David Firth

‘Girls in STEM’ culture is failing both girls and STEM

Posted by & filed under Careers, education.

Source: Toronto Star Date: March 24th, 2017 Link: https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/03/23/girls-in-stem-culture-is-failing-both-girls-and-stem.html Discussion 1) This article has a pretty dystopian view on the field of computer science.   Management Information Systems is very different indeed from computer science.  In what ways? 2) Employment opportunities for women doing MIS (at least at the University of Montana from where I write these blogs)… Read more »

Are your shoes giving away data?

Posted by & filed under Artificial intelligence, Business Intelligence, Competitive advantage, Consumer Technology, Ethical Issues.

Hoxton has come up with a novel way of measuring footfall – literally by filming people’s shoes.  Sherlock Holmes-like, its system can deduce a remarkable amount of information such as age, gender and social class of shoppers from their footwear.  “We have cameras at about 50cm off the ground and it points down so it… Read more »

Google advertising row spreads to US brands

Posted by & filed under Ethical Issues, Google.

At least four major US firms have pulled millions of dollars in advertising from Google’s platform amid rows over extremist content.  The Times reported that telecoms firms AT&T and Verizon, as well as car rental company Enterprise and pharmaceutical giant GSK, have withdrawn all non-search advertising.  An investigation by the newspaper found major brands were… Read more »

Robots to affect up to 30% of jobs, says PwC

Posted by & filed under Artificial intelligence, Consumer Technology, Emerging Technologies, robotics.

Robotics and artificial intelligence could affect almost a third of UK jobs by the 2030s, according to a study.  However, the report from accountancy firm PwC also predicted that the nature of some occupations would change rather than disappear.  It added that automation could create more wealth and additional jobs elsewhere in the economy.  Jobs… Read more »

WikiLeaks Reveals How the CIA Can Hack a Mac’s Hidden Code

Posted by & filed under Apple, Civil Liberties, Cybersecurity, Electronic Surveillance.

IF THE CIA wants inside your Mac, it may not be enough that you so carefully avoided those infected email attachments or maliciously crafted web sites designed to plant spyware on your machine. Based on new documents in WikiLeaks’ ongoing release of CIA hacking secrets, if Langley’s hackers got physical access, they still could have… Read more »

Who is Karim Baratov, the alleged Canadian Yahoo hacker?

Posted by & filed under Cybersecurity, Ethical Issues, FaceBook.

The FBI alleges that 22-year-old Karim Baratov, from Ancaster, Ont., was one of four men connected with a series of cyberattacks carried out on Yahoo that began in early 2014. But you wouldn’t know it from Baratov’s online persona. On Instagram, Baratov presents himself as a high-end car enthusiast. He has frequently posted pictures of Aston Martins, Audis, Mercedes and BMWs, among other… Read more »

Intel’s 15 Billion Reasons Why an AI Chip Revolution Has Arrived

Posted by & filed under Artificial intelligence, self driving cars.

Intel recently said it would pay $15.3 billion to acquire Mobileye, an Israeli company that makes chips and cameras for cars and trucks, including the self-driving variety. The purchase will be Intel’s second largest ever, following its $16.7 billion acquisition of chip-maker Altera in 2015. The Altera buy was also driven, in part, by the… Read more »