FBI Russian Hackers Foiled: A Couple of Simple Tips for Business

Hacking is becoming a way of life and a lucrative business for those computer geeks that didn't have much of a childhood life. Geekdom has now become part of international espionage in terms of gaining information and money from unsuspecting victims. Companies must deal with these threats all the time and that can be extremely costly in terms of IT staff and potential consumer data loss. So knowing what types of activities are going on in the cyber word is pretty important for those that work within the IT fields. 

You can gain more information from Justice Department Announces Court-Authorized Disruption of Botnet Controlled by the Russian Federation’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU)

If you have a business your going to need to protect consumer information as much as you can. Information is valuable and people (governments) want that information to exploit different types of weaknesses to gain advantage. Sometimes that is for money while at other times they may have a political point (Lots of other reasons as well.) Consumers are rarely happy when they learn their data is up for sale to the sleaziest bidder because the store they have been loyal to for the past decade was all too happy to gain the information to make a sale but not so happy to protect that data (Its praying upon unsuspecting victims). .

You can gain some insight on how you can protect your business in Nine Practical Ways To Protect Your Company From Hackers And Phishing Attacks (Ok...I recognize that the article is 1 year old and in the tech industry that might seem like decades ago. So yestercode! My generation was the first to have computers so we still remember some of the older coding languages like Fortran and Colbol that allowed us to bounce a ball around the screen. I don't remember any of it but super cutting edge back then. 😎😏 However, most companies are pretty far behind the curve so this isn't that old for them. This seems to be another reason why technology needs to be disseminated faster from university discovery to industry practical use. Kind of part of a rapid innovation cluster concept I been thinking about.)

Increasingly, governments are using hacking (through proxy hacking groups) to gain information and shut down important online sites and physical structure. We have a responsibility to update our technological economic system to create one of the most large scale advanced digital era economies. COVID gave us the nudge but our environmental pressures are likely to push us into full development. I'm sort of curious about 2023/24 transition period and if digital GDP growth will be experienced.

 

Minneapolis Police Officer Won’t Be Charged In Deadly Amir Locke Shooting

 There has been a lot of discussion on policing in today's world and let me say I have seen the best and the worst of it. When we have situations like this there is going to be inflamed passions and arguments. People who line up for and against policing. This is a different kind of case as someone is holding a gun and that sort of changes the scenario of things. Everything gets heightened. It will be hard for some to get over this and I think we all feel some sadness when another life is lost (We as a society failed in some ways. Amirs life was important and I think of all the possibilities that a person could be.  Instead...there is death and that stops those possibilities permanently. 😢). However, it would be hard to blame this on anyone specifically (i.e. the officer) based upon what has been presented as most of us are likely to have reacted in this way under similar circumstances (The warrant itself and the method might be a completely different issue and we will have to wait to see what happens with civil filings. That appears to be a policy issue but may not specifically apply to this officer but could force change in how such warrants are served. There are risks involved so looking at information and historical data will tell us the success or failure of certain policies. Reviews are necessary feedback loops.  When done well we may be able to improve training and adjust policies to protect police lives, the "alleged" and those who are innocent bystanders. Sometimes we can find a better way while sometimes we can't. Yet if we don't know because we never took a macro look then we simply never looked. I think in this way we could start taking a local and national or international review at what is working and apply that as a standard. ) When things go bad we are talking about fractions of a second to think and respond. Barely enough time for the brain and hand to interact. Its sad and that doesn't take away from the need to continuously improve policing in this country. I support police and the concerns of protestors 100% and there is lots of room for honest discussion and growth. We can pray for a better tomorrow and we can pray our leaders see a need for shared solutions. Its a big and important issue if we want to stay competitive over the next few decades and likely a long time into the future. We need a common vision

Raphael the Renaissance Painter: Discovering and Foster U.S. Genius

 Raphael was a famous figure of the high Renaissance time. I didn't not know this but apparently he was one of the more productive geniuses of his time. He is well known for his paintings. You can gain an understand of his work in Raphael review – the Renaissance master who made saints and virgins glow. You can also see art pieces at UKs National Gallery. during April, 2022 (I need some super cheap tickets! 😢). 

We have all these very smart people form our past and the only difference between them and the gifted geniuses in the U.S. today is discovery (Most programs are probably not run by gifted either. There are fundamental differences that they might not know.). Many of our gifted programs are located in wealthy schools and with students that likely have high IQs, and elite education, make it into these programs. The vast majority of gifted kids are buried in their poverty, community, mundaneness and social expectations. A waste of U.S. human and intellectual capital!

