A blog about the philosophy of technology

  • Feature creep is a function of human nature – how to combat it

    When we develop tech products, we are always interested in how to improve them. We listen to customers’ requests based on what they need, and we come up with ingenious new features we are sure that they forgot to request. Either way product development inevitably becomes an exercise in what features we can add in…

  • Meditation #3 Five Theses on IT Security

    The point of IT security is not to keep everything locked up. The reason we often think about security like that may be our day-to-day concepts of security. For example, maximum security prisons where particularly dangerous criminals are being kept. Keeping them locked up may be a comforting idea. However, we would probably squirm at…

  • Meditation #2 AI Supremacy?

    We often hear how the singularity is near, artificial intelligence will eclipse human intelligence and become superintelligent in the words of Nick Bostrom. Machines will be infinitely smarter faster and all round more bad ass at everything. In fact, we cannot even imagine the intelligence of the machines of the (near) future. In Max Tegmark’s…

  • Meditation #1 Hire A’s?

    “While A’s tend to hire A’s, B’s tend to hire not just B’s but C’s and D’s too” From the section “The herd effect” in the book How Google Works by former CEO of Google Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg It is unclear the precise meaning of A, B, C and D, but from the context it…

  • Move Fast and Do No Harm

    The advent of SARS-COV-2 has mobilized many tech people with ample resources and a wealth of ideas. A health crisis like this virus calls for all the help we can get. However, the culture of the tech sector exemplified with the phrase “Move fast and break things” is orthogonal to that of medicine exemplified with…

  • How truck traffic data may detect the bottom of the the current market

    How truck traffic data may detect the bottom of the the current market

    It seems evident we are on our way to a recession . This will prove a challenge for many, and our world economies will suffer. Not least the stock market. We are similarly probably headed for a bear market. But the stock market is ahead of the curve and typically turns around about 5 months before…

  • Using traffic data to understand the impact of COVID -19 measures

    Using traffic data to understand the impact of COVID -19 measures

    We at Sensorsix have built a tool for ambient intelligence. Ambient intelligence is knowledge about what goes on around us. In our case it is built on what we can learn about human mobility from sensors. We have been in stealth until now working on a prototype to quantify the flow of human movement in…

  • Why Your Organization Most Likely Shouldn’t Adopt AI Anytime Soon

    Recently I attended the TechBBQ conference. Having been part of the organizing team for the very first one, I was impressed   to see what it had developed into. When I came to get my badge the energetic and enthusiastic volunteer asked me if I was “pumped”, but I was not pumped (as far as…

  • AI, Traffic Tickets and Stochastic Liberty

    Recently I received a notification from Green Mobility the electric car ride-share company I am using some times. I have decided not to own a car any longer and experiment with other mobility options, not that I care about the climate, it’s just, well, because. I like these cars a lot, I like their speed…

  • The 7 Dimensions of Data Value and How To Improve It

    The 7 Dimensions of Data Value and How To Improve It

    One thing that you quickly realise when you are trying to build a solid data offering is that data is not just data. Just like food is not just food and clothes not just clothes. A Metallica T-shirt is fine if you are going to sit on your couch and watch football with your bro, but…

Got any book recommendations?


en_GBEnglish