Saturday, April 29, 2017

Self

"“If you find yourself criticizing other people, you’re probably doing it out of Resistance. When we see others beginning to live their authentic selves, it drives us crazy if we have not lived out our own. Individuals who are realized in their own lives almost never criticize others. If they speak at all, it is to offer encouragement. Watch yourself. Of all the manifestations of Resistance, most only harm ourselves. Criticism and cruelty harm others as well.”
— Steven Pressfield, War of Art"

yanis varoufakis brexit advice theresa may avoid negotiating

This aligns with much that I have posted in the last 10 yrs about Greece and the EU.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/28/yanis-varoufakis-brexit-advice-theresa-may-avoid-negotiating/

Nick


Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Jimmy Wales new venture is going to be one to watch and revisit!



https://www.ft.com/content/2590013e-2908-11e7-9ec8-168383da43b7

Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales to set up global news website

‘Wikitribune’ to use paid and citizen journalists in venture to combat fake news

Monday, April 24, 2017

AI and drones igniting the ideas of flying cars, again!

Lots of people posting this:

http://interestingengineering.com/worlds-first-all-electric-vertical-take-off-flying-car-nails-test-flight/

"Its getting a lot of attention and Im sure it is the route to a new form of transport but having flown small aircraft myself, I can say without a rudder and trim not to mention ailerons it will not make for a comfortable journey for a person in anything other than the simplest most perfect weather conditions. If it is fully autonomous with AI control then it might just get beyond a niche mkt (deliveries) towards mass adoption but its not a car. Without wheels or an engine it cant taxi even off the runway. They haven't carried the weight of a human not even a pilot. So seeing it do more than be a drone for now is difficult. The human factors of flying are real critical and that means, weather, visibility, navigation, radio comms, heating, locations for take off and landing, height restrictions ie above 500 feet, emergency landing procedures (capabilities) are all little details to be factored in."


This will make you smile:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvWbaESpHm8

Ingenuity and engineering, the mother of invention:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRZNLBL7Px4

The road or should I say the sky is the limit, except flying is and has to be safe. Its safer than driving and that because less people can fly and pilots pass more than just a road test!


AI, Jobs and the artisan human

Lots of talk about AI and job losses, which will come. However the evolutionary shift will not be a straight switch or replacement but a transition for both technology and humans. If AI and robots deliver they will do the economy and work more efficiently and effectively, growing GDP ww massively. People will live off of that improvement and wealth and become what they always were, humans!

The artisan in literature, art, design, science and learning won't go away.

Simple things will be valued even more, simple is usually not so simple thats the beauty of what people alone can do> https://www.facebook.com/interestingengineering/videos/vb.139188202817559/1516003595136006/


Friday, April 21, 2017

The artisan and the gig economy, symbiotic old and new!

As the management and entrepreneurial mantra goes:

The founder startup entrpreneur starts as the artisan (knows whats what has the skill) turns in to the hero (employs and excites people) if they are not careful they become the pain in the arse (by not delegating or delegating while looking over the shoulders and interfering) but if they are good they quickly become the strategic leader (employing the right people, empowering and letting go to focus on the big challenges ahead, the future, the step change). Simples!

But so many cant do it!

https://www.ft.com/content/c2d971bc-24f5-11e7-a34a-538b4cb30025

General election2017: Everyone second guessing and cautioning for different reasons



https://www.ft.com/content/d8bbdb92-2616-11e7-8691-d5f7e0cd0a16

"Meanwhile some moderate Labour MPs are also adopting the desperate tactic of insisting that Mrs May is unbeatable, hoping to reassure voters they can vote for a competent local MP without any risk of Mr Corbyn becoming prime minister. John Woodcock, MP for Barrow, wrote in the North West Evening Mail: “In the unlikely event Mr Corbyn was in a position to try to form a government (and let’s face it, we are 20 points behind in the polls under his leadership, it is not going to happen) I would refuse to endorse him as prime minister in any parliamentary vote that would follow.” Another Labour MP said that many of his colleagues were telling voters on the doorstep not to worry about the risk of Mr Corbyn winning the election. Another said: “We simply try not to talk about him at all.” And all the while, the Conservatives are drawing up a target list of more than 70 Labour seats where the sitting MP has a majority of less than 7,000."

Umm!!??

Labour MP's wanting to win their seat but not have their party win to ensure the voters vote for them and not worry that they might bring in chaos!

https://www.ft.com/content/d8bbdb92-2616-11e7-8691-d5f7e0cd0a16

The torys saying they might not win so everyone get voting for us.