Here is some information on the National Association for Gifted Kids. (I can't vouch for the organizations but I suspect they would take donations.) I try and donate a little through a learning lab business (Escanaba Polo Mallet Company) as well as other causes like orphans, rescue horses, etc... I think many of these kids have a tough life with the "gifted curse" and unless developed we are not only wasting opportunities but also limiting their lives. Oh wait!!! Were still focused on the needs of our generation! 

Why Values Are Still Important: A Few Things About Life and Society

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We talk a lot about values but sometimes suffer from a lack of enacted values. We are a big society and are often anonymized by the hundreds if not thousands of people we see every day. The behaviors we have responsibility over are sometimes left to the side when convenient. Having values is important for rejuvenating our sense societal cohesion. Lack of enacted values will likely have the opposite impact on social cohesion (and a unified sense of national purpose.)

There are a few people I have met over the years who not only talk about their values but actually live by them. They seem to be a little different, slightly more insightful, considerate and developed souls that have seen lots of life and came to some conclusions.

They are the soft whispers of wisdom that encourage of the rest of us to be better. Intuitively they know some people won't be able to incorporate and display high values but they have the persistence to live their values in a genuine way.

That is different than talking about values but doing the opposite when opportunities should have turned these fluffy words into lived and enacted values. I disagree with some opinion makers that indicate that there are more of these hypocritical value emulators today but I do agree that we have become confused about the benefit of these basic values. Maybe even more confused about when to apply them.

I've seen the power of incivility and hate being honored and sanctioned in society while honesty and values snuffed out by indifference and sometimes condemning disdain. It can be subjective where and when values are enacted and praised or when lack of values are cherished. Some value others and some value just themselves.

The concept of universalizing our values means that the principles of values apply across different cultures and peoples universally (You only know this if you have the experience to know the deep similarities between people.). The same acts and values are essentially the same for different people (Stealing is illegal in most societies but how that is defined/laws are often society specific.).

We can't subjectively apply our values to help our friends/race/religion and switch those values when someone is seen as different and still maintain with integrity the fabrics of society over the long term. Its an inherent block where different rules for different people apply. Such different values and treatments lead to perceptually different societies and of course increased societal clash/conflict. This is one reason why I encourage our institutions (govt, law enforcement, schools, etc...)  to have basic shared values that apply universally to everyone that is an American. (See Universalism). 

I think the good news is that we were sort of forced to be more aware of our indifference to certain central values through the pains of the pandemic and rise of extremism. We have opted to take a few minutes to think about who we are and where we are going; as a nation as individuals. I advocate for a universal Americanism and believe that is the path through the fog of short-sighted ethnic, ideological and religious differences that often lead to different values, laws, and outcomes. 

Top general urges more US troops in eastern Europe: Rotating Basis

Its an interesting concept to increase mobility of troops and create additional staging bases. No doubt we are much more mobile than we were in the past and we are also going to increasingly be more mobile. Bases are likely to be hard infrastructure mixed with highly mobile self-sufficient forces. That will also require some adjustments in how we think of supply chain issues and movement of resources from multiple bases to concentrate in certain key areas within a short period of time (and of course readjust when conflicts change and force needs to be somewhere else). Other questions of course open about how fortified will these bases be and will we have more staging basis with mobile troops around the world? Does the cost decrease if we move less families, have shorter stay times, but more bases? For example, we only need a small contingent force somewhere in the world and would we have a smaller multi-use base there which we can rotate smaller forces through and move them quickly somewhere else if needed?  Could we form larger battalions within a day or two by moving around smaller contingent forces/units? Ideas for consumption. Kind of interesting concept to think about. 🤔

$5 Billion in Bipartisan Michigan Investment in Infrastructure, Jobs, and Investing

$5 billion in bipartisan investments are to be utilized to improve infrastructure, jobs and investment opportunities. Part of that plan is expenditures to affordable housing and internet expansion (I've given up using capitals for the word Internet because its a household name now. I don't think its needed anymore. 😒.) This is part of the Building Michigan Together Plan that focuses on what they call "kitchen table" issues such as clean water, smooth roads, fast internet, and beautiful parks, etc.

