Emerging Tech Mastery (ETM‪)‬ Emerging Tech Mastery (ETM)

RIP Kevin Mitnick and long live his memory!

On this episode of Emerging Tech Mastery (ETM) we brought back on good friend and contributor of the show Frank Trezza, Certified Ethical Hacker, InfoSec professional and all around good human.

We discuss the legacy and memory of Kevin Mitnick, one of the best hackers of all time and master of social engineering techniques.

In addition, we cover some initial hacker tools of the trade and resources around this fascinating profession.

There's a lot of great information here so be sure to grab a pen and paper or your favorite digital medium for this one.

After listening to this episode you will learn:
Who was famous hacker Kevin Mitnick and what motivated himThe most legendary stories like how he hacked the LA Bus System, Trolled the FBI, lived on the run and was incarcerated illegally for yearsHow Kevin pioneered social engineering and used it extensivelyThe pre-computing hacking subculture based on telecom called "Phreaking"How he hacked out of curiosity not profit like when he hacked a Cell Phone company to learn about new phone designsHow he reverse engineered what made complex systems in society tick and how to find weaknesses in themAbout how the border of technology and magic is knowledgeKevin generating new identities from deceased peopleWhy new easy to use hacking tools also open the door for malevolent usersThe gap in skill knowledge emerging from books and hands on experienceA difficult truth about how the real knowledge workers are not compensated properlyFor show notes and tons of free resources, please visit: https://www.emergingtechmastery.com/kevin-mitnick/

We recently did an episode, Our Top 10 Emerging Tech Predictions for 2024, to explore what might happen in Tech this year. 
We thought it would be fun to see what has taken place so far this year and whether we were on point or not.
Here were our original predictions:
AI disappears behind the scenesAI resurrects old and hard to use TechEveryone will be a video influencerMedia Tech will evolve FAST"New" Tech Innovation will be integrations of other techApple Vision Pro will not meet expectationsHardware will be a race to the bottom, Software will be the golden gooseNFTs will make a comeback through sports betting and investingTech for Good will go mainstreamSustainability will be at the forefront of the conversationFor show notes and more please visit: https://www.emergingtechmastery.com/2024rightorwrong/

Happy New Year! 

Ready for some Emerging Tech predictions for 2024? Well, don't worry we're happy to be wrong and contrarian. 
We considered this a fun thought exercise for posterity sake to see where our head and hearts were. 
In fact, some of these predictions are already beginning to poke their head up through the cracks of reality.

Our Top 10 Emerging Tech Predictions for 2024
AI disappears behind the scenes - It will then quietly be used in almost everything as an expected feature.AI resurrects old and hard to use Tech - Pain points and other difficult parts of the learning curve could be bypassed with possible solutions AI provides.Everyone will be a video influencer - No longer will your network be camera shy as people begin "Vlogging" (again).Media Tech will evolve FAST - We already saw NeRF get ousted by Gaussian Splats, what other shifts will happen this year?"New" Tech Innovation will be integrations of other tech - As categories mature, the next logical step is connecting them together. Apple Vision Pro will not meet expectations - Initial hype is alluring but the real work after is hard as we will potentially see with the rise of Augmented Reality (AR).Hardware will be a race to the bottom, Software will continue to be the golden goose - The Maker movement is giving hardware incumbents a run for their money. Will we see new creations and fabricators or will winner take all?NFTs will make a comeback through sports betting and investing - Many think Crypto is ded but, not so fast. Sports entertainment might have the Ace card in this equation that makes it a killer app (without people even realizing it).Tech for Good will go mainstream - With social happiness indexes and opportunity zones, we have a whole new set of imperatives and metrics to guide our resources and networks of builders.Sustainability will be at the forefront of the conversation - Corporate responsibility is in the spotlight more and more and this time the conversation is deeper than interest groups alone.Well that's a wrap and we hope this gave you some food for thought.
What are your top predictions for 2024?

For show notes and additional free resources, please visit: https://www.emergingtechmastery.com/2024-predictions/

This episode is an initial exploration of real world examples of Technology used for social good. 
While researching our last episode, 6 Ways to Use Tech For Good, we came across a paper by McKinsey, a famous consultancy, called Tech for Good: Smoothing disruption, improving well being.
The paper covers topics like core definitions of technology and well-being, how to measure the impact of technology, challenges and an overview of concrete case studies of Technology. 
Ultimately, there are lots of great facts and figures to support the discussion and inspired several of these examples. We highly recommend reading the Tech for Good paper mentioned above for additional detail.

