text:
Mikal Khoso
Words, Thoughts and Theses
December 12, 2020 by Mikal | Regulation, Trajectory Newsletter
A World Data Organization
The Rise of the "Sovereign Internet"
The original dream that guided the early days of the internet, a dream of a free space for communication and commerce, is slowly coming apart globally. The internet has shifted from a free space owned by users to one monopolized by giant technology corporations across communication, commerce and search. But even more worryingly, the dream of a "world wide web" is increasingly a distant dream. Ever since China first launched its "Great Firewall" in 1998, the dream of a single internet shared by the world has been under threat. In a 2010 whitepaper, the Chinese Communist Party made its position clear:
"Within Chinese territory the internet is under the jurisdiction of Chinese sovereignty. The internet sovereignty of China should be respected and protected."
This notion of internet sovereignty – the right of a government to control and manage internet use in its territory – has spread across the world. Other authoritarian states such as Iran and North Korea have copied China's firewall to great effect. In addition, data localization laws – laws that require companies to store data from nationals within their country – are increasingly being adopted across the globe. For example, the Reserve Bank of India mandated in 2018 that foreign payment companies store all transaction-data involving Indian customers on servers in India. Similarly, he European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) grants Europeans sovereignty over their own data and the regulation applies globally. Any tech company that serves a European customer anywhere on earth must comply with any GDPR requests from that customer.
The extension of sovereignty to the internet and to data threatens to fragment the internet into dozens of sovereign internets. Users in the United States, China, Nigeria, Germany and Saudi Arabia may all be using different internets in a decade or two from now – perverting the original vision of a world wide web. The balkanization of the internet threatens the core fabric of the internet and what makes it special – the ability for people to easily access information, goods and services and to connect openly and freely.
The Failure of Self-Governance
The alternative to internet sovereignty is self-governance, which a series of recent scandals involving tech companies has shown to be inadequate. Instead of sovereign governments controlling the internet, a few hundred people in Silicon Valley have controlled the internet for most of the last two decades. The laissez-faire approach to tech regulation has created tremendously dominant internet monopolies like Facebook, Amazon, Google and Apple. This has created a series of problems.
Tech companies have used their power as gatekeepers to systematically push out competitors, privilege their own services and thereby maximise their own revenue. Tech companies have been focused in the last decade on vertically integrating services in areas they predict they can capture market share. For example, if you search for a job or flight on Google today Google places its widget for Google Flights or Google Jobs above all other search results. This directs traffic away from travel websites like Expedia and Booking.com and jobs websites like Monster.com towards Google products. Google did the same thing in Europe by artificially promoting links to Google Shopping products over competitors and was fined heavily by the European Union for it.
— Trajectory #3: The Antitrust Hammer
Trade in the World of Atoms and Bits
Internet sovereignty and full self-governance are both inadaquate and unattractive options. The world needs a new framework for governing the global technology industry to stave off the risk of the internet fragmenting into dozens of sovereign internets. This framework needs to be global from day one. Internet companies are unique versus any other business because they are truly global from day one. These companies can be accessed from anywhere and can sell to customers anywhere. While some exceptions exist, such as ecommerce companies that only deliver in certain regions, as a whole internet companies are global from day one, especially software and consumer application businesses.
Being an internet company is therefore fundamentally different than any other business because of the scale of potential customers you can immediately serve is orders of magnitude higher than almost every "brick-and-mortar" business. Transacting globally on the internet is in a sense a form of trade but in the world of bits. In the world of atoms, global trade is a $19 trillion behemoth governed by a series of complex interlocking bilateral agreements, laws and regulations. Global trade is stewarded by the World Trade Organization (WTO) founded in 1995 as a global governing body for trade negotiations and disputes. The overriding objective of the WTO is to help trade flow smoothly, freely and fairly.
The WTO has overseen a significant drop in trade barriers globally in the last two decades and has powered rapid globalization and economic growth worldwide. While global trade is not a perfect system and there are some notable flaws, as a whole, it is an extremely well-coordinated and governed system.
Importantly, trade in the world of atoms is global and so is trade in the world of bits, but the world of bits has no equivalent to the WTO. The world of bits needs its own WTO – a World Data Organization (WDO). A few public figures have begun calling for something like a World Data Organization with US Presidential candidate Andrew Yang being the most high-profile supporter of the concept.
Outlining a World Data Organization
Global tech regulation is rapidly fragmenting. In many cases competing and conflicting regulations are coming into place in different parts of the world. Regulators globally are passing laws on everything from data localization to new taxes on internet companies. For example, Britain and France are both planning to levy special "tech taxes" on US technology companies, which has been met with a chilly response in Washington.