In includes $250 Million to connect household and small businesses to the internet (lower case). Small business needs the internet and access to the global world in order to compete and sell products. They then need to know how that works on a practical level (Kind of why I'm building a type of learning lab with Escanaba Polo Mallet Co that seeks to understand how true small business is developed and the threats and risks they face. Its a series of changes and developments.)

There is also some loan opportunities to help more Michiganders obtain homes. You can review Down Payment Assistance Program and MI Home Loan Mortgage Program as well as the mortgage foreclosure protection Step Forward Michigan Homeowners Assistance Fund. You will have to read more about them....I didn't review in any detail.

You can read the state press release Building Michigan Together Plan Makes Historic Investments in Housing and High Speed Internet and of course you can get some more details of the plan in Whitmer to Sign Building Michigan Together Plan

Russian Inflation High Economic Contraction Heavy: Risk of a Major Economic Default?

Inflation and economic contraction are important issues for Russia to deal with and when not managed effectively could lead to a second collapse of the Russian economy in modern times (The first being the Soviet Union fall in 1991). Of course there are lots of different factors that lead to collapse but there is substantial growing risk that they will not be able to service their debts and maintain their economy and forces. You will want to read Elliot Smiths article Russia’s economy is beginning to crack as economists forecast sharp contractions that provides a perspective on the situation. From the article....

- S&P Global purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for Russia dropped from 48.6 in February to 44.1

-Capital Economics indicates that Russian economic contraction will be around 12% with 23% inflation.

Pay attention to the fall of the Soviet Union 1991 and how that created great volatility in their market. A second default could happen under certain circumstances of which would be international limiting of resources in a way that the Russian economic system cannot limp their way through. In other words it can't adapt because the operation was not well thought out and botched from the beginning based on an overestimation of internal resources and Russian military capacity (The risk of not having open dialogue about issues.) There are potential long term consequences (good and bad) of such a collapse but we should just be aware that such a thing could happen under different circumstances (Change in economic opportunities could be positive in the long run as they reconnect to the global economy likely under new leadership or it could be dangerous with different entities vying for power in an unstable way. i.e. oligarchs vs Putin. That is assuming that such a clash would cause a major break between proWest open and proEast closed ideologies who seek the aphrodisiac of government power. The inherent danger of surrounding yourself with loyal followers/nepotism that don't necessarily believe in the strategy. I'm just saying what might might occur. Maybe something else happens. What do you think? Its a hypothetical discussion/question done simply to think out of the box. May not have any merit whatsoever. )

source: tradingeconomics.com

source: tradingeconomics.com

2022 U.S. Best Global Universities: Research and Innovation

University education is important for students that want to improve their competitiveness upon graduation. Rankings help students figure out what are some of the best schools available (Before you jump to any conclusions make sure you read what any survey or study is actually measuring. Sometimes it might be studying cost, post-graduate income, grades, or things like student satisfaction.) U.S. News Announces 2022 Best Global Universities Rankings for an interesting article. 

The following countries were ranked based on academic research:

U.S. 271
China 253
Japan: 93
U.K. 89
Germany 70

Research is highly important for nations like the U.S.. According to the article U.S. University R&D Funding Falls Further Behind OECD Peers on Information Technology and Innovation Fund (ITIF) the U.S. is falling behind other major countries and would need about 90 billion a year increase to keep pace. That of course is an administrative and legislative issue. Yet, it is possible to further declining industry investments that lead to stronger government and industry practical outcomes. 

Side note: I'm working on research on economic clusters. What is possible is that when industries and government have a focus as it relates to a specific industry cluster needs they are likely to improve the amount of investments based on the prospect of innovative discoveries within a willing industry proto-type and manufacturing support system realized in same locality with proper support (virtual and physical). A cluster is defined in this instance the unique skills, resources, investments, innovation, wider industry-manufacturing support, etc... that heighten the likelihood and time from taking idea to product. That could help national growth significantly.

Why "Proof in Pudding" Evaluations Work

Proof in Pudding means that what is expected actually happens. In our lives, among our friends, co-workers, etc... we hear lots of things that range from what people want to do to what they have done. While I may pay attention to what people say they are going to do, hopes, dreams and goals it is what they actually do that counts. This is a management tip for those who deciding on everyday business things such as fulfilment of contracts, promoting someone into management, investing, or making a choice over options. 

Sometimes we may call "proof in pudding" actualized outcomes. We can talk all day about what we are going to do and that may be helpful in gaining a sense of direction. However, what we actually do is more important than all the flowery words of hope we can muster.

