Wired Connections

In CNET News yesterday, there was an article posted that the human brain has more switches than all of the computer on earth.  The article goes on to state that just in the cerebral cortex, there are over 125 trillion synapses and the article draws a parallel between a synapse (the connection between neurons) and a microprocessor.  To put this number in context, 125 trillion would be roughly equivalent to the number of number of stars that would fill 1,500 Milky Way galaxies.

This point goes back to something I mentioned earlier this year on my sceptism on Artificial Intelligence, while there is a clearly the possibility of rudimentary AI, my personal opinion is that we haven't even come close to understanding the human mind.  My argument being until we get to this point, it will probably be difficult, if not virtually impossible, to have the type of AI that is romanticized (is that even a word?) in popular sci-fi fiction.

Lastly, if there are 125 trillion synapses, as the article states, then I demand some understanding for being somewhat...ummm....forgetful at times.  It's not me - honestly - it's just that I have so many synapses to sift though.

That IS my story and I am proudly sticking to it.

Today's SPAM

I think that the marketers are messing with me today.  Not only do I receive SPAM to 'enlarge my male parts' but I also get TWO, not one, but TWO emails offering me breast enlargement.  These guys are just messing with my sexual identity!

Also, apparently, I can make $150/day by working at home plus I can get a great deal on forklifts.

Just an amazing (albeit confusing) day of SPAM, and the day's just started!

Microsoft - Shares Sold

Well - this post isn't as much about technology and it's impact on humanity.  It's about something that I'm never too much in-tune with, but that I still found interesting.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced this week that he had made some minor tweaks to his portfolio.  Apparently, he wanted to diversify, to smooth out his exposure, so he went and sold 75 million of his shares in Microsoft.  Just a little transaction to even our his portfolio.  Million, wow.  How many million shares does he have? 

With the share price of Microsoft of about $26 yesterday, that means that the net proceeds of the sale was about $2b.  Holy Cannoli, these are numbers that just boggle my mind.  Which brings me to my original question, exactly how many shares DOES he have?  This same article made it sound like this was a relatively minor transaction, that it was routine, but I'd have to guess that this transaction probably represented at least 20% of his total net worth.  I've just done this amazing little thing called "reading the article" that answers this question.  His total holdings in MSFT is 408,000,000 shares.

Reading a bit further down, one can see that it might not have just been about diversifying either.  It goes on to say that there are new tax rules coming up in January with regards to the disposition of stock and by selling now as opposed to after the new laws come into effect, that it is estimated that this will save him around $65m.  Wow.  To have a soft paper savings of $65m.  This is clearly a scale of economy that is far over my head.  These numbers should apply to large corporations or small countries, not an individual.

I'm guessing that it's safe to safe that my little forays into the financial markets as I readjust my pension holdings are not as impressive as Mr. Ballmer.

The same article goes on to state that Mr. Gates also sold a few shares this week - assuming for the same reasons - for a total of 3,000,000 shares sold.  Poor Bill, he only realized net proceeds for $75,000,000 or so.  I guess that it will be Steve picking up the tab at the hot dog cart when the two of them go for lunch this week.

Google - A Nice Little Shopping Spree

Apparently, Google has spent $1.6b on acquiring 40 companies over the last 9 months.  Holy cannoli, must be nice!  We're not even into the official Christmas shopping season yet!  Can't wait to see if they break the $2.0b barrier.

Sigh - dammit all anyways, why wasn't I the one to come up with idea of Google, or Facebook, or...etc...

That's it...I've had it.  For my upcoming 50th birthday celebration, my present to myself will be to come up with the next great thing.

Move on over Google!  There's a new sheriff in town!

Now...does anyone have a spare $100-200m collecting dust.  I'd gladly pay you Tuesday for R&D costs today!  (bonus points to whomever can tell me where I bastardized that saying from!)

The Ever Changing Workforce

This is a subject that I've long contemplated.  It's not so much specific to our current technology, but this has always been something to contend with as our civilization advances and matures.  With new technologies come new jobs and it also often involves other jobs becoming obsolete.