8 Examples of How to Use Tech for Good
Create community around Tech for Good - That's exactly what an organization with that name does, founded by Ellen Ward and Máirín Murray in Dublin, Ireland. Their group encourages people of all skills to take back their technological power in an open and inclusive environment.Mixed Reality (XR) gives Producers the opportunity to give audiences socially impactful visceral experiences - XR is now absorbing all the realities like Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). In addition, with Spatial Audio, we have an opportunity to use this rich media platform to inform and transform viewers.AI and Education helps teachers do more with less - Teachers can be freed up with automated administrative tasks and even use "chatbots" to increase interaction and engagement with studentsTelehealth and MedTech reduce in-patient service by 50% - In India they reduced in person visits by 50% and saved over $4 billion. Healthcare is well known for high costs and inefficiencies, this new direction to bring in a new era of operations making services and outcomes better (not to mention life expectancy).Banking the 5 billion unbanked - This means bringing financial services to most of the world who still do not have bank accounts. The craziest part: more people have cellphones than running water. This means mobile banking and currencies (Ahem, Crypto) could bring a lot of new users in, fast.AI Traffic Management to reduce pollution and traffic - There is an estimated 3-15% reduction in air pollution from new AI systems. We already have AI used heavily for airports and air travel which helps avoid costly delays and losses from being inefficient. This will be key to maintain bigger and bigger infrastructures moving forward.Cloud computing dis-intermediates job gatekeepers for negatively impacted social groups - This could range from the disabled and invalid to LGBTXQ+ to women and people of color. Reputation based hiring for traditional on-boarding methods are being upended as people find new ways (and venues) to work.AgTech combining Industrial Tools and Feeding the World - It's no surprise that Industrial Agriculture needs an upgrade, both from a fossil fuel and chemical use standpoint. We hope you enjoyed this list of Tech for good examples. Expect further topics to be covered as there is so much more to talk about.
Lastly, a big thank you to all the organizations and people dedicated to bringing more positive philosophies and outcomes to the use of Technology.

For show notes and additional free resources please visit: https://www.emergingtechmastery.com/examples-of-tech-for-good/

On this episode we explore using Tech for good, socially, economically and philosophically speaking.

This show was originally inspired by a talk, How to make learning as addictive as social media, from Luis Von Ahn, CEO of Duolingo, a popular language learning app.

In a world of manipulative uses of AI and Algorithms, this perspective was quite refreshing.

He encourages us to take the lessons of today and apply them in even more powerful ways tomorrow.

This sparked the idea of why we should use Technology (especially Emerging ones) in increasingly open and positive ways for the world.

Less walled gardens and more gardens of Eden. (Ahem, Free and Open Source Software, FOSS)

For show notes and additional free resources please visit: https://www.emergingtechmastery.com/goodtech/

On this episode we discuss Qortal, a community driven initiative aimed at making a new, user operated internet that leverages Blockchain's data security.
Rather than focusing on token price and getting on more exchanges like other projects, Qortal focuses on making a usable, decentralized data infrastructure. 

The community and even User Interface (UI) harkens back to the vibes behind Torrents, Warez and even mIRC in the 90's-2000s.

To elaborate we brought on one of the founders, Jason Crowe, co-founder of Qortal and long time IT professional.

After listening to this episode you will learn:


Who the Cipherpunks were and what they stood forHow the internet was supposed to be free and open but eventually become centrally controlledSpecific choke points of data and the World Wide Web (WWW) by big entitiesWhat a block is and why it is needed to form a "Blockchain"How Bitcoin began free and open but devolved into cartel control over timeThe downfall of Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS)Why most Blockchains are unnecessarily large and cumbersome data setsHow Qortal was designed for all users to run a full node on modest tech like a Raspberry Pi 4Why Qortal doesn't put ALL the data on the Blockchain but instead uses a clever approach with hashesHow they keep their currently 3 year old Blockchain to a 5-20 GB max file sizeHow their upgraded "torrent tech" inspired data network aims for censorship-resistance through this novel approach to data creationFor show notes and additional free resources please visit: https://www.emergingtechmastery.com/qortal/