September 28 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

Clive Hamilton, the executive director of The Australia Institute, has published a wonderful thought piece in The Sydney Morning Herald. In it, Hamilton suggests that:

“While we stigmatise fat people, perhaps they are behaving normally in a sick social environment. The answer then is not diets, drugs and surgery but a wholesale change in the culture of consumption, which itself is a reaction to the emptiness of affluence.

Maybe we need a new organisation, Overconsumers Anonymous, to provide us all with a 12-step plan in which we first must admit we have lost control and then submit ourselves to a higher power. It may turn out to be a less painful way of coping with our addiction to stuff than being swallowed up by consumer debt when the economy turns sour.” Click here for more.

Contrasting this presentation (indeed, any honest presentation for that matter) of Western society with the trials and tribulations of less wealthy nations and the question begs, how equipped are we as a society to face adversity?

Although there is a sentiment among many that humans are exceptionally resilient, are those who have known no hardships beyond over-consumption really able to face catastrophe?

We are prone as a society to accept so-called social sicknesses with compassion, often blinding us from asking what the long-term effects of such conditions will have on the wider social fabric. Our growing inability to look at these human problems objectively is preventing us from asking serious questions about our future safety as a species.

In the immediate future alone, over-consumption threatens the world’s limited fresh water supply and is already destroying ecosystems. This is to say nothing of the impact our current spoiled state will have on our ability to overcome the challenges that will undoubtedly follow as a result of the environmental changes brought on by over-consumption.

It’s an ugly reality, to be sure, but one that needs considering nonetheless.

Posted in Health Preparedness, Asia | No Comments »

September 27 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

Here is a very interesting concept. Daryl Mason has been writing and publishing an on-line novel “set in Sydney, after the bird flu pandemic.” The story centres around 300 survivors. New chapters are posted frequently.

This is a very exciting exercise. Most people prefer to avoid considering what the future might be like should things turn ugly. Unfortunately, anything is possible and even the worst eventualities must be considered to ensure survival of the species. Perhaps if more people like Daryl took to wondering what tomorrow has in store we would be better prepared for what might be awaiting us.

Posted in Disaster Management, Health Preparedness, Asia | No Comments »

September 26 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

It’s nice to see that biometric firms are improving technologies all the time. If the databases that store user information could be enhanced a useful solution might be at our fingertips…

If you’re using your cell phone in Japan right now, there’s a good chance that you have to swipe your finger over a thin gold bar like this in order to gain access.

You might also use one of these sensors to log into your PC or in place of a key to open your front door. And if you’re doing that, you’re probably not going to bother with your wallet the next time you buy a cup of coffee, paying instead by briefly holding your cell phone to an RF reader. The early adopters of fingerprint authentication are Japan and S. Korea, but Florida-based AuthenTec is hoping to make the technology ubiquitous.

If this seems crazy to you, you’re not alone. A major concern about fingerprint biometrics is the possibility of faking or transferring fingerprints. Or worse—in movies and reality alike, the bad guy has been known to cut off someone’s finger to get around the fingerprint security device.

But AuthenTec’s sensor aims to discourage the removal of fingers to gain secure access.

“It only reads live skin,” AuthenTec representative Brent Dietz says. “So you couldn’t cut off someone’s finger and then use it.” Dietz says other technologies only look at the finger’s surface, which can be adulterated by cuts, oily skin, or worn fingerprints. But this sensor (actually an RF scanner) looks at what Dietz calls the “true fingerprint” in the live skin deep beneath the surface—so deep that you can see individual pores. A lost or stolen phone becomes completely useless.” Click here for more.

Posted in Biometrics | No Comments »

September 25 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

The Business Standard has reported that:

“Canara Bank has launched its first mobile biometric ATM to enable people in rural areas have access to banking facilities. RBI Deputy Governor Usha Thorat inaugurated the unit in Devanahalli, on the outskirts of Bangalore, on Thursday. The bank plans to launch nine more mobile ATMs in the next few months.

Each mobile ATM is powered by a hand-held device to capture finger impressions, RFID-enabled smart cards and also has a customer lobby with information on the bank’s various products.” Click here for more.

The deployment of such emerging technology is exciting, however, questions remain around how such sensitive data will be protected. Although the authentication process is being enhanced through the use of biometrics, one has to wonder what improvements have been done to protect user information, which would undoubtedly be stored in some form of computer database.

It isn’t enough to just enhance authentication, improvements must be made to the way we protect the data used for this process too.

Posted in Biometrics, Asia | No Comments »

September 25 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

The IMF has warned that “the global credit crisis is not over, and its effects will be long lasting.”

Several central banks have opted to lower interest rates as a result of this global credit crunch, allowing for strained borrowers and lenders to refinance loans with new rates. Although, this could help keep economies afloat in the interim, refinancing undesirable loans is a band-aid approach only staving off the inevitable economic fallout of such poor lending practices.

With this in mind, it will be interesting to watch what unfolds in the coming months. It is likely that the U.S. will continue moving into a deep recession, from which it will be hard pressed to emerge. The situation is far more serious than the usual interest shuffle game can solve. Unfortunately, the impact will be immense and, as usual, affect the average person more than anyone else.

Posted in Economic Issues, North America | No Comments »

September 24 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

TVO aired a wonderful documentary last night entitled “A World Without Water.” The film, by True Vision, reveals the impact of water scarcity on average people.

An unthinkable deprivation once seemingly far removed affecting only the poorest of countries, water scarcity will soon effect even the wealthy West. Indeed, for the disenfranchised living in some wealthier nations water scarcity is already a reality.

