Saturday, May 17, 2014
The line between public and private has blurred in the past decade, both online and in real life, and Alessandro Acquisti is here to explain what this means and why it matters. In this thought-provoking, slightly chilling talk, he shares details of recent and ongoing research -- including a project that shows how easy it is to match a photograph of a stranger with their sensitive personal information.
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We are creating an information framework where mere possession of a class of information, a prejudice, a thought or a past indiscretion is grounds for losing your civil rights. Once the infrastructure of facial recognition is in place, it will be easy to become a target of the prohibition de jour, a prohibition against anything that the current elite takes to be offensive.
ReplyDeleteIndividuals should be allowed control of their personal details.
DeleteThen there are people such as myself - those that are so uninteresting, and uninvolved that there isn't much to do except, possibly, raise their cable bills. :(
ReplyDeleteAnd, raise them, and raise them, and raise them, and . . . . .
DeleteThis is really amazing:
ReplyDeleteEn route to its 2050 Energiewende goal of 80% of the nation’s power being supplied by renewables, especially spurred on by the phaseout of nuclear reactors, Germany broke another renewable energy record on Sunday, May 11, 2014. Europe’s biggest clean-energy market reached almost 75% renewable power market share noon on that day.
ahem
DeleteRufus IIWed May 14, 11:24:00 PM EDT
On Sunday, Germany’s impressive streak of renewable energy milestones continued, with renewable energy generation surging to a record portion — nearly 75 percent — of the country’s overall electricity demand by midday. With wind and solar in particular filling such a huge portion of the country’s power demand, electricity prices actually dipped into the negative for much of the afternoon, according to Renewables International.
In the first quarter of 2014, renewable energy sources met a record 27 percent of the country’s electricity demand, thanks to additional installations and favorable weather. “Renewable generators produced 40.2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, up from 35.7 billion kilowatt-hours in the same period last year,” Bloomberg reported. Much of the country’s renewable energy growth has . . . .
Whoa
ReplyDelete
This has the fossil fuel industry shitting bricks.
DeleteIt has been discussed many times, how the 'cutting edge' of technological advances in every era have found some 'seed money' in the public sector.
DeleteThe hydroelectric projects that dot the western United States. Irrigation projects that have turned the deserts green.
The nuclear power plants, they were granted limited liability for accidents, funded by monopolistic publicly subsidized and regulated private corporations. The croniest of capitalists.
Now, it is the Chinese who are funding the drive to affordable solar electricity. Good on them.
Breaking up an individual's grid dependency, now that is a wonderful thing. An island of independence, if one chooses to create that.
The 2030 connection
ReplyDeleteIn contrast to policymakers, many businesses and NGOs are making explicit the connection between climate and energy, and indeed industrial policy, and Ukraine. “The tense relations with Russia – the largest importer to the EU of primary energy – should act as a catalyst for progress towards a more consistent and effective approach to Europe’s industrial renaissance and energy ambitions,” said Richard Weber, President of Eurochambres, representing chambers of commerce and industry across Europe.
A 30% renewables target for Europe for 2030 would cut Europe’s reliance on gas imports by almost three times as much as the Commission’s proposal for 27%, pointed out the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) – citing the Commission’s own figures. “The situation in Crimea is a wake-up call: Europeans rely on the most unstable and volatile parts of the world for energy security. For each new fossil fuel fired plant we build, we commit to buying the fuel abroad for years to come without security.”
“40% end-use energy savings by 2030 as requested by the European Parliament could reduce gas consumption to amounts at least equivalent to imports from Russia,” said Stefan Scheuer, Secretary General of the Coalition for Energy Savings, which includes NGOs and businesses. “The weakness of the Commission’s 2030 proposals on energy efficiency and thus on energy security has been exposed.”
“Want a competitive Europe? Embrace renewables” wrote a host of renewables groups representing technologies from wind and solar to ocean energy and biomass. “Investing in renewables for heating and cooling will bring security of supply and more competitiveness,” – as well as saving the EU €11.5bn per year – urged the biomass, geothermal and solar thermal sectors in an open letter to EU leaders. “Decarbonising our energy sector should not be regarded as a burden, but rather as an opportunity for Europe’s industrial renaissance.”
One needs to create for oneself alternative personas.This gives one a slight edge in police investigations, and even in family fights.
ReplyDeleteHaving an identical twin is a strike of good luck.
One needs multiple driver's licenses and two or three passports.
One needs false beards, mustaches, etc.
One needs to be as changeable, as unpredictable, as slippery as Quirksilver, these days, for self preservation, and for the ability to compete.
bobbo
P.S. - That California Chrome is one hell of a horse.
If you're a Republican, like I am, wear an Obama pin, like I do.
Deletebobbo
Even farmers need multiple personas and identities these days. Compared to the rat raced millions in the crowded cities, the farmers stand out like wind turbines on the prairies. Sitting prairie dogs. Targets.
ReplyDeleteA possible winning 'big money' new product: the quick spray on Generic Face.
bobbo
The Generic Face: 'Bad for the Banks, Great for the Robbers'
DeleteAnother thing - don't forget the Ag Department is arming up with .40 caliber submachine guns.
If all the farmers looked the same, no farmer would stand out.
What are the Obamaites going to do then? Push the country into famine?
In anonymity lies security.
bobbo
Some people are satisfied to just misrepresent themselves, while others re-invent themselves.
ReplyDeleteBy using electrical generating capabilities that take the user off the grid, when coupled with Trusts, off-shore banking and foreign corporations, unlisted (burn phone) cellular capabilities. A person can limit their footprint on the grid, if that is what they want to do
Judge Jeanine Pirro is reporting on Fox that VA hospitals are now beginning to shred documents.
ReplyDeleteYour future 'healthcare' under ObamaDon'tCare.
She should be President.
................
Since rat has returned, I am leaving.
It isn't worth it.
bobbo