The need for a WDO has never been so pressing. The WTO provides a useful framework for outlining the function and goals of the WDO. The core goal of the WTO is trade access – enabling businesses globally to access other trade markets easily and without significant costs. The core goal of the WDO should be data access and market access.
Both data and market access are critical to enabling global competition and a relatively permissive innovation environment. Today, most major tech companies are "walled gardens" – they collect significant user data but don't allow third-parties to easily access this data. Regulators have begun turning their attention to the problem of walled gardens. The ACCESS Act of 2019 currently making its way through the US Congress is focused on enabling data access in the United States.
The core principle of the Access Act is that data in itself is not valuable and useful but rather that the services and products built on top of and improved by data are what is valuable. Therefore, access to data is essential for creating valuable products for consumers and open access to data is crucial for a free and competitive technology market to create new products for consumers.
— Trajectory #8: The Access Act
The World needs a global regulator of the global technology industry – a World Data Organization. A WDO can take ideas such as the French tech tax or the US Access Act and build a global framework around them. Otherwise, conflicting global regulations are going to increase the cost of doing business for tech companies with global ambitions. Similarly, firewalls like China's are going to cut entire markets off to tech companies. Market access, just as in trade in the world of atoms, needs to be a core goal of the World Data Organization. Regulators, politicians, technologists and economists globally need to push for the creation of a WDO. Otherwise the dream of a world wide web is going to become yet another example of a dream never realized.
This piece was originally published here.
The Autoimmunity Crisis →
← A Fourth Industrial Revolution
Machine Learning and Archaeology
Optimizing Complex Systems
A Fourth Industrial Revolution
The Autoimmunity Crisis
Tech at the Frontier
Trajectory Newsletter


Unfortunately it is clear that either of these two will become president. Although the 3rd party candidates have a theoretical change, that won't happen. And since we are not giving the world a real chance to vote, we want to see which one of these two the world wants. If we do this again though, we will include the 3rd party candidates.


text:
Hundred Watt Head
Websites: http://www.theneilmerryweather.com/HundredWattHead.html
Origin: Winnipeg, Manitoba - Toronto, Ontario - Los Angeles, California, USA
When Neil came back to LA from Europe he called Space Rangers band mate Jamie Herndon to put together a unit to record some new songs. Jamie had just finished his association with the Nick Guilder band. Neil was introduced to drummer Dusty Watson by fellow bass player and Space Rangers fan Raymond Marzano. Neil took Jamie and Dusty into the studio where they recorded ten new songs in two nights. This was the beginning of Hundred Watt Head.
Although Neil and Dusty went on to play in the Lita Ford Band and recorded her debut album together, it didn't take long after that project ended for them to regroup with Jamie at Neil's studio to record more material. This went on for more than a decade.
The trio recorded over 50 songs over the years. This Hundred Watt Head CD features eleven of those songs. There is still more to come as Neil, Jamie and Dusty still get together to record new songs.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Feeling completely lost and hopeless, Ben goes to find the only other person who he believes would care about him, his mom. He finally makes it to his mother's house but only finds Lyle, her new husband, who informs him that his mother died just three days earlier from the flu. Ben's last thread of hope is now gone, taken away by this devastating disaster that surrounds him. The only thing he knows for sure is he must leave this house where so many ghosts haunt his dreams but as to where he is going Ben has not a clue.
In the wake of utter despair a glimmer a light comes into Ben's life as he meets Sara, a young woman who has also lost both of her parents. Feeling a connection between them, they decide that they would rather run away together and keep their freedom rather than be thrown into some foster home, school, or orphanage that would keep them confined. With the unrelenting will to survive, Ben and Sara head out on their own knowing that the only people they can truly trust is each other. However, with the increased crime, panic, and desperation of everyone around them will they really be able to survive?
As soon as I started this book there was absolutely no way I was going to put it down until I reached the very last page! Each chapter had me hanging on the edge of my seat wondering if Ben and Sara could truly survive after everything that had happened. It is wonderful to read a book that truly makes a reader think about what would happen if that situation was true. This book definitely had me thinking with every page I read and really showed the essence of human emotion when everything but the vital components of survival are all that is left. In addition, seeing this story from the viewpoint of two teenagers was intriguing as many times it is teenagers who get caught up in all of the material things of life instead of the small essential things. I applaud Julie L. Casey for creating a story that shows the renewed joy in finding a purpose in life even in the aftermath of destruction.
Quill says: A truly amazing story showing the perseverance of the human spirit!


