• “THERE IS ONE REALITY WE CANNOT ESCAPE: COMPUTER DATA IS VULNERABLE so long as your device is connected to a network, and if you work without concern for security, your data will be” Beyond utilizing antivirus and antimalware solutions (such as AG, Avast or Windows Defender), a few simple steps will materially lessen the timing & severity of breech. (1) Never install software that is not essential; keep installed apps to the barest minimum and only download from official sources and never install untrusted software; (2) ‘Updates’ often include Vulnerability Patches; check for daily on the platform (through Android Security Bulletin or Apple Security Update) and on installed apps; (3) Never click on links or files from unknown sources, without at least firs checking as the Malware Domaine List; (4) Never allow your browser to save passwords or other info; (5) Use two-factor authentication on every service/software that offers it. [TECHREPUBLIC.COM – June 1, 17]
  • THE LIKELIHOOD OF EVER-AGAIN ACCEPTING THE RELIABILITY OF ‘NEWS’ REPORTING LOOKS REMOTE. “Americans’ trust in mass media is at historic lows… not knowing what is ‘fact’ and what is ‘fake’… With globalization and hyper-connected smart phones, newsworthy events are happening so fast that it becomes very difficult to independently verify or fact check, even if the media wanted to. Moreover, anyone with a camera can easily set up a YouTube channel and start reporting real or fake news… Plus, people getting soundbites are too busy, too lazy and not educated enough to really dig deep,” especially as traditional newspaper & magazine readership has given away first to television then to the internet. When the media industry launched with three networks (over five decades ago) there were FCC Rules & Regulations that reporting had to be “fair and balanced, with equal time given to different views.” When Cable evolved, unlicensed and therefore without restrictions, they “basically could say anything they wanted, only subject to decency and violence,” including choice as to whether to opinionate as liberal or conservative, and to adopt strategies would best optimize audience ratings for advertising revenues and profits. Today, with “media partisanship at its highest level…and news outlets becoming increasingly segmented along party/ideological lines,” while competition for ad revenue is increasingly cutthroat, the likelihood for media reversion to ‘investigative’ and neutral reporting to resurrect confidence in reliability of the news is remote. [ZEROHEDGE.COM – June 4, 17]
  • AMONG THE TYPE OF MODERN-DAY ISSUES which end up in clogged courtroom battles is whether a ‘copyrighted tattoo’ can be shown in a movie, TV show or video game without a license. “The issue first gained notoriety when Mike Tyson’s distinctive face tattoo showed up on Ed Helms in The Hangover Part II; and a Federal Court is now hearing a lawsuit involving tattoos on LeBron James and Kobe Bryant’s which were visible in the videogame NBA2K.”  [MANATT ADVERTISING LAW – June 1, 17]
  • LATEST ON THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY, from Ray Kurzweil, Google’s Director of Engineering who has an 86% track record of predicting technology advancements: (1) Within 12 years, Artificial Intelligence will achieve human levels of intelligence; (2) 16 years later in 2045, technology will be “smarter than humans” which he dubs the ‘Singularity’; (3) Technologies including nanobots will create “science fiction-level leaps in Virtual Reality so much that physical workplaces will become a thing of the past, and commutes could just become a matter of strapping on a headset”; (4) “This paradigm shift could lead to unprecedented levels of de-urbanization, as people will no longer need to flock to large cities for work or be tethered to a specific location”; and (5) Within 15 years, we will be able to “copy human consciousness on to an electronic medium – scanning our brain on a machine, enabling humans to take any form, from a bird to a box… and, no longer being reliant on fragile biology, humans could (theoretically) live forever.”  [FUTURISM.COM – June 5, 17]
  • THE NEXT MAJOR ONLINE DISRUPTOR COULD BE IN RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY SALES. For people wanting to get out fast, a startup called Opendoor.com (already operating in three cities) now markets to “make an offer on your home within 24 hours and ‘close’ within 3 days following inspection,” then re-sell the home through their proprietary online marketplace.
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK: On the most recent Dep’t of Education testing in California classrooms, more than 50% of black males failed to meet reading and writing standards, and girls significantly outperformed boys in standardized English testing.

        Alabama is one of the states where Food Stamps have been available without Work Requirements. Since the beginning of 2017, when exemptions expired, Food Stamp drop off has been 85%.

Possibly the most creative 2½ -minute dance routine you’ve ever seen: https://biggeekdad.com/2015/06/slip-dance/