My tech reading highlights. Articles you may like to read.
I did not manage to publish a tech reading list last week. Rather than arrive back from holidays in America refreshed and raring to go. Came back with a bout of flu. Back on track this weekend. So let’s kick off.
When Microsoft bought LinkedIn for 26.2 billion dollars the immediate question is what will they do with it. Perhaps not surprising, news last week emerged that “Microsoft finally starts doing something with LinkedIn by integrating it into Office 365” (TechCrunch, 25/09/17) . This is an integration of Linkedin data:
What we’re talking about here is the integration of LinkedIn data with Office 365 profile cards.
As this integration deepens, we may arrive at a time when your workplace digital profile need not be newly created. Instead your workplace profile will be your Linkedin one.
What I know most about is what happens on top of the internet. Social media sites, websites and blogs. How the internet actually works is something I am learning about. So when Facebook and Microsoft went underwater my interest was piqued; “Microsoft and Facebook’s transatlantic cable completed
In 2018 ‘MAREA’ will move ads and Azure from USA to Spain at 160 terabits per second” (The Register, 22/09/17)
This one is for China Watchers. While China has cracked down on crypto currencies like Bitcoin it has at the same time has ramped up research into Blockchain (a digital ledger in which transactions made in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency are recorded chronologically and publicly). The possibility exists that China could launch it’s own digital currency using Blockchain. This article from CoinDesk illuminates the issue “It’s Political: Why China Hates Bitcoin and Loves the Blockchain” (Michael J. Casey is the chairman of CoinDesk’s advisory board and a senior advisor for blockchain research at MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative. 27/09/17)
I found this article via Ben Proctor about Facebook and it’s positive “A Sneak Peek Into Facebook’s New Crisis Response Center” (Timo Luege, 15/09/17). Basically to use the dreaded term, its a one stop shop bringing together all Facebook’s crisis tools like the following
Safety check: which helps you find out quickly whether friends and family in a disaster affected area are safe. Links to articles, photos and videos. Community help: this is a feature through which people can ask for and request help.
Sticking with social media. A chance to flog my own wares. A post I wrote last week looks at social media analytics. The post examines why we get so many different analytics but not one that shows us how much we are worth to advertisers that day, week, month or year. Social media companies take our data in exchange for access to the service but do not reveal the value of it. I think they should. Here is my post “Social media analytics worth seeing. How much I am worth to a search engine or a social media company.” (26/09/17)
Despite being sometimes an enthusiastic cheerleader for tech I refuse to ignore it’s downsides. 2017 has been a year when many of these have been highlighted. Next year will be much the same I believe. This FastCompany article addresses the issue “Why The Public’s Love Affair With Silicon Valley Might Be Over: 2017 has been terrible for the tech industry’s reputation. And there’s reason to believe it isn’t just a blip (27/09/17). This quote from the article summed it up:
Even smartphones can be viewed as a threat. One technology fan on Google+ complained to me about the price and data-harvesting optimization of smartphones by saying: “We’re spending $1,000 to carry a device designed to harvest data about us for other people to profit from. That’s getting a bit old.”
To finish, not with film but a TV show. Currently screening on Channel 4 (UK) is the series Electric Dreams. Each week they adapt a Philip K. Dick short story. Science Fiction as a genre is as important as ever as a way for us to tackle issues now that tomorrows technology will bring for good or ill. Here is the trailor
Have a great tech week.