Despite our tendency to waste considerable amounts of water, it is not an unlimited resource. Even the means by which water now so easily enters our homes is subject to limitations, infrastructure does and is deteriorating. The costs of maintaining or replacing decaying infrastructure is avoided by many public institutions through the privatization of water systems. Leaving many people who cannot afford the costs associated with accessing a private water supply in the lurch.

As water is a resource that humans cannot live without, conflicts between those without water and those who possess it should be anticipated in the years to come. Of course, such wars are entirely avoidable by striving for a balance between the haves and the have-nots. It seems unlikely, however, that any politician will even attempt to lead his or her voting public in such undesirable cutbacks.

Posted in Water Issues | No Comments »

September 21 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

IT World Canada has published a great article on innovation killing and what not to do alternatively.

“Innovation may be the obvious business mandate, but plenty of companies are guilty of creating a culture where a good idea has as much opportunity to take root as most of us have of winning the lottery. What gives?

For starters, the creative process can be fragile and requires support and nurturing. That can be tough in today’s fear-inducing environment of rapid technological change and marketplace competition—but it also makes innovation essential. So take a journey through our list of innovation killers, and find out if your company is crushing good ideas or allowing growth and change to flourish.” Click here for more.

Posted in Politics | No Comments »

September 20 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

Frank Shaw has published an insightful commentary on his blog about “some of the challenges and opportunities of trying to recreate or create a system of social identity as we plunge headlong into online community and social networks in a faster and faster way.”

“Mostly, privacy today is a thin shield that is easily pierced. We do have some control over the way we build up or strip down our own privacy shields, but anyone who has casually built a MySpace or Facebook page or set up a blog site has left digital footprints that are going to be very hard to get rid of. Even the NYT decision to expose more of their archives in a way that pops higher in search results fuels this. So the lesson: Say something online, be prepared to eat those words forever.

Second, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Photo tagging, YouTube videos, the ability for non-techie people to take video and stream online means that even people who have gone out of their way to stay offline or to carefully monitor what goes online can no be captured, uploaded, tagged and identified pretty easily. Dave Winer wrote about this last month. Plus, because of point 1 (things that go online stay online) as we figure things out our mistakes will be highly visible for a long time.

Third, the mainstream media will, by and large, continue to miss the point. It’s really not about predators and blackmail, but the preservation and analysis of our virtual footprints and what they mean/don’t mean about us. It’s not the *single* event that is newsworthy, it’s the combined set of events that we need to deal with.

Finally, the focus on starting by better tuning the ability to control what is exposed via social networking sites is the right place to start. There is no doubt that a huge amount of personal data is now being shared on Facebook and other sites, and the default settings are, to put it mildly, “open.” If these aren’t fixed (and I’m sort of skeptical they will be, since the road to revenue is via shared personal information for a site like Facebook), the not only will things get worse before they get better, but they might just not get better.” Click here for more.

Posted in Identity Management | No Comments »

September 19 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

CanWest News Service reported last week that “Biometric technology could be used to identify voters at the ballot box without requiring Muslim women to remove facial veils, but setting up a nation-wide system would be expensive and risks disenfranchising many electors.” Beyond the costs, the difficulties of securing a centralized system with access points at every voting booth should prevent such an implementation of biometrics.

If such a system is only being considered to answer problems stemming from requiring women to remove the veil, a simpler and less costly solution would be to ensure that a separate room manned by a female electoral representative is available to check the identification of veiled voters.

Posted in Biometrics | No Comments »

September 17 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

The Ottawa citizen reported last week that 57% of Canadians surveyed by the Association of Canadian Studies believed police should have the right to use wiretaps. While it is encouraging that despite the implementation of drastic and sometimes senseless national security measures since 9/11 Canadians continue to put unquestioning faith in the system, such confidence should be treated delicately.

Although Canada currently does not have separate legislation regulating Lawful Access, wiretapping mandated by a warrant is a legal tool used by law enforcement agencies. There should be nothing startling in this revelation. Indeed, many democratic countries have used wiretapping as an investigative tool for decades, Canada included.

What is alarming with regards to the current discussions around Lawful Access in Canada is not the need for special legislation regulating the use of wiretapping but the lack of disclosure around data supporting the need for increasing the scope of such capabilities. While there are few that would dispute the need for strong Lawful Access legislation, the shape such a measure should take remains contentious without disclosure of current wiretapping usage statistics.

To date there has been no public provision of data documenting the following:

1. The number of times wiretapping or requests for customer information are being made, broken down by requesting organization as well as type of request;
2. Whether the request for a warrant or customer information was refused and why;The nature of crime or circumstance why such requests are being made;
3. Type of technology being intercepted and whether the surveillance attempt was successful; &
4. Direct correlation as to the usefulness of the request with closing the investigation as well as prosecution of the target.

Until such time as the above data is made publicly available any talk of Lawful Access legislation in Canada is baseless.

Canadian legislators should weigh in very carefully around the issue of Lawful Access. Although Canadians today are supportive in enabling law enforcement, long term implications of poorly designed security measures can significantly alter current attitudes. Despite being responsible for upholding the law, some Canadian police officers have proven to be just as human as the rest of us. Such innate flaws need to be seriously considered before sweeping new measures are implemented. Even normally subdued and law abiding Canadians can be compelled to take matters into their own hands if they feel that their interests are not being protected by the system.

Posted in Wiretapping & Surveillance, North America | 1 Comment »