Catherine Crump: The small and surprisingly dangerous detail the police track about you

I recently watched a TED talk from Catherine Crump about how the United States police track you just from an automatic license plate tracker.  The automatic license plate scanner is mounted in several place across cities, and on police cars themselves.  The scanner takes a picture of license plates mounted on cars, converts them to text, and can then alert authorities to the license plates of known criminals.

The issue Catherine talks about, is how this seemingly innocuous tool is used to subvert the privacy of citizens. The tool doesn't just collect data about criminal plates, but every plate that it encounters.  This let's the government have access to a large amount of private data that it shouldn't have.  Catherine notes an example where a person asked the police what data they had on his own license plate number, and they were able to tell him where he went, what he did, and who he was with.

Catherine amounts this type of behavior as spying on private citizens, and I tend to agree.  Police have been seen to use this tool to note which people go into mosques, and who have attended protests.  This allows them to build profiles for people to watch, most of whom are just going about their day.  She posits that this allows for an unprecedented amount of power for the government, and is a civil liberties threat.

This is honestly a terrifying watch as a US citizen, and I would recommend people give it a listen just to stay informed.  The link to the talk is here:

3D Printing - I can't wait

I was recently watching a TED talk about the current and potential future uses of 3D printing (link), and it got me excited about the possibilities.  This particular TED talk featured Avi Reichental, who brought an interesting perspective on the topic.  He posited that 3D printing will bring us closer to the type of manufacturing that we had before the industrial revolution, when everything is hand made.  Because products can be created at industrial speeds and customized on the fly, the "Assembly Line" look need not exist.

3D printing is the process of using computer modeling software (like CAD) and presenting the 3D model to physical machine called a 3D printer.  This device uses a robot arm, to lay down material (usually plastic) that follows the dimensions of the software model.  This allows anyone with computer modelling abilities to create any kind of 3D object they want or need.  Right now there are still limitations, chief among them being cost, but the technology is improving at break neck speeds.

First 3D Printed Cookie Cutters, then 3D Printed Cookies! Source: http://www.brit.co/we-tried-it-3d-printed-cookie-cutters/

I can't wait for the day where I press a button and any delicious food i could want is at my fingertips.  Of course, there are all kinds of more pressing and practical uses (medical, dental, military), but I'll be damned if instant food isn't the thing I'm most excited about.

Social Media - Versus! (Pizza Hut vs T-Mobile)

As social media is becoming more omnipresent, businesses are learning that it's a powerful tool for building their brand.  I wanted to bring to your attention two companies that are excelling with their social media programs, and highlight how different (but effective) they are.

The first company is Pizza Hut.  They take a someone novel approach in their marketing by being overtly goofy and weird. They have a heavy focus on twitter, spending most of the time making quirky jokes, but they always manage to sneak the brand in there.

Images Copyright Pizza Hut

This does well to capture the attention of younger people, or even just people with well developed humor glands.  The quirky jokes and occasional announcements are enough to keep people following them and reminding them that there is a pizza place that will feed them and make them laugh.

T-Mobile takes a very different approach, but it's no less effective. They use facebook and twitter to help build a community.  They use social events to keep people active and focused on the t-mobile brand, increasing consumer good will at the same time.

Images Copyright T-Mobile

Of course, they also use these feeds to announce new products, which is great news for the people who follow them (especially young people).

These two companies are just an example of what you can do with social media to improve your business.  It's definitely an exciting time to be an advertiser.