In 1961, in his farewell address to the nation as our 34th President, Dwight Eisenhower warned that “we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.” (Click)  His words are often repeated, a reminder

Because the news is filled to overflowing with the surprising machinations of President, Donald Trump,  we might forgive the media for failing to fully expose the seditious acts originally purported to be the work of his disgruntled supporters, the Shadow Brokers*. (Click)  (“Seri

Unlike a declining number of people on the planet, I can remember when my life wasn’t documented.  I can recall researching the subject of ear wax at the library without finding my mailbox stuffed the next day with discount coupons for drops or scrapers to facilitate its removal. 

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

When I was 10, I found a land application for 1 square inch of the moon in my Cheerios cereal box.  The time was the 1940s, long before John F. Kennedy had a gleam in his eyes to send Neil Armstrong into the stratosphere. As I was fascinated with astronomy, I jumped  at the chance t

One of the mixed blessings of the technological age is that we are trained to think in statistics and ratings figures.  A computer can measure and quantify large numbers, so, today, almost anything can be ranked, even the trivial.  “On a scale of 1- 10, how would rate your last oi

“Consuming the world is not the same as understanding it.” So writes Charles King in, “The Decline of International Studies,” (Foreign Affairs, July/August 2015 pg.92.) The United States leads in technology and data mining, which includes NSA and private companies like Datamin

Every once in a while, my stockbroker and I have lunch.  We don’t necessarily do it to adjust my investments.  We get together to solve the world’s financial problems.  Right now, the world, according to my broker, looks glum.  He’s especially annoyed with Greece for not pay

While Edward Snowden continues to live a productive life in Russia, he remains an outlaw in his own country.  If he were to return to the United States, he would be prosecuted for revealing government secrets even though a federal court has ruled that the National Security Agency (NS

“Don’t expect Congress to protect you against all possible data invasions,” says Sergey Feldman, a data scientist, when asked to comment on “deep learning,” the latest frontier in computing. (“Do Androids Dream of Electric Lolocats?” by Dana Liebelson, Mother Jones, Sept