This thought first came to mind a few months ago near work.  I saw an "Iron Mountain" truck parked on King Street here in Toronto.  For the uninitiated, Iron Mountain is a niche supplier of document services.  There focus is on off-site retention of documents (paper or electronic based) and the safe destruction of old documents.   The thought that came to my mind was "Wow - here is a while industry that didn't exist 30 years ago" (or at least if it did exist, it certainly wasn't so critical.  In today's society, companies live and die by data and a by-product of this is the appropriate retention and destruction.

I wonder to myself how many new jobs have been created in the computer era.  I'm betting that there it is far more than anyone had ever considered.    My position - as a Systems Analyst/Software Designer - would not have existed in the main-stream work force 40 years ago - there was no context of a "system" other than a paper based filing/record keeping system.

What finally prompted me to write this blog entry was an article that I read today that listed 20 jobs that are now obsolete.  The list is as follows (courtesy of the article at http://www.mainstreet.com/article/career/employment/20-jobs-have-disappeared?puc=outbrain&cm_ven=outbrain&obref=obnetwork) :

• Lector (to read articles to bored workers)
• Newsroom copy-boy (can anyone say "email!")
• Log-driver (not sure why this one is on the list?  I'd think that this position still exists)
• Pin-setter (I'm not even old enough to remember a person resetting the pins in a bowling alley.  Rejoice!)
• Lamplighter (totally obsolete now, I'd think)
• Switchboard Operator (anyone remember "1 ringie-dingie, 2 ringie-dingie", or am I dating myself?)
• Telegraph Operator (Oh boy, for sure.  Actually, one of my first employers in this field was CNCP Telecommunications and this was their bread and butter.  Anyone want to guess if CNCP is still around?)
• Ice-cutter (iceboxes anyone?  I actually have faint memories of an icebox as we had one up at the cottage before we had electricity)
• Ice Delivery (same as above.  Without the ice-cutter, I'm guessing it wouldn't be too fun to be an Ice Delivery man).
• Dictaphone Operator (Digital recorders 101)
• Typing Pool (hey - I remember those!  My first employer was Woods Gordon.  I remember there being a pool of ladies.  Now everyone is pretty much expected to type their own stuff)
• Newspaper Typesetter (this one, I don't know - I would think that this position has morphed into someone who does the layout and design.  Yes, they don't actually get those little square rectangles - umm did I just say little square rectangles? Conceptually, it seems pretty related.
• Elevator Operator (I have no memory of an elevator operator.  third floor- ladies' lingerie!)
• Mimeograph Operator (Paging Mr. Xerox!)
• Streetsweeper (again - I'd contend that this position is still there, just with different tools)
• Sandman (Wow!  I had no idea!  Apparently, this was a REAL position where someone would distribute sand over ink on a page to help it dry.  Good gravy - that is a job I would NOT want to do)
• Sawyer (wood mills/cut to order replaced by your handy-dandy Home Depot)
• Manual Port Loading (assembly line work replaced by robotics)
• Breaker Boy (poor lads had to go through and separate the non-coal from the coal.  Lung disease anyone?)
• Rag and Bone Men (the quintessential recyclers, they'd go house to house getting specific garbage to be reused.

There is one fundamental lesson here for all of us who are gainfully employed (or wish to be).

Keep yourself relevant.  Never get so comfortable in your job that you don't look to the future.

Riding the Coat Tails - or Missing the Boat?

As a guy who's constantly involved in technology, one of my biggest dilemmas is to when to jump on board. In one respect, it's always a great thing to be there from the get-go, to experience the technology and to reap the benefits that it's sown.

However, one of the downsides to this is that this is when the technology is the most expensive. As more of the product is sold, the price is generally dropped. A large part of the reason for this is that from the outset, the firm developing the product has to recoup some/most/all of it's R&D costs. Also, probably to an extent, they know that the can price it higher as there will be build-up for the latest and greatest and that there are many who will make their purchase to be the first one's on the block.

I sometimes waver in terms of what stage of the product life-cycle that I would make the purchase, but I will say this, I would never be these dudes that camp out in front of Best Buy the night before to purchase the newest iPod. I guess if that people are that driven to be the first on the block - no problem, all the power to them, but I'd never be one of those guys.