text:
Gay bear hookup app Growlr was sold for almost $12 million to a straight dating app company
The buyers own several other apps like MeetMe, Tagged, and Skout.
By Alex Bollinger Friday, March 8, 2019
Photo: Facebook/Growlr
Growlr, the gay bear dating app, has been sold to The Meet Group, Inc. for $11.8 million.
The app was created in 2010 by Coley Cummiskey and was privately held by Initech, LLC, until recently. This past Wednesday, Meet Inc. announced that it bought the app.
"We are thrilled to add Growlr to The Meet Group portfolio," said Geoff Cook, the CEO of The Meet Group, Inc.
"Similar to what we have done with our other acquired properties, we plan to be aggressive in bringing our video model to Growlr."
Growlr says it has 200,000 active daily users and 2 million members. It describes itself as a "complete social networking app for gay bears."
Related: Grindr sells majority stake to Chinese firm for $93 million
In 2013, Cummiskey told Bear World Magazine that he started the app because he's a bear himself.
"After developing a successful few apps, including one that worked with Facebook, I decided I needed to focus on something that was closer to who I am as a person, who I am as a developer," he said.
"I've always thought I had to be a card carrying member of the bear community, and I love being a bear, and it kind of took off from there."
"I wrote something that I would use, that I would like, so I knew that other people would use it too."
The Meet Group, Inc. is a publicly traded corporation that owns several other apps that focus on meeting people in real life, like MeetMe, Tagged, and Skout.
Bear World Magazine, Coley Cummiskey, gay bears, Geoff Cook, GROWLr, Initech, The Meet Group
Scientists find differences between LGBTQ & straight people who die from suicide
Conservatives want you to boycott Girl Scout Cookies because AOC was a girl scout
'The Sims 4' will have a lesbian couple on the game's cover
The women aren't just on the cover. They have names and backstory.
Did Westboro Baptist founder Fred Phelps change his mind about LGBTQ people before he died?
And did the "God Hates Fags" preacher's change of heart spur the church's decision to ex-communicate?
These gay penguins don't have an egg to raise. So, they're doing something different.
What does a young gay couple do when there's no penguin egg to adopt?
Should cis actors like Scarlett Johansson be allowed to play trans roles?
"As an actor I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal because that is my job," she said.
A bisexual man was banned from donating blood. So he donated a kidney instead.
"I didn't go to work for three days, so that someone could have their life given back to them."
Posters of Megan Rapinoe vandalized with homophobic slurs after World Cup victory
Just before her team's parade in NYC, someone painted hate speech on images of her.
Nicki Minaj cancels appearance at Saudi music festival. But why was she going to perform at all?
It's hard to go from playing World Pride to performing in a country where multiple gay men have been beheaded this year.
Gay dating app Scruff buys competitor Jack'd for undisclosed amount
Scruff's parent company, Perry Street Software, is promising major updates to Jack'd and says both apps will continue to operate separately.
Live now: Watch the ticker-tape parade for U.S. women's soccer team World Cup win
After their complete domination of the World Cup, the US women's soccer team is being honored with a ticker-tape parade through the streets of Manhattan.


Making decisions can be a painful process. There are people for whom decision making is a skill, faced with an issue or even an opportunity and instinct kicks in and it's done. I do not fall into that category, the decision process is a long and winding road.
Fact is, more often than not, we may know what the right decision is, but there are always those little deterrents that make it hard to take the necessary steps. In short, the dilemma is fear, but many things can lead to fear.
Fear to me is the absence of faith, you can't do the two things at the same time, it's like trying to serve two masters, they live on the opposite end of the spectrum; to act by one is to evade the other.
Truth is, in life things are rarely ever that black and white, they exist in the grey. It is a battle everyday to choose one or the other and fear is a very powerful and intimidating foe, who knows just how to push on the right buttons.
Sometimes reading the bible is a big 'wowuu'. The men of faith were truly tried and tested and it is so hard to imagine taking the leaps of faith they did.
Abraham was so faithful and obedient, that after the impossibly long wait for a son, he was trusting enough in God that he could carry Isaac and bound him up ready to make that sacrifice to God.
It's impossible to talk about faith and not talk about Job. Job was living a good, honorable life, obedient and in service of God and simply because Satan challenges God, that Job isn't in fact good but only obedient for sake of reward, God takes everything and everyone from him. The same God that Job had learned was a fair God, took it all away when Job did nothing to deserve it and yet Job still praised God in spite of it all.
But it's like, let's get serious, how real could these people be, if I were Abraham I would quickly doubt that it was this good God asking me to sacrifice my son, I mean why would God ask that of me. The same way we get confronted with situations and if we don't see the profit in it, it's like well, will God want this for me. The world has programmed us to see the cost of things and let that overwhelm our vision.
