Foundry’s WTF (2-Dec-2017)
The Foundry’s Weekly Technology Fix (WTF) is a curated list of articles/posts/etc. we found interesting. The Foundry @ Cornell Tech transforms research and ideas into products.
Send your suggestions to wtf-digest@cornelltech.io .
Department of 🎮 💉 (Digital Addictions)
Data breaches; porn & Net Neutrality; and some Facebook crypto-currency speculations.
Department of 💡🏙 (Smarter Cities)
NYC transit solved in a spreadsheet; more excellent resources about Vision Zero; and senior-friendly cities.
Department of 🤑 🔌 (Shameless Plugs)
An on-line class I recorded for GovLab about data science; an open source library to store password securely (Cornell Tech project with NSF funding); and nice Python code snippets.
Department of 🌈🎆(Silver Linings)
Sesame Street in the Upside Down; blockchain explained to mere mortals; and the latest by Banksy.
Department of 🙋👨🏽💼👷🏿👩🏼🔬(“we” the people)
Programmers with a conscience; best XMas wish ever? and emotional labor.
Department of 📷💬(1-picture-worth-1,000-words)
A new addition to our digest: a weekly drawing by Gary Zamchick.
Department of 🎬 📖 (worthy quotes)
« Paradoxically, the data that is most easily changed is frequently the data people are most concerned about. Credit cards, for example, are often referenced in disclosure statements as not having been impacted by a breach yet a combination of fraud protection by banks and the ability to cancel and refund fraudulent transactions whilst issuing a new card means the real-world impact on card holders is frequently limited and short lived. » — Troy Hunt in his testimony to the US Congress.
« Professional sport has made fashionable the practice of “marginal gains” — rapid optimization in search of the tiniest edge. It turns out that corporate research took the same turn decades ago. There is nothing wrong with marginal improvements, but they must not be allowed to crowd out more speculative research. Science is a deeper, messier practice than sport. We must continue to devote time, space and money to bigger, riskier leaps. » — Tim Hardford.
« Democrats must run on no more than three clear, ringing goals with memorable slogans. There are many causes to choose from: The environment, healthcare, voting rights, gerrymandering, prison population, drug laws, education, defense spending, term limits, gun laws, infrastructure, energy policy, privacy, amending the Constitution (it’s not untouchable, it’s been amended before), election financing, electoral college… To win, choices must be made, some interest groups must be made unhappy. Priorities must be asserted. » — Jean-Louis Gassée, former Apple executive and founder of BeOS.
Send your suggestions to wtf-digest@cornelltech.io .
