My Way News - Vietnam Internet users fear Facebook blackout
My Way News reports: "Vietnam's growing legions of Facebook users fear that the country's communist government might be blocking the popular social networking Web site, which has become difficult to access over the past few weeks."
2009/11/17
2009/11/16
At Checkout, More Ways to Avoid Handling Cash or Plastic - NYTimes.com
The New York Times reports: "Instead of leather wallets, consumers could, sooner than they think, carry virtual wallets, with their credit card and bank information stored on remote computers that are accessible everywhere and anytime. They could use them whenever they want to buy something, whether on the Web, on cellphones or at cash registers."
Comment: Here is an interesting report that looks at new ways of making payments, methods that exist now, and methods that may soon exist. It's a good report that takes stock of where we are on the way towards a cashless society.
The New York Times reports: "Instead of leather wallets, consumers could, sooner than they think, carry virtual wallets, with their credit card and bank information stored on remote computers that are accessible everywhere and anytime. They could use them whenever they want to buy something, whether on the Web, on cellphones or at cash registers."
Comment: Here is an interesting report that looks at new ways of making payments, methods that exist now, and methods that may soon exist. It's a good report that takes stock of where we are on the way towards a cashless society.
2009/11/04
My Way News - A growing PayPal could soon overshadow parent eBay
My Way News reports: "PayPal bills itself as a shopper's online wallet. Users set up accounts and link them to bank accounts and credit cards, making it easy to transfer cash into the account. Then users can make payments through PayPal using either their cash balances or the underlying credit card. PayPal users can also send cash to someone based on as little information as an e-mail address or cell phone number [...] this week PayPal opened its system to third-party developers, which will mean PayPal can be built in to all sorts of applications. For instance, an iPhone app could let consumers order a pizza and pay for it with PayPal."
Comment: I think that Google is going to be a much bigger competitor than they imagine, but let's see how this shakes out. The trend though is clear, we are moving toward a world of digital transactions. Swiping a credit card is 20th Century technology, paying online with the click of a mouse or using your cell phone is the save of the future. The farther we get from physical cash the more our financial system will be based on digital data and that means he who controls the data controls the money.
My Way News reports: "PayPal bills itself as a shopper's online wallet. Users set up accounts and link them to bank accounts and credit cards, making it easy to transfer cash into the account. Then users can make payments through PayPal using either their cash balances or the underlying credit card. PayPal users can also send cash to someone based on as little information as an e-mail address or cell phone number [...] this week PayPal opened its system to third-party developers, which will mean PayPal can be built in to all sorts of applications. For instance, an iPhone app could let consumers order a pizza and pay for it with PayPal."
Comment: I think that Google is going to be a much bigger competitor than they imagine, but let's see how this shakes out. The trend though is clear, we are moving toward a world of digital transactions. Swiping a credit card is 20th Century technology, paying online with the click of a mouse or using your cell phone is the save of the future. The farther we get from physical cash the more our financial system will be based on digital data and that means he who controls the data controls the money.
2009/10/21
Unique ID to soon become 'pervasive & ubiquitous'- The Economic Times
The Economic Times reports: "The proposed Unique Identification Number could eventually become mandatory, as it may be required for making a passport, getting Nandan Nilekani driving licence and opening a bank account. Though the 16-digit Unique Identification Number will not give citizenship rights, it will be used for identifying Indian citizens. At present, UID is completely voluntary, but it will become 'pervasive and ubiquitous' later, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chairman Nandan Nilekani was quoted as saying by a news agency."
Comment: India is getting into the national ID card biz and setting itself up as a major test of how to store data and track the interactions of hundreds of millions of numbered citizens.
The Economic Times reports: "The proposed Unique Identification Number could eventually become mandatory, as it may be required for making a passport, getting Nandan Nilekani driving licence and opening a bank account. Though the 16-digit Unique Identification Number will not give citizenship rights, it will be used for identifying Indian citizens. At present, UID is completely voluntary, but it will become 'pervasive and ubiquitous' later, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chairman Nandan Nilekani was quoted as saying by a news agency."
Comment: India is getting into the national ID card biz and setting itself up as a major test of how to store data and track the interactions of hundreds of millions of numbered citizens.
2009/10/15
My Way News - Google to launch platform for selling books online
My Way News reports: "Google will try to keep transactions simple, Turvey said, possibly by using its existing Google Checkout platform. Google will collect 55 percent of the revenue and turn a 'vast majority' of that to the retailers. The rest will go to the book's publisher, who will set prices."
Comment: Google is everywhere and soon the Google Checkout payment platform will be everywhere as well. We won't need a world currency, we will just be able to use Google on our smart phones, netbooks, personal computers and laptops.
My Way News reports: "Google will try to keep transactions simple, Turvey said, possibly by using its existing Google Checkout platform. Google will collect 55 percent of the revenue and turn a 'vast majority' of that to the retailers. The rest will go to the book's publisher, who will set prices."
Comment: Google is everywhere and soon the Google Checkout payment platform will be everywhere as well. We won't need a world currency, we will just be able to use Google on our smart phones, netbooks, personal computers and laptops.