It's hard to leave something that you are comfortable in to challenge yourself where the reward is unsure. Risks are scary, when it comes to crunch time, how can you leave a 9-5 where there is a sure income to chase something unsure, you have responsibilities. I spent time in prayer lately on going forward with certain things in my life I believe God has purposed me to, but taking the risks that come with it is not easy.
It's easy to read the bible and see these words of guidance and encouragement, but action is a lot harder. The Bible will tell you to trust in God and not worry about where your next meal is coming from, but the world will tell you it is irresponsible. Faith by the world's standards is foolishness and its hard to kick that feeling sometimes. How do we get to the point where obedience comes to us like it did to Abraham, Moses, Job and Joseph?
I want to take another look at Job, because we talk so much of 'Job like faith' and his trust in the Lord in spite of his circumstance, but it is deeper than that. And as long as we talk about that, with talking about his moments of doubt and His questioning God we make it seem like fear means we are failing.
Job was good, obedient, diligent, yes after he lost everything he continued to praise God but that wasn't all. The grey existed for Job too. Job doubted God, went through a season of resentment towards God, he questioned God, 'What did I do to deserve this? God can't be Just!' His friends accused him of all sorts of sins, that God is just so you must have done something and Job denied it all, Job was innocent yet he was suffering. Job ultimately challenged God to explain himself, accusing Him of being unfair and corrupt, he was tired. And when God came to answer Job, there was no direct answer but in fact this elaborate long story, where God showed Job the vastness of the world, and asks Job if he could run or understand it for just one day, showing him how detailed the universe is, so much so we could never understand, but God does. God then shows Job two beasts, beasts that would kill without a thought, and says these aren't evil they are part of my design.
See, from Job's perspective, God is not just - but God works from a grand perspective we could never understand. The wisdom of God is beyond anything we could understand and this is what Job comes to understand. The good things he had were not reward for his obedience and the things he lost were not punishment either. So when Job gets double of everything back, he knows that this is not reward or anything I am deserving of.
So this is what Job-like faith is, it is humility, accepting that no matter what comes, good or bad, we can trust in the wisdom of God. It is not chasing reward or expecting it. So obedience to God has to come from a place of service, not expecting anything. It means putting aside worldly expectations, financial gain or reputation. If we can accept this and put these worldly expectations aside, taking the leaps of faith will become easier.


Blackbox tool to help understand what an iOS application is doing at runtime and assist in the identification of potential security issues.
The tracer can be installed on a jailbroken device to hook and log security-sensitive iOS APIs called by applications running on the device. The tool records details of relevant API calls, including arguments and return values and persists them in a database. Additionally, the calls are also sent to the Console for real-time analysis.
The tool comprises two separate components: Introspy-iOS and Introspy-Analyzer.
This database can then be fed to Introspy-Analyzer, which generates an HTML report displaying all recorded calls, plus a list of potential vulnerabilities affecting the application.


text:
Jr. Posters
Study finds TV and digital outdoor best at 'making brands famous'.
Chief executives and chief marketing officers have named TV and the emerging space of digital out of home as the must-have media for "making brands famous", in a study conducted by Censuswide.
Digital Out-of-Home: Study finds TV and digital outdoor best at 'making brands famous'
When 100 leaders were asked to think of brand building in London, the channels considered to be "must have media" for making a brand famous were television (74%), and digital out of home (66%).
In addition, 60% of the CEOs and CMOs questioned named specific DOOH sites around London as "must have" when it comes to their brand or company's media plan (see below).
When asked what they perceived to be the greatest benefits of DOOH, two-thirds of respondents said it was the ability to target different audiences at different times of the day.
Jonathan Lewis, managing director at Outdoor Plus, told Media Week: "The results of the Censuswide survey show that CEOs resolutely believe premium digital screens deliver for their company or brand.
"What is particularly heartening for us is that CEOs understand the value of specific premium sites as much as they value the channel overall."
Steve Parker, chief executive of Starcom MediaVest, said: "It's great to see a piece of research which validates what we intuitively know and that reflects the growth in spend, technology and understanding of a platform.
"I believe brand leaders whether CEOs or CMOs recognise the opportunity that premium digital OOH presents them in building brand fame, increasing consumer engagement and delivering timely content experiences.
"They also recognise that there is a real ambition from the OOH industry to invest more in technology and measurement and to naturally innovate more, which reassures further."
The Censuswide study was conducted in July 2014 among 100 CEOs/CMOs in the UK, who advertise to consumers.
