Category: Innovation, economics, society at large

Going out / in

A final note … was meant to have some celebratory spirit. But maybe it’s also a looking-back bit in a sense, if you read between the lines; of the mess we’ve made of the world.
But then, it is a view on the actual, concrete and very Urgent problems we face in the near future, from (?) the here-and-now. So… read, and revel in the prospects of real societal progress that is possible – if all of us chip in and do something. Go ahead!

DSCN6308
[In Strasbourg, this part of a Solution was there long before the big part of the Problem was started there and in Burssels…]

Careful times

This day and age, one cannot be too careful with one’s digital traces. To the point where normal functioning in modern society is impacted. And then, that’s not enough. Your mere existence may cause trouble by you not being the only one recording your life. As in this here piece…

Which, apart from its many manifest errors of thought on the side of the wannabe good guys that by being absolute n00b sorcerer’s apprentices at best, has this nugget of inhumanity: “The RMV itself was unsympathetic, claiming that it was the accused individual’s “burden” to clear his or her name in the event of any mistakes, and arguing that the pros of protecting the public far outweighed the inconvenience to the wrongly targeted few”. Well, if you think that, you might as well join terrorists in the Middle East; they think the same and wouldn’t be allowed to be at all, in any functioning society.

Well, I’ll stop now before suggesting the ones doing such erroneous thinking should be locked up safely in some asylum of the old kind, and leave you with a calming:
20141101_150551[1][On how life actually is]

Possible, hence probable means

Why did it take so long for this to surface ..?
As the <link> mentions, steganography in images is detectable and tools are around to help – how many of you already use them on a regular basis, in times when LOLcat pics are so abundant (hint(?)) – but wasn’t it too obvious that the Bad (?) Guys knew that, too, before you the pithy defenders?

So, why?
Either the tools are around but not widespread enough, or as <link> suggests, other means might work better. But the other means… are as cumbersome to deploy, continuously, costly, for the short run for the slightest of changes that anything would be leaked in such a sophisticated way whereas we’re nowhere really nowhere near similar near-water-tight deployment of tooling and methodology against much simpler leaking methods. Leaving you in blissful ignorance. ?

Leaving (sic) you with:
DSCN1043[Tarrega door. Shut closed.]

Progress at the other end

On state of the art innovation – at the lowly (!?) end of programming.

I mean, it’s not rocket science; it’s quite a bit harder to pull off. To produce something decent though that seems to have gone lost in these überagilescrum times of putting apps out before anyone has a clue what they’re intended for. What problem they’d have to solve, for a large enough audience to care. Yes, it seems that “If you’re satisfied with your product at launch, you’ve launched too late” is all the rage now. But to win over the world, over Fubbuck, to win over all the big organisations still out there (and will be there, for decades to come, and will still have the power i.e., money, to dwarf others’ interest when they put their mind(s) to it), one would need decency in the product, hence also in the coding.

But then, there’s this dark and shady epitome-of-big-org backed initiative called Pliny to help out. We’re interested. As it may, when it will deliver results, help towards better programming practices.

  • By introducing predictive text to low-level core programming.
    But I also see other potential use for its ideas, towards:
  • Better coding, pre-emptively less buggy, by using in-line sanity checks on whatever is put out. It says this in the linked article indeed, but only in passing – whereas I’d say this is an important improvement opportunity in its own right.
  • Better re-use of code. When context and (machine level) interpretation of intent is gathered anyway, why not map and match that intent to the existing code base? Through that, lots of pre-programmed, debugged and efficienced (hey I didn’t want to break up the sentence rhythm with ‘made efficient’ oh what am I doing now) routines, re-use could skyrocket and the most hideous issues of non-reuse as listed at the Daily WTF may be prevented.

Would these three be worth it ..? Of course it will. They will raise low-level coding up quite a bit, upping the Lean And Mean Coding Machine sweatshops to greater productivity and hence, to quicker full-scale and mature products. And make all the app bungling less interesting, hopefully. Maybe even making all the stuff more secure. But that … waaay too much to ask for. (?)

To round off:
DSCN8534[Hi DARPA in your dark fortress!
  Oh, not you, your supposedly-opponents-but-in-your-pocket Big G houses here]

US economic philosophy: Sedláček’s lament

While reading up Sedláček’s Economics of Good and Evil, a side note (to the main line) struck me: Where have the mighty Men discussing the grand combined terrain of philosophy (maybe incl religion), sociology/psychology and economics gone ..? [Books by Quote to follow on this blog but don’t hold your breath it may take a while – many quotes to select/copy]

Since that is where our future will be. After the, with aspects of autism almost, mathematics-in-economics dominance will have proved to lead to insignificance at best, disaster at probable, war at worst. The sorcerer’s apprentices will show to hardly have learned a thing, not even standing in the shadow of the Masters. As succinctly explained in the above Book. What will fill the gap, the gaping void left? A return to normalcy, to proven effectiveness in the centuries-old approach. Hopefully. So that this ‘science’ too (pseudo- maybe? at least ‘gamma’ next to alpha humanities / liberal arts and beta hardcore subjects) will re-aim at improvement of the condition humaine not some shady capitalists’ (less-than-1-percenters’) bank accounts.

Will the change of course, of direction, have political ramifications? Definitely. But that doesn’t make them less wanted, or less necessary and inescapable by nature.
And, will it be awkward to acknowledge that the Americans (errr… US; Canadians say Sorry and hence are excused) and English (hardly UK) will have to truly learn from the French ..!? Definitely. And humourously. As the Author indicates, the French still have their philosophers that frequently voice political stabs. Some even do engage in actual politicks, and return. Right, monsieurs Attali and Minc ..? For which the French may be praised. If that’s a new thing for you, well…

Anyway, I’ll leave you with:
DSCN3512[For wisdom of any kind, not mammon. Think about the purpose of the skew of the picture.]

Maverisk / Étoiles du Nord