In 2018, I did something that would make cautious investors cringe: With almost no savings to my name, I bought cryptocurrency. I don’t need to tell you that when you’re low on cash, whether you’ve got debt or are in your first job after university as I was, a get-rich-quick scheme is always more attractive… Read more »
Monthly Archives: April 2021
The hidden fingerprint inside your photos
Hidden information inside digital photos can reveal much more than photographers and their subjects bargain for. Just ask John McAfee, founder of the eponymous antivirus software. In 2012, he was on the run from the Belizean authorities in Central America. Reporters from Vice magazine tracked him down and published an image of him online, under the… Read more »
Scarcity Cred
Any firm that approaches $1T in value has tapped into a basic human instinct. Consuming, signalling, loving, and praying have been the fuel of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google’s ascents, respectively. That the crypto asset class universe has reached $2T reveals, I believe, that it taps into two attributes we instinctively pursue: trust and scarcity. Source: No… Read more »
‘There’s literally no limit’: NFTs could soon be used for cars, real estate: Experts
The first time most Canadians heard the term “non-fungible tokens” was likely after a recent blockbuster Christies auction for a piece of digital art. However, experts expect the technology to move far beyond the art world into everyday life — though nobody knows for sure how they will be used. NFTs — which are essentially… Read more »
‘We have your porn collection’: The rise of extortionware
Cyber-security companies are warning about the rise of so-called ‘extortionware’ where hackers embarrass victims into paying a ransom. Experts say the trend towards ransoming sensitive private information could affect companies not just operationally but through reputation damage. It comes as hackers bragged after discovering an IT Director’s secret porn collection. The targeted US firm has… Read more »
Remote working: Is Big Tech going off work from home?
On Wednesday last week, Google’s Fiona Cicconi wrote to company employees. She announced that Google was bringing forward its timetable of moving people back into the office. As of 1 September, she said, employees wishing to work from home for more than 14 days would have to apply to do so. Employees were also expected to… Read more »
The computers rejecting your job application
Frankly, it was a little stressful to know that my application was being judged by a computer and not by a human being. A professional journalist, I had recently applied for a new job, and for the first part of the recruitment process the publisher made me play a number of simple online games from… Read more »
Finance Department sees issues with Facebook’s digital currency, documents show
Internal Finance Department documents show officials have deep concerns about the effect of Facebook’s planned digital currency on Canada’s financial stability. Officials wrote in the briefing note last summer that they believed the social media company had yet to address multiple concerns and risks its digital currency posed to the financial system. The July briefing… Read more »
Why your face could be set to replace your bank card
Sara Stewart strolls into a small Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles and orders a torta, a type of sandwich. To pay she simply looks at her reflection in a small LCD screen attached to the cashier’s counter. Then to add her preferred amount of tip she flashes a quick peace sign at the monitor. The… Read more »
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