The original article appeared on BrandRepublic.com and Mediaweek.co.uk »
© 2019 Lamar Advertising Company


More than 400 exhibitors from 25 nations – many international key players among them – are expected to present new lightweight construction concepts, materials, and the latest production and automation solutions at the ninth edition of COMPOSITES EUROPE. A total of 10,000 lightweight construction experts representing automotive engineering, aviation and boatbuilding as well as the wind energy and construction sectors are expected at the Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre, a third of them from outside Germany. Not for nothing: the international industry considers COMPOSITES EUROPE the most important event in the German market – the largest composites market in Europe. Solidly booked country pavilions representing Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, China and Hungary further underscore how important the trade fair has become for the international composites sector.
Devising and optimising processes that enable high-volume manufacturing of composites components remains the biggest challenge for the industry. At COMPOSITES EUROPE, the industry will present suitable production and processing methods, innovative materials and current lightweight construction projects. Additionally, the trade fair highlights new ideas at the COMPOSITES Forum and in special areas, including the Product Demonstration Area, the new "Industry meets Science" area and the "Bio-based Pavilion".
Part of the trade fair will be an exciting lecture programme, the international COMPOSITES Forum, which will be filled by the VDMA Forum Composite Technology, the Institute of Plastics Processing (IKV) and COMPOSITES EUROPE exhibitors. Presentations will center on production technology in composite manufacturing. Among other topics, lectures by VDMA member companies will focus on automation of logistics processes, production of preforms, economically viable manufacturing of thermoplastic structural components and joining technologies for high-volume production. Trade fair visitors may attend the forums free of charge.
Thanks to the new special area entitled "Industry meets Science", COMPOSITES EUROPE enables visitors to "grasp" – in both senses of the word – the latest developments and highlights from process engineering, dimensioning and quality assurance. The Institute of Plastics Processing (IKV) at RWTH Aachen University and additional partner institutes will be responsible for implementing this special area, which focusses heavily not just on traditional thermoset materials and thermoplastic composites but also on innovative matrices such as polyurethane and thermoplastics polymerising in situ. Numerous demonstration components and tours of selected highlights complete the range of offerings at "Industry meets Science", which is intended as an enhancement of the Product Demonstration Area (PDA).
Please do touch! At the Product Demonstration Area, a visitor highlight at every COMPOSITES EUROPE, the trade fair gathers new high-tech products and brings to life the development of composites components in live presentations. Exhibitors will include Euro-RTM-Group, Büfa, RH Schneidtechnik, 3D Core and Dresden University of Technology.
Wood flour, cotton, flax, jute and hemp: natural fibres are becoming increasingly important as biocomposites. COMPOSITES EUROPE's "Bio-based Pavilion", made possible in collaboration with the nova-Institute in Hürth, showcases the advantages and potential of biofibres. In addition to companies from the WPC and NFC segments, enterprises associated with bio-based thermoset plastics and thermoplastics will also be represented at the trade fair.
COMPOSITES EUROPE will kick off with the International AVK Conference, which will once again bring together in Düsseldorf leading composites experts from across Europe. On 6 and 7 October, international presenters will lecture on material innovations, production processes, the interplay between various materials, and the right mix of materials. The conference will put a special emphasis on recycling and standardisation, both highly relevant topics for the entire composites industry.
The leading international trade fair ALUMINIUM will take place concurrently with COMPOSITES EUROPE in Düsseldorf from 7 to 9 October. The world's largest industry event for the aluminium sector will bring together aluminium manufacturers and processors as well as providers of production, processing and finishing technology and equipment. The previous edition of the trade fair attracted 907 exhibitors and 21,508 visitors. Around 1,000 exhibitors from 50 countries are expected to attend ALUMINIUM 2014.
After eight successful events, COMPOSITES EUROPE – in conjunction with the International AVK Conference – has become firmly established as the leading German trade fair event for fibre-reinforced plastics. COMPOSITES EUROPE takes place in Stuttgart in odd years and in Düsseldorf in even ones. Two years ago, a total of 8,131 trade visitors attended the Düsseldorf edition. That number climbed to 9,171 last year, when the trade fair was held concurrently with the HYBRID Expo in Stuttgart. COMPOSITES EUROPE is organised by trade fair organiser Reed Exhibitions in cooperation with the European industry association EuCIA, the German Federation for Reinforced Plastics AVK, the VDMA Forum Composite Technology and the international trade magazine Reinforced Plastics. In 2014, it will be held concurrently with the leading international trade fair ALUMINIUM from 7 to 9 October.
Source: COMPOSITES EUROPE, press release, 2014-07-25.