An unsolicited offer from Alexa this week prompted my discovery to the extent of Amazon’s and Google’s violation of my privacy and the marketing power Amazon will achieve if allowed to acquire One Medical and iRobot.
Technology
Mary Barra Mocks Mayor Pete’s Road Safety Plans
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg claims he wants to improve road safety in America, and recently announced $800 million in taxpayer giveaways to various cities and towns to finance infrastructure improvements. If Buttigieg was genuinely serious about improving road safety, he would heed mounting warnings from transportation safety officials and automotive reviewers and call for an immediate ban of GM’s Hummer EV.
That GM CEO Mary Barra aims to profit from such a monster vehicle whose brakes are widely regarded as inadequate, suggests a certain moral and ethical depravity.
China’s Ballooning Michigan EV Battery Plants
Michigan taxpayers appear on the verge of subsidizing a joint venture between Ford and a China-owned battery company that Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin wanted no part of.
“I would have loved to have had Ford come to Virginia and build a battery plant if they were not using it as a front for a company that is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party,” Youngkin said on Bloomberg TV.
Google’s Fired Workers Reaped What They Sowed
Some thoughts on Google firing employees via email, the MLK cluelessness PageDuty CEO Jennifer Tejada and Corewell Health CEO Tina Freese Decker share, and my relief learning that legendary hockey player Paul Henderson just celebrated his 80th birthday.
A Primer on EV Alternatives to Elon Musk’s Tesla
The media has declared the Tesla brand is dead, thanks to Elon Musk’s Twitter antics. As a public service for those who refuse to buy a Tesla in protest, I’ve prepared a primer on some alternative electric vehicles and some details about the people and companies that make them.
The Stress & Zen of Living Without Email
When my email was disabled more than a week ago, I initially felt disconnected from the world. By day 3 of the disruption, I felt more connected than I felt in a very long time.
My experience as one of the tens of thousands who mistakenly trusted Rackspace Technology to host and secure our emails.
Elon Musk’s War on Entitled Twitter Workers
The New York Times reported on Friday that Twitter “teeters on the edge” after 1,200 employees resigned rather than accept Elon Musk’s demand to accept a “hardcore” work culture. Perhaps that’s true, but if Musk is successful transforming Twitter into a profitable company with less than half its previous workforce, it will further underscore how tech company valuations are grossly inflated.
It hurts to admit this, but here’s why I’m rooting for Musk.
Beware of the Smartest Guys in the Room
The collapse of crypto exchange FTX serves as yet another reminder as to why the public should be wary of executives the media peddles as geniuses, particularly when they profess to adhere to the highest standards of morals and ethics.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s Hocus Pocus Crypto
How’s this for a modern-day version of the sitcom hit “Friends?”: A group of tech nerds are given $2 billion by some of the smartest people in Silicon Valley and Wall Street to create a crypto exchange. Instead of living in a Manhattan apartment they live in a $30 million, five-bedroom penthouse in a luxury residential complex in the Bahamas. To spice things up, some of these friends formerly dated each other.
A far-fetched plot? This is just a smattering of the real-life story about the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried. Here’s the FTX scandal explained for those who don’t understand cryptocurrency and some info on critical people the media has so far ignored or glossed over.
Rest assured, this will make one heck of a Hollywood movie.
Karma Bites Back Elon Musk with a Vengeance
I’ve tired of Elon Musk, and I suspect I’m not alone in my weariness. While I’d never bet against the Chief Twit, he would be wise to watch himself. The universe is sending him a message.