Today I learned patent infringement is more serious crime than laundering terrorist money

A patent lawsuit wipes out over a year of profits at a tech company. HSBC launders terrorist money and losses 2 weeks of profits. No way has this infringement done more harm to people and to the incentives for companies to "play fair." Ridiculous (this class is ridiculous)

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/12/jury-slams-marvell-with-mammoth-1-17-billion-patent-verdict/

Update: Maybe I could patent a money laundering scheme and sue HSBC for infringing on that patent.

Unlike my grandfather, I'm no mechanical engineer

But this article makes a great point, stop trying to regulate guns, regulate bullets instead.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/12/no-really-regulate-the-bullets/266332/?google_editors_picks=true

Chinese mega-building

China is planning to build the world's tallest building... in 90 days.

http://inhabitat.com/sky-city-chinese-company-bsb-to-build-the-worlds-tallest-building-in-just-90-days/

I can't tell how serious this is, but I do like how all the pictures show this building as part of Chicago's skyline. I hope this isn't the same company that built all those high speed rail lines.

Existential Risk

Interesting piece in the Atlantic about how we're underestimating the probability that the technology we create will ultimately kill us:

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/were-underestimating-the-risk-of-human-extinction/253821/

I eat this stuff up, in particular his simulation argument. The idea being that exactly one of the following must be true:

1) All civilizations go extinct before reaching technological maturity.
2) All technologically mature civilizations lose interest in creating computer simulations detailed enough detailed enough that the simulated minds within them would be conscious.
3) We're living in a computer simulation.

Let's hope for #3... I think.

Tacocopter or the future is here!

If this ever comes to Chicago / becomes legal I need to get a place with a balcony!

http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2012/03/the-real-competitor-to-driverless-cars.html

Google - really cool or really scary?

Interesting line from an article I just read about Google:

"We are not Google’s customers, we are its product. We – our fancies, fetishes, predilections and preferences – are what Google sells to advertisers."

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v33/n19/daniel-soar/it-knows

Its incredible how much data Google must have on me and everyone really. They know everything I've searched for online, everything I've looked at on my phone, all my email, they have maps of the entire world (with pictures!) and all the location based data they're collecting from my phone. On top of that they're working on getting access to every book in the world, building self driving cars and who knows what else - recording every conversation across the globe? Their business isn't search, its data. Maybe they'll even figure out how to automate the process of analyzing the data... in that case I should look into a new career. I wonder if Google is hiring...

h.t. MR

I couldn't make this up if I tried

In 2014 a new city will be built in the middle of the New Mexico desert. It will have cutting edge infrastructure, state of the art security and enough room for 35,000 people. However it will be populated entirely by robots:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/not-so-smart-cities.html

And since everything inevitably comes back to the Simpsons:

"The wars of the future will not be fought on the battlefield or at sea. They will be fought in space, or possibly on top of a very tall mountain. In either case, most of the actual fighting will be done by small robots. And as you go forth today remember always your duty is clear: To build and maintain those robots."

Something from Neuromancer or The Onion?

This article sounds like something out of The Onion:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/china-news/slip-up-in-chinese-military-tv-show-reveals-more-than-intended-60619.html

As part of an anti-US propaganda ad the Chinese accidentally showed this program where you can select an IP address and hit the "Attack" button. In the ad they show the address for the University of Alabama. Unreal.

ht big picture

5 years ago there was no iPhone

There have been a few inventions that have really revolutionized my life (so far), smartphones are one of them. I've only had one for a little over a year but its completely changed the way I manage my life. A lot of people don't realize (me included) how quickly technology is advancing and how the rate at which its advancing is also speeding up. Inventions like this one just blow my mind (thanks sis):

http://www.wbez.org/story/2011-08-11/new-electronic-sensors-stick-skin-temporary-tattoos-90517

On a related note Kevin and I had a discussion this morning about where the next bubble will be. I'm pretty sure it'll be in biotech. In Western countries most people have all of their basic needs met and there's a limit to how much stuff we want to consume. So where is all that extra income going to end up? My hypothesis is that we will be looking for ways to extend our lives and improve our health. Thus I believe we're most likely to see a positive "black swan" in biotech. I'm also using this logic to justify my recent investment in XBI.

P.S. I googled black swan and this is what came up - couldn't resist.