2009/10/08
My Way News - Police stop more than 1 million people on street
My Way News reports: "Police in major U.S. cities stop and question more than a million people each year - a sharply higher number than just a few years ago. Most are black and Hispanic men. Many are frisked, and nearly all are innocent of any crime, according to figures gathered by The Associated Press."
Comment: Welcome to police-state America. I wish we could go back to the good-old-days when the criminals committed the crimes and the police caught them. Now the police harass citizens before the crimes are committed...and apparently it's legal. Has it ever occurred to anyone that if you are not free to commit a crime then you are not free? This is why God gave humans free will. Freedom means you can do the the right thing, or not. If you combine this stop-and-frisk policy with the UK's CCTV cameras it would be possible to deter a great amount of street crime, but at what cost? Would you rather live free in an unsafe world, or not free in a safe crime-free world? This is the question confronting citizens in the West, a West that used to value freedom and liberty above all else. Public safety is not an end that justifies any means. Just remember, there is no "Right to be Safe" in the U.S. Constitution.
My Way News reports: "Police in major U.S. cities stop and question more than a million people each year - a sharply higher number than just a few years ago. Most are black and Hispanic men. Many are frisked, and nearly all are innocent of any crime, according to figures gathered by The Associated Press."
Comment: Welcome to police-state America. I wish we could go back to the good-old-days when the criminals committed the crimes and the police caught them. Now the police harass citizens before the crimes are committed...and apparently it's legal. Has it ever occurred to anyone that if you are not free to commit a crime then you are not free? This is why God gave humans free will. Freedom means you can do the the right thing, or not. If you combine this stop-and-frisk policy with the UK's CCTV cameras it would be possible to deter a great amount of street crime, but at what cost? Would you rather live free in an unsafe world, or not free in a safe crime-free world? This is the question confronting citizens in the West, a West that used to value freedom and liberty above all else. Public safety is not an end that justifies any means. Just remember, there is no "Right to be Safe" in the U.S. Constitution.
2009/10/06
Bar codes: an everyday example of the Nobel prizewinners' genius celebrated with a Google doodle today - guardian.co.uk
The Guardian reports: "Bar codes are celebrated with a Google doodle that honours a familiar application of the technology brought to us by winners of the Nobel prize for physics"
The Guardian reports: "Bar codes are celebrated with a Google doodle that honours a familiar application of the technology brought to us by winners of the Nobel prize for physics"
2009/09/11
My Way News - Arizona driver dons monkey masks to elude tickets
My Way News reports: "Arizona began deploying the stationary and mobile cameras on state highways a year ago, and through Sept. 4 had issued more than 497,000 tickets. Of those, about 132,000 recipients had paid the fine of $165 plus a 10 percent penalty, netting the state more than $23 million. Arizona is the first to deploy such technology on highways statewide."
Comment: Surveillance as a money-making scam. He should wear one of those masks from that British movie, be a rebel with a cause.
My Way News reports: "Arizona began deploying the stationary and mobile cameras on state highways a year ago, and through Sept. 4 had issued more than 497,000 tickets. Of those, about 132,000 recipients had paid the fine of $165 plus a 10 percent penalty, netting the state more than $23 million. Arizona is the first to deploy such technology on highways statewide."
Comment: Surveillance as a money-making scam. He should wear one of those masks from that British movie, be a rebel with a cause.
2009/09/10
My Way News - DNA pioneer appeals for cuts to criminal database
My Way News reports: "Britain's DNA database is the largest in the world, containing genetic profiles of more than 5 million people. Samples are taken from everyone arrested for a crime - and the information is usually retained even if the person is acquitted or freed without charge."
My Way News reports: "Britain's DNA database is the largest in the world, containing genetic profiles of more than 5 million people. Samples are taken from everyone arrested for a crime - and the information is usually retained even if the person is acquitted or freed without charge."
My Way News - Tech giants offer ideas on charging readers online
My Way News reports: "Google proposed offering news organizations a version of its Google Checkout system, which is used for processing online payments. It would give readers a place to sign in to an account and then pay for media from a variety of sources without having to punch in their information over and over. And the company says it could offer publishers a variety of pay methods, from basic subscriptions to so-called 'micropayments' on a per-article basis."
Comment: That's not mobile-commerce, you say? Well, the web is mobile, so any payment scheme on the web that you can access on your smart phone is similarly mobile. If payments can be made online with a single login and you have a mobile device with you, a mobile device that can combine GPS data, RFID product data and transmit payment data to the ubiquitous Google, then we have an instant global payment system without the hassle of funding any new infrastructure.
My Way News reports: "Google proposed offering news organizations a version of its Google Checkout system, which is used for processing online payments. It would give readers a place to sign in to an account and then pay for media from a variety of sources without having to punch in their information over and over. And the company says it could offer publishers a variety of pay methods, from basic subscriptions to so-called 'micropayments' on a per-article basis."
Comment: That's not mobile-commerce, you say? Well, the web is mobile, so any payment scheme on the web that you can access on your smart phone is similarly mobile. If payments can be made online with a single login and you have a mobile device with you, a mobile device that can combine GPS data, RFID product data and transmit payment data to the ubiquitous Google, then we have an instant global payment system without the hassle of funding any new infrastructure.
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