By the same token, I wouldn't want to wait TOO long either. The problem with technology is that it changes so frequently. If one waits for an approrpriate "price-point" before making the dive, then they also run the risk of their technology being obsolete sooner.

I know that personally, I've been very retarded <insert joke here> in terms of finally getting on board. Seriously, CD Players were out for a number of years before I finally jumped into the pool. The same thing for a DVD player.

Although I've shown restraint then, I'm chomping at the bit now over eReaders. As faithful netizens of my blog, you'll know that this is something that I've contemplated. Today, Barnes and Noble introduced a new COLOUR version of the Nook. This is the perfect dilemma. Do I really NEED a colour eReader? Maybe not, I've lived with reading monochrome for 4 decades. That having been said, my fear is that if I don't go with a colour, in two years, I'll be kicking myself in the keister as there was some benefit that I've overlooked.

Gotta love this technology. I'm never really quite sure what to do!

PS This is officially my 100th entry on my blog. I still don't know who actually reads this confounded thing, but heck at least it's out there :)

The Drug with a Plug

My usual disclaimer before I start this month’s article. First of all, I am just as guilty as anyone else on this one….

The other day, I was watching “A Christmas Story” with my daughter (yes – I know, it’s a wee bit early for Christmas movies but we are Christmas junkies - we can’t help it). The scene near the beginning shows Ralphie with his nose pressed against the department store window, marveling at the Red Rider rifle on display. “Kids”, I snorted to myself with no small amount of disdain.

The next morning, I’m going to work and walk past the local electronics store and my pace slows, and then stops. Here I am, Rick/Ralphie admiring the bevy of shiny electronics/the Red Rider Rifle.

The more things change – the more they stay the same.

It then dawned on me that I’m not the only one; this love of the shiny new electronic devices isn’t isolated to me, my gender or even my generation. My daughter constantly complains about how “uncool” her cell phone is now; to the extent that she was considering asking for that to be her main Christmas present, although there’s nothing wrong with her existing one.

This article could have easily been entitled “The Modern Age Lure of the Sirens”. In Greek mythology, the sirens were the prophets that lured mariners with their looks and their sounds of music. They would entice and enthrall the sailors, beckoning them to the sharp and deadly rocks to which the sailors were oblivious and totally doomed to smash upon.

The more things change – the more they stay the same.

As evidenced by my fascination with the latest and greatest, I know that I’m as much to blame as everyone else, but sometimes I think that we need to take a step back and think to ourselves, “This new electronic device that I’m considering, is it a NEED or a WANT?” I think that a good portion of the time, it ends up being a want.

I’m scared to think of how many people have bought a Blackberry just because of the cool factor when perhaps it wasn’t necessary. Not that I’m picking on Blackberry, I think that cell phones in general are quite prone to this phenomenon. There was actually a marketing campaign a little while ago where the vendor’s sale pitch was “when you fall out of love with your old phone”.

From strictly a business perspective, this marketing of new and shiny makes a whole lot of sense. Much as the case with planned obsolescence, if we as consumers hold on to our electronics for years upon years, then as the market becomes more mature and increasingly saturated, then sales will plummet. Unless the corporate world can innovate to the extent that we are forced to upgrade and/or replace, then they will do whatever they can to convince us that the new shiny is better than the old scuffed.

Honestly, I’m just as prone to this as anyone else. When I discovered that my (old) cell phone didn’t take too kindly to be being left in a puddle of water overnight, I was faced with the decision of “what do I replace it with”. Sniffing around Bell Mobility, I could have gone cheaper, gone simpler, but the lure of the sirens was just way too much for me. Besides, I’m quite enjoying my new smart phone. However, I’ll be the first to admit that it has a ton of apps and features on it that I probably will never use.

Maybe I’ll eventually learn how to load MP3s on it so that it can act as a replacement for my crappy old iPod that I’m resorting to using as I’ve misplaced my iPod touch. I know that I’ve accidently taken many pictures of myself with my phone’s front-facing camera. I am currently resisting the thought of a NEW iPod touch (4th gen)…for now…but I can’t promise that I won’t be blogging about how cool my new iPod Touch is in the near future.