For example, someone says they are going to take their business and make it the leading business in their field. That is great! Now you have the responsibility to ask them how they are going to do it and what their plan is? Let them outlay their plans.

If they have a reasonable plan and it has a level of probability in working then we can say that the words have merit in producing an actual outcome. However, if the plan isn't so great and leads large unfeasible gaps then we have only conjecture. Pay attention to the details. 

If its your business (hiring a manager, promotion, etc.) and/or you are going to invest in a business you want to see a track record of realized successes. If the situation is unique, one would like to look at the plan and see if it matches the resources and abilities of the organization based on current market conditions. 

Any plan in action would need to have realized artifacts of being enacted. There should be changes, adjustments, realized behaviors that indicate a plan in motion. Without that it is still on the talk and would of, could of, and should of stages.

Proof in pudding means that we cannot say something has been done until it is realized activity. We can talk all day about what we believe, how we are going to be, what we are going to accomplish, how big our business will be, etc... but at the end of the day is the actualized activity and outcomes that make the difference. The next time someone says, "I'm going to do this and accomplish that and take your business here" you should remind yourself that "proof is in the pudding". 

How Truth Trumps Distortion in Local-National Choices and Outcomes

Truth is the best method of dealing with important topics of conflict and interest. In my case, I was caught on the receiving end of high self interested behaviors that moved beyond immorality and into something very dangerous. That danger didn't dissipate with time and got worse as a "clan" of individuals lined up to support their ethnic group, sports-friend networks (its a shame because I would have never expected such brazen blind support without questioning.). No one questioned much and good conscious was ignored in a mad dash to outdo each other in inappropriateness.

Now let us imagine we travelled to a far far far away imaginary world where the target was not only not guilty of doing anything (other then disagreeing with bad behavior) but also became a target for a number of issues that range from jealousy to serious ethnic/racial/religious bigotries. The goal was to ruin, damage, bully, threaten (could have been more under the wrong circumstances), discredit and/or seriously harm the target(s) (I know! I know! Its impossible!)

Let us add on the pile of dysfunction and say that what appeared to be corruption and no backstop in local law enforcement (Most departments did the right thing except the department that closest to the initiating group.). The Muslim sounding name and mixed race kids (the others) was just too much for these participating officers to deal with (Indicating a wider cultural issue with the whole department. That doesn't include all of the officers. I have met a few of them and they are excellent people.) They went on the offensive and couldn't control themselves abandoning moral principles and science in one foul swoop to prove the "Muslims" are worthless when compared to their own perception of society and nation (Except the concept of minority in society is changing and we will need to get everyone on the same page if we want to be a world leading nation with the highest levels of performance. Likely something that created an exploitable risk {perhaps foreign origin} during the Capitol Riots. We may someday know for sure!). 

What is a person supposed to do when only a few options are set before them? Remove their kids from the area and begin to challenge what appears to be a long stemming history of abuses not only by this ex sport group but also by their close associations within law enforcement. When the local system goes down for the count the entire system is at risk of being delegitimized (That can only come from dishonesty and circumventing the law.). This is why we can't turn a blind eye to bad behavior or allow the misinformation to remain unchallenged (As recently as a few months ago they were still smearing names and doing their best to block volunteering in the community through what appears to be illegal behaviors. These rumors move beyond bad judgement and raise personal, social, and physical risks to the target family. The same behaviors that caused the break in the community the first time are now rearing its head head over and over because of a law enforcement failures. Lack of accountability and action leads to bigger and bigger problems as it grows exponentially . We must take extremism seriously; especially is some of the core members are in law enforcement. See exponential extremism. Like in this case where it appears one or two officers exploited their positions to get others involved.) 

After creating the physical boundaries it becomes an important issue not only to protect the community from future abuses but also to stand for some very basic American principles. We didn't build a country so that it can be thrown in the trash to protect one's friends and ethnic groups from responsibility (I don't think so anyway but talk to different people with different backgrounds and you can get a sense of who feels what and why they feel it. If they trust you enough to tell you their version of truth.). If we allow/allowed truth and justice to fail we would be at risk for a chain of similar situations (Corruption like Truth can spread through social expectation of values. i.e. a Culture of Corruption in Detroit).  

