Nicolas Carr on information overload

We're surrounded by so much information that is of immediate interest to us that we feel overwhelmed by the never-ending pressure of trying to keep up with it all.

~ Nicolas G. Carr, author of The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

Vitaliy Katsenelson on 5G technology

The transition from 4th-generation (4G) wireless to 5th-generation (5G) is about a lot more than just the ability to download Netflix movies in seconds rather than minutes.  5G is a transformational technology that in coming years may turn our global society into either a utopian or a dystopian sci-fi movie.  5G uses much wider wireless spectrum, drains a fraction of the battery power, and has lower latency.  The combination of these factors will result in a hundred- if not thousand-fold increase in internet-connected devices.  Streetlights, trash cans, cars, cameras… cows; all will be connected through the wireless grid. 

Here is one example from 2020 that popped up as I was writing this. Amazon has announced that you’ll be able to pay for goods at its Amazon Go stores by scanning your hand. In other words, you’ll no longer need your smartphone.  Your personal data will change its main residence from the personal comfort zone of your smartphone to the cloud. 

We are a few years away from it, but the amount of data created by the 5G network will increase exponentially.  It will transform the internet of smartphones to the internet of things, where smartphones are just a small fraction of those things.  And the potential for abuse of this power to monitor and control people will grow exponentially, too.

~ Vitaliy Katsenelson, "U.S. and China: In the Foothills of Cold War," ContrarianEdge, October 29, 2020

Rolf Dobelli: "our addiction to the news has become a dangerous mania"

In the past 20 years, since the advent of the internet and the smartphone, our addiction to the news has become a dangerous mania. You can barely escape it. It’s high time we reconsidered our approach to this glut of news. It’s high time we realised the impact of consuming it and began a detox.

~ Rolf Dobelli, "Avoid the News," 2011

Christopher Mayer on the need to filter noise when investing

Rule #8: You Need a Really Good Filter

There is a world of noise out there.  The financial media is particularly bad.  Every day, something happens, or so they would have you believe.  They narrate every twist in the market.  They cover every Fed meeting.  They document the endless stream of economic data and reports.  They give a platform for an unending parade of pundits.  Everybody wants to try to call the market, or predict where interest rates will go or the price of oil or whatever.

My own study of 100-baggers shows what a pathetic waste of time this all is.  It's a great distraction in your hunt for 100-baggers.

~ Christopher Mayer, 100 Baggers, p. 183