Militarizing Data
- U.S. Reacting at Analog Pace to a Rising Digital Risk, Hacking Report Shows (NYT) "The intrusion hardly had the consequences of Pearl Harbor some 75 years ago, when the incoming force was seen on radar and dismissed. But it had similar characteristics. Then, as now, a failure of imagination about the motives and plans of a longtime adversary meant that government officials were not fully alert to the possibility that Mr. Putin might try tactics here that have worked so well for him in Ukraine, the Baltics and other parts of Europe. The director of the N.S.A., Adm. Michael S. Rogers, has said the problem was hardly limited to this case. “The biggest frustration to me is speed, speed, speed. We have got to get faster; we’ve got to be more agile. We can’t be bound by history and tradition here. We have to be willing to look at alternatives.'"
Regulating Data
- Data Could Be the Next Tech Hot Button for Regulators (NYT) "In recent years, Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft have all been targets of tax evasion, privacy or antitrust investigations. But in the coming years, who controls what data could be the next worldwide regulatory focus as governments strain to understand and sometimes rein in American tech giants."
Using Data For Good?
- Uber is finally releasing a data trove that officials say will make driving better for everyone (WaPo) "The San Francisco-based company shared a vast trove of transportation data Sunday that it said local officials could use to help cut down on commute times and improve traffic flow. The data, on a public website that shows the time it takes to travel between neighborhoods in various cities, is derived from the company’s extensive logs of trips taken by millions of Uber riders each day. Uber’s move underscores a new power dynamic emerging among technology companies, researchers and governments. Technology companies, from Uber to Facebook, hold growing stores of data about user behavior, and officials and academics want access to it. They believe it contains valuable insights that could benefit the public. The challenge for the public interest is that many technology companies will share data only on their terms, said Allan Fromberg, deputy commissioner for public affairs for the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission. Home-sharing start-up Airbnb has been in similar fights over data-sharing with New York and other cities."
BUSINESS/INVESTING:
- Wall Street Clearing House to Adopt Bitcoin Technology (NYT) "The company that serves as the back end for much Wall Street trading — the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, or D.T.C.C. — said on Monday that it would replace one of its central databases, used by the largest banks in the world, with new software inspired by Bitcoin. The organization, based in New York, plays a role in recording and reporting nearly every stock and bond trade in the United States, as well as most valuable derivatives trades."
- Millennials may need to double how much they save for retirement (WaPo) "If average annual stock market returns fall by two percentage points over the next couple of decades, a 25-year-old saving for retirement would need to more than double how much she is saving to make up the shortfall, according to an analysis by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. The reason for the dismal view is that stock market gains were so robust over the past 30 years that it will be pretty tough for the stock market to match those returns going forward, some economists say. Stocks have grown pricier as the market has climbed higher, giving them less room to grow."
ENTERTAINMENT:
- Trump and Celebrity Approval: You Can’t Always Get What You Want (New Yorker)
NEWS:
- Republicans once again rely on a misleading Obamacare factoid (WaPo) "But here’s the funny thing: Health costs for employer-provided plans have grown much slower than expected since the Affordable Care Act was implemented. 'This is the fifth straight year of relatively low premium growth (family coverage growing between 3 and 4 percentage points each year),' Kaiser reported. The report noted that 'the continuing implementation of the ACA does not appear to be causing major disruptions in employer market,' in part because existing plans were grandfathered in and did not need to meet Obamacare requirements, such as covering preventive benefits without cost. Twenty-three percent of covered workers are enrolled in a grandfathered plan. Now we should note that, among health-policy experts, the jury is still out on whether the ACA can be credited with the slowdown in health-care costs."
- Senior Abbas Aide - Moving U.S. Embassy To Jerusalem A 'Declaration Of War On All Muslims' (Breitbart)
TECHNOLOGY:
- Detroit Auto Show Reveals a Google-Designed Van That Could Steer the Industry (NYT) "The van was built by the Detroit automaker Fiat Chrysler, making it the first heavyweight collaboration between a major automaker and one of Silicon Valley’s elite. And it shows how Waymo, widely considered the leader in autonomous driving technology, hopes to sell its self-driving systems to car companies unwilling to bear all the costs of developing vehicles. By doing so, Waymo is positioning itself as a mega-supplier to the industry, and a turnkey solution to transforming conventional cars into driverless models."
- After CES: Automakers Shift from Horsepower to Processing Power (Ozy) "But this year, major automakers are increasingly transforming into true technology companies that are thinking about holistic mobility — even if that means prepping for a world in which car ownership declines. What do you get when you combine autonomy with networked fleets and Alexa-like AI assistants? A completely new driver behavior that changes the way we think about cars and ownership, not to mention transportation."
