Idiot Proof Computers: Do They Exist And Can They Save Us?

First off let’s make this really easy and say that for the most part many people who use computers do not really know enough to really be in control of such a powerful machine. I try to equate it to a toddler driving a car. Sure you can jury-rig it so they can reach the pedals and steer but at the end of the day they are still too young and in experienced to be driving themselves.

The real problem

All of this being said, you might think I’m blaming the users. Quite the opposite in fact. It’s actually less like a toddler driving a car and more like an average person trying to fly a fighter jet. In a war zone. Running on reserve fuel. 

While it may not feel like this when you are working on a computer, the fact is we are all under constant attack, and it’s scariest when we don’t realize we are under attack. This map in fact starts to give you an idea of that. Link – Norse IPViking Live Map

Norse IPViking Map

Norse IPViking Map

So who’s fault is this? Who is to blame? I think a lot of this falls on the programmers and the companies developing all of this new fancy technology. There tends to be a focus on what a product can do and not how secure it really is.

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Speed and Politics

Video

Fair warning this is a longer YouTube video (15 minutes) but it is so insightful it’s worth it. Set in Canada (but should resinate with American’s as well) it talks about something we are all familiar with. Speeding. But more than that, it talks about the absurdity of many speed limits and touches on the fact that sometimes the police don’t even know the law.

-Martin

The Future of Cars. Electric? Maybe. Maybe not…

Cars. I love em. I don’t have the nicest car around but I drive it to it’s limits (and often past) enjoying most of it. I’m not sure what my next car will be but I can tell you I doubt it will be an electric car or a hybrid. Why you ask? Well I’m a college student. My next car will be used. It might be unrealistic for me to still be looking at 2002 M5s (with that awesome big V8) with the way gas prices are going, but I also can’t afford to get an electric car. Regardless I still am very interested in the future of the car industry. Even if I won’t be buying the future for a while.

Edison with a prerelease version of the Tesla.

Edison with a prerelease version of the Tesla.

Electric cars aren’t anything new. They’ve been around for a while. I won’t go into a history lesson but seeing a picture with Edison and an electric car should tell you all you need to know.  I feel like things are changing now. Blame it on the gas prices going up or people talking about the end of the world. Either way most people will agree electric cars are in the public eye again. I think they have a ways to go before they are in every garage though. So here are my notes.
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One small step for man… one giant Leap for mankind.

“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

The year is 1968. 2001 A Space Odyssey just came out and people all over the world are imagining what the future will hold. 44 years later I’m asking myself why we are still living in the past.

Sure we are futuristic to a point. We have phones that are mini computers. We have tablets that are suppose to be our portable window into the world. We have computers that have immense power and yet we are still in the 1960s. We are still managing our digital lives with files and folders. We limit ourselves to the two-dimensional world and the few times we try to go into a three-dimensional digital world it kind of sucks!

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Best way to get from NYC to LA? BMW M5!

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You may not know this but the best way to get from NYC to LA is in a 2000 BMW M5 (thats the E39 type for you petrol heads). It’s also a pretty fast way to get there. 31 hours 4 minutes to be exact.

Warning: Don’t try this at home!
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*Your mileage may vary… 3G and 4G. And why I’m still on EDGE (and yet still consider myself high tech)

I was reading a magazine ad for the Chevy Volt and two things really stood out to me. First it said on average Chevy volt owners only fill up with gas once a month. Now I find this interesting because on average I only fill up 1.5 times a month and my car is 8 years old. The second part that caught my eye was the fine print that said *your mileage may vary.

So let me get this straight. You throw out a statistic that I don’t even find that revolutionary, then you say that half of all the owners will be filling up more than once a month anyways? Really??

So why am I talking about the Chevy Volt? Well because on the next page was an ad from AT&T saying that they had the largest 4G network and not Verizon. And so starts my article.

*Your mileage may vary.

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