Selfish people fail in longer term game theory because they say too much and they do too much because the same dysfunction that drives them to manipulate their environment pushes them to continue to act in similar ways in similar situations (Truthful people can say too much sometimes but as long as its truthful it is worthwhile knowledge for mental consumption that leads to further truth. Truth leads to more truth while lies lead to more lies.). With the same environmental factors they will continue on and on in a distorted value system until they are eventually discovered through pattern recognition. Sometimes you can encourage discovery through truthful information to detect this pattern and/or other times it will be more natural through natural pressure and convenience opportunities.  

Truth is a long-term strategy that seeks to connect the dots of behaviors to better understand them and creates credibility through consistently being correct and logical. One can also gain support by seeking out win-win situations to create the best outcomes and strongest resolutions (See Effective Conflict). While one may not know the whole truth at one time they can be honest about what they know and what they don't know (It leads to stronger critical thinking and strategic development).

Even if the person telling the truth loses (and they likely often do) they still have a moral conscious and can feel good about the attempt to do what is in the best of everyone within the confines moral conscious. Sometimes you can't win if the environment turns sour and truth, justice, and moral conscious are not (which I think they are but not for everyone) considered important values in the larger system (Truth always leads to the best long-term strategic outcomes while distortion leads to short term gains. Truth gains more options and distortion loses options the longer the game is played.)

The caveat is that a person with a bankrupt life philosophy/soul cannot tell the truth for very long as pre-existing urges resurface to encourage short sighted and short term manipulative advantages. They expose themselves by their choices throughout the game and all the other players adjust to the new truth. One must just sort of give them the space to act on environmental pressures (sequenced revealed information) in any way they choose. People who tell the truth want more information and want to be accurate in their interpretations of that information to create correctness of thought while those lie/covering avoid such information, bury it, forcibly try and silence it, lie about it, manipulate it and/or engage in corrupt practices (Too much dishonesty eventually gets discovered as a pattern). 

Cooperative societies in game theory eventually win while those who support corrupt practices eventual break into conflict and fail (We have an important question standing before us and how we choose to handle a situation just like this in our country and in other hometowns. A Muslim with mixed race kids seen as less than human with few to no observed rights standing up against a large group of extremism leaning bullies supported by corrupt law enforcement friends. If I was a betting man I would probably bet on the later....in many ways I still would! At least until we reorient our societal leaders to the core purpose of their function in the protection of our democratic and capitalistic philosophies. The later requires more definition of when this works best but I'm not going to get into it at the moment.) . There is evolution of our biology and there is evolution of our societies as they run along the same path one being generated from the other .See Selfish Game Theory. We as a nation and people often rely on certain core principles that allowed us to flourish and if we abandon them we abandon our futures and in turn lose the long term "game". See The Spirit of Justice from The Republic.

The beautiful thing about truth is that its never wrong and when "perceived truth" is done with good moral conscious it is most likely to be right (at least compared to other methods such as falsehood, corruption, etc..). Everything on a micro (individual and local level) and macro (national and global level) is a choice that leads to certain outcomes (i.e. you can't rob from Peter to pay Paul). This why we must make the choice to hold extremism/bad group behaviors accountable or risk defaulting on other choices/options that lead to a stronger future. We all own and become responsible for our choices and the choices of our leaders, institutions, and system. Win or Lose...we must ask ourselves, "Did we act with integrity?" If you did act with integrity and you do loose when "doing the right thing" then society loses much much more then just that case/situation......it took a chunk out of its own truth (...and future options and/or outcomes.) See Choice Theory

The big question will there be a cease and desist on the behavior, a retraction of the false information spread, and accountability through meaningful policing improvements. While I don't wish injustice I can say in an odd way that I don't mind losing when I do it for the right cause. It doesn't take a magician to have a moral code to stand up for things he believes in for himself, his kids, his community, and his nation. 

A few side interesting things:

Its interesting as I was looking around for some research on truth and game theory and came up with an article printed in 1968 hosted on UNESCO. It also had attached to it something on ethnocentrisms of conflict that discusses how ethnocentrisms is the judging of others only in comparison of one's own culture and value. You can review both if desired. See Game Theory and Peace. You may also want to read something on On Advancing Truth and Morality in Conflict Resolution to understand how the concept of truth and mortality lead to longer lasting conflict resolutions. We must always act with a level of integrity if we want people to trust and respect our philosophies, values, and missions.

A couple of other interesting articles Process, Procedures, Judgement and Know Nothing and Creation of Character and Undercurrent and State of Conscious and Haiku Eagle and Meconomics