- The big takeaway from this year’s CES (WaPo) "There has been no killer gadget at this year’s International CES technology show. Instead, something more subtle has emerged as the keystone of the tech world. I'm talking about the smart, central voice assistant."
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- This app will notify you if Trump tweets about a company you’re invested in (WaPo) "The feature was created by Trigger Finance, an app that notifies, or 'triggers,' users about changes in market indicators, Business Insider reported. Since the launch of the feature Wednesday, it's become the most popular trigger on the app, according to the company."
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Using Data For Good?
- Uber is finally releasing a data trove that officials say will make driving better for everyone (WaPo) "The San Francisco-based company shared a vast trove of transportation data Sunday that it said local officials could use to help cut down on commute times and improve traffic flow. The data, on a public website that shows the time it takes to travel between neighborhoods in various cities, is derived from the company’s extensive logs of trips taken by millions of Uber riders each day. Uber’s move underscores a new power dynamic emerging among technology companies, researchers and governments. Technology companies, from Uber to Facebook, hold growing stores of data about user behavior, and officials and academics want access to it. They believe it contains valuable insights that could benefit the public. The challenge for the public interest is that many technology companies will share data only on their terms, said Allan Fromberg, deputy commissioner for public affairs for the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission. Home-sharing start-up Airbnb has been in similar fights over data-sharing with New York and other cities."
BUSINESS/INVESTING:
- Wall Street Clearing House to Adopt Bitcoin Technology (NYT) "The company that serves as the back end for much Wall Street trading — the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, or D.T.C.C. — said on Monday that it would replace one of its central databases, used by the largest banks in the world, with new software inspired by Bitcoin. The organization, based in New York, plays a role in recording and reporting nearly every stock and bond trade in the United States, as well as most valuable derivatives trades."
- Millennials may need to double how much they save for retirement (WaPo) "If average annual stock market returns fall by two percentage points over the next couple of decades, a 25-year-old saving for retirement would need to more than double how much she is saving to make up the shortfall, according to an analysis by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. The reason for the dismal view is that stock market gains were so robust over the past 30 years that it will be pretty tough for the stock market to match those returns going forward, some economists say. Stocks have grown pricier as the market has climbed higher, giving them less room to grow."
ENTERTAINMENT:
- Trump and Celebrity Approval: You Can’t Always Get What You Want (New Yorker)
NEWS:
- Republicans once again rely on a misleading Obamacare factoid (WaPo) "But here’s the funny thing: Health costs for employer-provided plans have grown much slower than expected since the Affordable Care Act was implemented. 'This is the fifth straight year of relatively low premium growth (family coverage growing between 3 and 4 percentage points each year),' Kaiser reported. The report noted that 'the continuing implementation of the ACA does not appear to be causing major disruptions in employer market,' in part because existing plans were grandfathered in and did not need to meet Obamacare requirements, such as covering preventive benefits without cost. Twenty-three percent of covered workers are enrolled in a grandfathered plan. Now we should note that, among health-policy experts, the jury is still out on whether the ACA can be credited with the slowdown in health-care costs."
- Senior Abbas Aide - Moving U.S. Embassy To Jerusalem A 'Declaration Of War On All Muslims' (Breitbart)
TECHNOLOGY:
- Detroit Auto Show Reveals a Google-Designed Van That Could Steer the Industry (NYT) "The van was built by the Detroit automaker Fiat Chrysler, making it the first heavyweight collaboration between a major automaker and one of Silicon Valley’s elite. And it shows how Waymo, widely considered the leader in autonomous driving technology, hopes to sell its self-driving systems to car companies unwilling to bear all the costs of developing vehicles. By doing so, Waymo is positioning itself as a mega-supplier to the industry, and a turnkey solution to transforming conventional cars into driverless models."
- After CES: Automakers Shift from Horsepower to Processing Power (Ozy) "But this year, major automakers are increasingly transforming into true technology companies that are thinking about holistic mobility — even if that means prepping for a world in which car ownership declines. What do you get when you combine autonomy with networked fleets and Alexa-like AI assistants? A completely new driver behavior that changes the way we think about cars and ownership, not to mention transportation."
- The big takeaway from this year’s CES (WaPo) "There has been no killer gadget at this year’s International CES technology show. Instead, something more subtle has emerged as the keystone of the tech world. I'm talking about the smart, central voice assistant."
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- This app will notify you if Trump tweets about a company you’re invested in (WaPo) "The feature was created by Trigger Finance, an app that notifies, or 'triggers,' users about changes in market indicators, Business Insider reported. Since the launch of the feature Wednesday, it's become the most popular trigger on the app, according to the company."
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