Security vs Privacy

Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014, 9am to 10:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

In January, we will explore the good and the bad of new technology. We will start the month with a discussion of how data mining used to increase our security has cost us our privacy. Here the two TED Talks that will be used as a basis for our discussion:

• Mikko Hypponen: How the NSA betrayed the world's trust -- time to act  - which explains what we knew was possible with current technologies has actually happened
• Alessandro Acquisti: Why privacy matters - which shows how much more is possible as current technologies are improved and combined

These videos will be shown at the meeting, but the speakers provide a lot of information so seeing they videos before the meeting will help.

Please come with suggestions on other fearful technologies that you would like to discuss in January.

Schedule for 2014Q1

We will try something different in 2014. Instead of spending two weeks on a topic, we will dedicate each month to a theme. That way we can announce the theme in advance but have some flexibility to change the topic as we go along. Here is what I am proposing for the first three months of 2014.

• January - New Technology, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• February - Challenges for the next generation
• March - "A Republic, if you can keep it"

January has five Thursdays, so we could let Skye give her presentation on Afghanistan on one of the Thursdays that meets her schedule. Certainly one of other topics covered in January will be on how the new technologies affect privacy.

Vince wanted a discussion to help of understand what the kids today are interested in. We certainly can cover that during one of our meetings in February. Remember, I will be away on the third week in February, so I am looking for a volunteer to lead the discussion, on Feb. 20.

I will also be away on the first week in March. Tim will lead the discussion that week. He will be looking for topics on how we have strayed from our Democratic principles. This would be the time for Bill's topic on gun control, Ken's topic on local politics and Al's topic on religion in politics.

As for the topic of Education, it fits nicely under all three themes. So we may have several sessions on Education.

If I missed any of your favored topics please let me know.

Planning for Next Year

Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013, 9am to 10:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

As we look back on our first four months and plan for next year, we should think of what worked and what we could do differently. To make our group successful, I need your input. You can make suggestions at our next meeting, or even better, share your ideas as a comment on this blog. You can make suggestions or comment on past meetings, including:

• New topics or themes
• Old topic we would like to revisit
• Showing a movie
• Using many short You Tube videos 
• Using a few TED Talks
• Using read aloud Kindle books

We need suggestions on how to make it easier to give people the opportunity to lead discussions. In any case, I will be away on travel on 2/20/14 and 3/6/14, so there will be two opportunities coming up.

If you feel that the group should set goals, here is your chance to start a discussion. As for my goals, they are best expressed in this TED talk.

Drones and Robots, Part 2

Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013, 9am to 10:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

We have examined  the use of drones and robots in war, so for next week we will look at how the same technology is being used in peace. There were three TED Talks about this subject which came out in the just last few months.

1. Lian Pin Koh: A drone's-eye view of conservation: As you watch this video see if you can count all the military technologies that are being used in this conservation effort. Contrast how drones are used in world collaboration as opposed to world conflict.
2. Andreas Raptopoulos: No roads? There’s a drone for that: Do you think this technology developed for sub-Saharan Africa was the inspiration for Bezo's proposed drone delivery system? Is there a delivery drone in your future?
3. Henry Evans and Chad Jenkins: Meet the robots for humanity: Why is this quadriplegic so happy? How important was the drone's "coolness" factor?

Drones and Robots

Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013, 9am to 10:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

For our next two meeting, we will explore the use of drones and robots, starting with the military and then migrating to commercial applications. The first meeting will focus on the increasing use of drones in combat and the possibility of autonomous drones that can kill without a human operator.  We will use the following TED Talks to start off the discussion:

• P.W. Singer: Military robots and the future of war
• Daniel Suarez: The kill decision shouldn't belong to a robot

Here is an excerpt from P.W. Singer's book, Wired for War:

When thinking about all this in the context of war, it is easy to see the attraction of building increasing levels of autonomy into military robots. The more autonomy a robot has, the less human operators have to support it. As one Pentagon report put it, “Having a dedicated operator for each robot will not pass the common sense test.” If robots don’t get higher on the autonomy scale, they don’t yield any cost or manpower savings. Moreover, it is incredibly difficult to operate a robot while trying to interpret and use the information it gathers. It can even get dangerous as it’s hard to operate a complex system while maintaining your own situational awareness in battle.

Look Ahead

After tomorrow's meeting, here is the schedule for the rest of the year:

• Nov. 28 - No meeting, Happy Thanksgiving
• Dec. 05 - Drones and Robots, Overview
• Dec. 12 - Drones and Robots, Zoom-In
• Dec. 19 - Open, Plan for next year
• Dec. 26 - No meeting, Merry Christmas

We can start a conversation on what we can do next year. Using the blog as a forum will let everybody participate. Tim has suggested the following:

PROPOSAL FOR “ZOOM-IN” DISCUSSION:

Title : Precursors to an Effective Democracy (aka. A Representative Democracy)

• Freedom of Religion
• Freedom of Speech
• Freedom of the Press
• Electoral System integrity
• Literacy beyond just functional literacy
• Universal Education (i.e. Ability to think and discern)
• Skills training
• Willingness to Compromise (essential to a democracy)
• Sense of Community (E Pluribus Unum)
• Economic System that promotes opportunity for all citizens
• Justice System that is impartial

Propose a discussion to determine:
• The accuracy and completeness of the Title.
• Judge the contemporary “health” of each precursor.
• The essential dependence of each precursor to each another.
• A consensus concerning which combination of precursors needs to be addressed first.
• Formulate an argument for such an effort.

Zoom-In on Tax Reform

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013, 9am to 10:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

In our last meeting we discussed the need for tax reform, but there are many barriers. The law makers are beholden to moneyed interest for campaign contributions. Lobbiest can weaken laws by adding hidden loopholes. Tax attorneys can help the rich exploit many tax shelters. Congress can cut the budgets of tax enforcement agencies.

Even if we were to pass the laws, close the loopholes and fund tax enforcement, we need international cooperation because of the global nature to the economy. Certainly other developed countries have similar problems and should want to cooperate, but many poor nations are willing to let their national sovereignty by used to setup tax havens. No tax reform will be effective unless the problems of tax havens are addressed.

For our Zoom-In meeting on tax reform, we will take a closer look that offshore tax havens. Here are four videos which will be used as background material for our discussion. As always, anyone is welcome to lead the discussion on any of these videos or any other videos that they find.

• How Tax Shelters Work
• Tax Havens 101 - the High Cost of Going Offshore
• Tax Havens - Investigating International Finance
• It's Time to Tackle Tax Havens

The last video leads to a website which suggests ways to take action against tax havens.