First Blog

  How much data does an autonomous vehicle create?    Well, a study by Intel suggests that just one autonomous vehicle will generate about  4,000 GB (= 4 terabytes or 4TB) of data every day  if only AV-specific sensors are taken into account. For comparison, ·         A DVD movie is about 5GB* of data. So, that’s about a 800 movies. ·         A home back up hard drive averages about 1-4TB. ·         Your computer memory storage is about 500 GB – at the high end. About ½ TB ·         My iPad has 64 GB of memory. ·         An old-style floppy disk had about 0.001 GB of memory.   * Note, 1TB = 1000GB

A few weeks ago the keywords in society were well known.   Among them were, organic, green, carbon footprint, worker, shareholder value, new capitalism, social justice, healthcare, impeachment, big data, electric cars, and global.  The new keywords have changed to healthcare, quarantine, sequester, infection, risk, pandemic, survival, vulnerability, lock down, separation, work-at-home, coronavirus, school closures, work-place closures, isolation, and more. In just a month, the axis of the world has tilted from the direction of selective prosperity to a direction of possible depression and decline. Adjustment is difficult. Reconciliation is difficult. Acceptance is nearly impossible.

The Dark Side of Big Data, IV – Deadly Algorithms It is important to look in advance of the information, to establish what is possible before the possibility becomes reality. Every truth discovered begins as a possibility. The promise of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data is that it takes the human out of the decision process.   The promised truth of AI (the algorithms) in tandem with big data is better analysis, faster execution of decisions, safer driving, correct diagnoses, or whatever lies on the table.   What could be bad about that? Everyone has heard of algorithmic data analysis with built-in triggers for action.   The most prominent example is with the stock market.   Algorithms are so entrenched within the buy-sell patterns, many brokerage firms are now controlled by news reports and financial input for potential transactions. Oil problems in the Middle East signals sell, and baby, they sell.   China trade deal is near signals buy, and baby, they buy. In t

Your brain is nature’s first attempt to manage big data. a. Too much and it dysfunctions. b. Some brains get filled but get cluttered like a dump. c. The best examples are those who can tease out what's needed when it's needed.  d. Some have the power to discard the irrelevant. e. Many keep working, always working on a problem.   f. Problem solving ability?  Use it or lose it.  g. Solving the hypothetical is like working out. It is possible that newer developments and needs by humanity to survive in the age of data, the next step in evolution has begun. It will favor a brain with adaptive, algorithmic sensibility.  It may be a rapid transition. In a previous evolutionary step, the brain with abilities to seek different food was favored. The hunter was born. To make and use tools to kill was another step to favor the hunter. The tool maker evolved.

Social Media Standards We see more and more inciteful postings appearing on various social media sites.  These include of course recruitment to terrorism – the big one.  Social media sites state they are continually trying to reduce such postings, but they are completely on their own recognizance on how to do it and what to do.  Thus, little is achieved.  They don’t know what to do and simply do not wish to spend the resources to do anything. What is currently missing is a set of standards for what should not be posted.  Such standards for what cannot be transmitted on broadcast television do exist, and while they are mild they have worked for decades.  Ask anyone, I do not favor more regulations, but it is time the government should create an independent agency to first study this problem and then develop standards and guidelines.  Representatives of the the industry, elected officials, and media experts should be involved. However, unless and until there are standards, t

Letters from the future.   Many of us wonder what can be achieved with big data, which combines multiple data bases and machine learning.  This is the third of a series of letters maybe not sent yet but soon will flood the world.  We are suggesting what can be done right now, like today.   This particular letter is sent to commercial vendors.   The footnotes are for you, the reader, not the letter recipient. NOTE.  Many databases need to be resourced for this letter.  This is what big data does, and it does it very well today. Online buying reveals, BTW, massive information about yourself – much is indirect. --------------- Dear Vendor, It is with great pleasure we offer you a database of names for your commercial interests.  This database contains not only names and email addresses, but also includes postal mailing addresses, and DOB (1). For the additional charge, we will also include SSN, primary bank, routing and account numbers as available - about 63% of all names

Letters from the future.   Many of us wonder what can be achieved with big data, which combines multiple data bases and machine learning.  This is the second of a series of letters maybe not sent yet but soon will flood the world.  We are suggesting what can be done right now, like today.   This particular letter is sent to Democratic voters; a similar letter targeting Republican voters is just as easy.  The footnotes are for you, the reader, not the letter recipient. NOTE.  Many databases need to be resourced for this letter.  This is what big data does, and it does it today . Dear Mr Enyone, We understand you are very busy, and this is the reason you were unable to vote in the previous election (1), even though you are so registered.  It has come to our attention that you are earning about $45,000/year (2), and you must be concerned about the decline of the dollar and availability of universal health care (3). You also grew up in Detroit where most residents vote soli

Letters from the future.   Many of us wonder what can be achieved with big data, which combines multiple data bases and machine learning.  This is the first of a series of letters maybe not sent yet but soon will flood the world.  We are suggesting what can be done right now, like today.   Dear Ms Enyone, We thank you for completing our online survey on wellness and happiness in your situation.  Thank you for sending us your email address.  We have determined that you are more overweight than you desire and that your happiness coefficient is 58, placing you just in the sub-happy category.  We have also accessed your medical records and note your blood pressure is slightly elevated.  We have also noticed you watch many “how-to-diet” TV programs.    Importantly, we have determined your credit score is outstanding, currently at 790.    Therefore, in conjunction with our co-business partners Nile.biz and Slimmer-Trimmer.biz, we have enrolled you in the Slimmer-Trimmer weight

Big Data and Medicine Even now servers and their machine learning algorithms are digesting as much medical data they can find.   They have now learned to diagnose medical problems at a truly professional level.   One problem confronting the medical community now is whether to accept such diagnoses as the diagnosis.   This is not a little problem. It is a problem with repercussions across all of medicine , from the school to the courtroom.   Let’s look at a few elementary considerations. Tools will be put in the hands of the medical practitioner and physician's assistant. The patient may not even qualify to see a doctor until after this “procedure.” The doctor contradicting the diagnosis is put at legal risk.   Medical research and new procedures will be undermined. On the other hand, if the doctor goes with machine learning, he/she has a legal defense built in.  The medical schools will teach doctors to rely on the software.   This could undermine their diag

Rules for Modern Living with Big Data We, the citizens of our community, have a new presence, almost a consciousness living in parallel with us.   Something of a semi-consciousness, not contained in a single vessel, it make observations, accomplishes tasks, it makes predictions, and it evolves prescriptions. An essential aspect is in the algorithms that massage, manipulate, and matriculate data to actionable spheres of information. The algorithms, while not individually conscious do extract and store information about us in large volumes.   It does not hesitate to sift and sort information at the behest of an external agent.     Not unlike you, who also stores great volumes of information, they do nothing with it until a task is set - perhaps by a human operative.   With you, it’s all in a single container.   But with the machine, certain tasks operating like “interrupts” can be continuously active.   You also have certain tasks continuously active, e.g. danger, food .