Libs seeing their opportunity.

The SNP can top last time.

The opposition have to fight themselves.

As unpredictable as ever but is FUD reigns it will be a landslide.

If labour lose they lose corbyn, if corbyn wins they have the mess to rule and will lose within 5 years.

One day we might get back to normal.

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Bezos and amazon 20 years in!

A short or long 20 years, the model for retailers is the one to watch still but with Jack Ma and Alibaba and Satya Nadella and Microsoft Azure Bezos has plenty to keep a careful eye on for the next 20 years

https://www.ft.com/content/a304a59e-2425-11e7-a34a-538b4cb30025

http://www.alibabagroup.com/en/global/home

https://cloud.microsoft.com/en-gb/customer-stories/project-premonition/

AWS will have to fight to keep up with Azure and every retailer in the world will want to see AWS go away. Get focused MSFT! #Azure

1997 seems so far away now, I was there warning europe to wake up to the web https://www.microsoft.com/misc/features/features_eChristmas.htm we have our players but for search, retail and social media the big boys are all american!

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

June 8th and George Osborne to quit as an MP.

With a general election on June 8th 2017, not surprisingly with the need for a mandate to negotiate and the time to do the deal and let it bed in, it clear others are planning for the next era beyond 2022!

https://www.ft.com/content/0987f3ca-24f8-11e7-8691-d5f7e0cd0a16

Monday, April 10, 2017

NTD's, SCI, Malaria and TB

Some interesting pronouncements for Parliament, ie the House of Lords, makes a good read!

https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2017-04-03/debates/681D0D0B-59FE-44AC-B5D7-171B923CD03A/NeglectedTropicalDiseases

The Pound Sterling

We will see!

https://www.ft.com/content/abc8d30c-1a1c-11e7-bcac-6d03d067f81f

"..............

Sterling’s depreciation made it less attractive in the short run, said one reserve manager from Asia, but “in the long run, the UK economy is expected to recover with economic fundamentals remaining steady”.

........"

SpaceX boosts jobs!

https://futurism.com/elon-musks-spacex-just-announced-hundreds-of-open-positions/

All systems go at SpaceX http://www.spacex.com/careers/list Add that to overtaking GM and Ford for Tesla in Mkt.Cap and Hyperloop going to the next stage of testing, then that is trains, planes (rockets) and automobiles covered for the next century, along with a few hundred jobs of the future http://www.spacex.com/careers/list

Next its the human brain that go into these things that get the boost http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21719774-do-human-beings-need-embrace-brain-implants-stay-relevant-elon-musk-enters #NeuralLace . Much more than just internet via your mobile or laptop with a touch of AI and caffeine or mind enhancing drugs thrown in. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuralink

Friday, April 07, 2017

Spain from boom to bust and back again? maybe!

A good read and view of comparative data and charts from spain, germany, france, uk and italy!

https://www.ft.com/content/254bb8a8-1940-11e7-a53d-df09f373be87

"Some believe the changes go even deeper. Sandra Gómez, a 31-year-old Socialist who became deputy mayor of Valencia two years ago, argues that her generation has learnt a bitter lesson. Too young to carry any blame for the bubble, but not young enough to escape the bust, young Spaniards have been the big losers of the lost decade.

“There is more awareness of how difficult it is to find work if you are not prepared. Everyone knows that you have to study, that you have to train and that you have to work hard. And that you must never choose the easy path,” says Ms Gómez. “I think my generation, the one that lived through all of this, we will not make the same mistakes.”"

Norway’s $910bn oil fund, which on average owns 1.3 per cent of every listed company in the world

An interesting view on the exec team and future incentives!

https://www.ft.com/content/f04af412-1ace-11e7-bcac-6d03d067f81f

Monday, April 03, 2017

Tesla in 2017 30% mkt cap grown in q1!

After years of blogginf about Elon Musk, SpaceX, Tesla and Hyperloop and now even more so on the AI and existential issues, it starting to look like Tesla will have their mainstream break through this year will a lower cost mass market model. Good Luck to them, can wait to revisit these posts in 2020 and 2030!

https://www.ft.com/content/c0efb106-17ec-11e7-9c35-0dd2cb31823a

Going mainstream, and not just as the low emission leader!! 

"Tesla’s shares stood at $278.30 at Friday’s market close, up 30 per cent from the beginning of the year."