Bots are everywhere.  Using a mix of algorithms, retailers can tailor bot messages to our interests.  With improved technology, bots are not only invading our social networks and emails, they are venturing into text messaging, an area relatively free from advertisers . (“Moving Me

Bots, short for robots,  generate messages daily that constitute 60 percent of web traffic. The automated programs are all over the internet.  Some run free but others wait for an “execute” command.  They come in different types like web crawlers, chat room bots, and malicious

In his essay for Foreign Affairs, Sean P. Larkin credits the explosion of surveillance technology with a new transparency in the world order. (“The Age of Transparency,” by Sean P. Larkin, Foreign Affairs May/June 2016, pg. 136.)  The ability to monitor human behavior — fro

Data dumps aren’t the sole province of whistle blowers like Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden.  In the name of transparency, our government unloads reams of data on a regular basis, so much so, that the search for specific information is like a forced to march though the dessert i

Encryption, which makes our electronic communications secure, is only as good as three things:  human nature, human nature, and human nature.  After Edward Snowden leaked information about government surveillance on our citizenry, Congress amended the USA Freedom Act to end NSA’s

Surveillance tools are everywhere.  Another device is coming soon to a store near you: software that identifies individual faces in a crowd.  Walk through Macy’s one afternoon and you may hear a message telling you your favorite cologne is on sale.  And those greeters with their

Artificial intelligence mirrors the many faces of being human.  Our creations can be vicious and cruel as in The Terminator or curious and compassionate as in Wall-E.  They can destroy our word as in The Matrix,  betray us as in Ex Machina or give us a glimpse of miraculous possibi

Self-driving cars will change the lives of older Americans, though they may not know it yet. Joseph Coughlin, director of MIT’s AgeLab says “Younger people tend to trust technology without verifying it, while older people want to understand what’s happening.” (“Will Seniors

“…few people realize just how much information algorithms can cull from their routine activity on Facebook and Twitter.”  So writes Johannes Eichstaedt as he reveals the types of research that’s going on at social media sites.  (“Stressed, Angry, at Risk? By Johannes C. Ei

Speed in technology is critical.  The theory is that if you can get your service or product to market faster than anyone else, you increase your customer base.  Deliver pizza 5 minutes faster than your competitor, and you win the race.  That’s why  Robert Safian, editor of F