Category: Technology

Smartwatch, traditional watch, or both?

Posted on by The Information Badger in Information Technology, Online Services, Public safety, Risk, Security, Smart & New Technology, Smartwatches, Technology

Is there a smartwatch from the likes of Apple, Samsung, Huawei and others, on your wrist? A decade ago, smartwatches were essentially novelties for tech enthusiasts. Today they’re mainstream. In the ten years since Apple unveiled its first watch  they’ve become a popular, wrist-worn, command and control centres for time, date, productivity aids, communication, fitness and personal health.  Globally there are more than 450 million smartwatches in use, and the number is expected to rise to ~750 million by 2029. Many people are turning to smartwatches from traditional mechanical/ automatic watches because they do significantly more than just tell the time and their capabilities continue to expand as technology marches on.

So, does this mean the traditional wristwatch, which first appeared in the 19th century, will soon be obsolete? Many say yes, but the Badger thinks otherwise. A traditional mechanical/automatic watch performs its purpose of providing the time and date  extremely well. Accordingly, it’ll be around for many decades yet because it has design simplicity, is robust, doesn’t require frequent battery charging or software updates, and is immune to cyber threats. Traditional watches provide their core function – the time and date – in aesthetically pleasing hardware that can be chosen to suit any lifestyle or occasion. Many think that a traditional watch’s lack of connectivity to today’s online world is a disadvantage. On the contrary, the Badger thinks it’s an advantage.

Smartwatches, of course, come in many guises but one thing fundamentally drives their design, namely convenient access to the services and information that underpin the rhythm of life in the modern digital world. Their manufacturers routinely enhance their design, functionality, and usability as a wrist-based hub for time, date, and things like voice and message communication, activity and fitness tracking, and personal health monitoring and diagnostics. As a convenient computer on our wrists, however, they are yet another screen that grabs attention. They need regular battery recharges and software and security updates to protect against cyber threats. Like smartphones, there’s also a better model coming soon!

So, are smartwatches rendering traditional mechanical/automatic watches obsolete? No. Why not? Because most people today understand the dangers of the digital world, and they are increasingly aware from world events of the inconvenience and turmoil that can ensue when key energy, communication, and online infrastructure is damaged. Their smartwatch could be rendered useless in such circumstances, whereas a traditional mechanical or automatic watch will continue to deliver its core function, time and date, unabated. So don’t ditch your traditional watch for a smartwatch, have and use both (as the Badger does). You will then always be able to access the time and date on your wrist should a digital disaster occur. The obsolescence of traditional watches is a long way off because in the current world climate it’s prudent to have non-digital contingencies for unexpected digital difficulties…

Everyone is a salesperson…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Business, Delivery, Education, Information Technology, Leadership & Management, Sales, Technology

Good senior leaders and managers often enjoy being invited to speak to employees attending company training courses. The Badger certainly did. His sessions not only always delivered a message relevant to the training course but also provided an opportunity for attendees to ask questions about any subject close to their heart. Their questions were often diverse and required quick thinking to answer, but that’s what made the sessions fun! It was always rewarding to see attendees relax during the sessions, to hear their responses to the Badger’s answers, and to observe body language when the audience stayed silent. It was also pleasing when ‘light bulb’ moments spread across the attendees faces if an answer triggered a rush of understanding.

As a leader strongly focused on IT delivery, the Badger spoke mainly to training course groups from the business operation, delivery, and technical communities. Their questions were sometimes unusual. For example, on one occasion the Badger was asked ‘I hear senior people utter their favourite sayings frequently, but which of these have merit because they encapsulate a truth?’  The Badger gathered his thoughts for a moment before rattling off a string of common phrases in use in the company and signalling that they all had merit because they all captured a truth relevant in any company. The string included, for example, the following:     

‘What gets measured gets done…’

‘You don’t jump high unless the bar’s set high…’

‘If you bring problems then bring solutions too…’

‘Time is precious, get to the point…’

‘Decisions aren’t about making everyone happy…’

‘Everyone is a salesperson…’

This last one prompted an indignant response from a couple of attendees who were software engineers. They were contemptuous of  salespeople and unequivocal that  they were not, and never would be, a salesperson. On enquiring if they interacted with peers in their client’s organisation on their projects they answered yes. The Badger pointed out that they were actually representing the company when they interacted with external people, and that made them a salesperson of sorts regardless of their job title. He also highlighted that being ‘sales aware’ during such interactions was important because they were well placed to identify the early signs of potential avenues of further work which could be fed into the company’s main sales machinery for qualification and potential follow-up by others. They remained unpersuaded, and so the Badger pointed out that without sales the company would fail, and they would be out of a job! Their facial expressions changed as a ‘light bulb’ moment hit home on realising that even technical IT staff must be commercially and sales aware and acknowledge that ‘Everyone is a salesperson’ of sorts. ‘Sales’ is not a dirty word. It is at the heart of a company’s success and the employment of everyone within it. Remember, everyone is a salesperson…

Once upon a time there was the Strategic Defense Initiative (Starwars)…

Posted on by The Information Badger in AI, Conflict, Defence, Information Technology, Intelligent machines, Risk, Satellites, Security, Space, Technology

There comes a time when a room at home needs a decorative refresh. That time recently came in the Badger household, and so he deployed his practical skills to refurbish the room himself. The project was planned, agreed with an important stakeholder (the wife), and fastidiously executed. The room’s now in the post-delivery phase with the small list of defects pointed out at acceptance by the important stakeholder now corrected. Painting walls listening to good music playing on the radio during the project proved a more satisfying experience than expected. On finishing one wall, and while stepping back admiring his handiwork, the Badger found himself listening to the broadcaster’s regular news bulletin and sighing deeply on hearing that President Trump had unveiled plans for a ~$175 billion US ‘Golden Dome’ missile defence system. Memories of President Reagan’s 1983 Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) came flooding back.

The goal of SDI was to develop a system that could intercept and destroy incoming nuclear missiles, effectively shielding the USA from a potential Soviet attack during the Cold War. Many dubbed it ‘Star Wars’ because of its proposed use of space-based technology. At the time, the Badger was working on the software design and development of a Relational Database Management System (RDMS) product – pretty cutting edge at the time. He remembers thinking that SDI would never come to fruition. Indeed, SDI itself was never fully realised, but its ideas have shaped military technology and policies in Missile and Space-based defence, Cybersecurity strategy, and International Collaboration ever since.

Rolling forward 40 years, the world is a quite different place geopolitically, technologically, economically, and militarily. Daily civilian and military life now depends on digital capabilities that didn’t exist in 1983, and continued rapid tech advances, innovation and AI are changing both domains at a rate never imagined just a few decades ago. Reagan’s SDI initiative and President Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ share some similarities, but whilst the available tech in 1983 meant the former’s space-based missile defence was largely theoretical, President Trump’s benefits from modern, real, sophisticated satellite, space, sensor, and missile technologies. ‘Golden Dome’ revives elements of SDI but it also suffers from some of the same challenges, particularly, around cost, scepticism about its effectiveness, and concern that it dramatically escalates the global arms race. It’s certain, however, that just as happened when SDI was announced in 1983, military and tech sector commercial organisations will be relishing the prospect of picking up ‘Golden Dome’ contracts regardless of whether its stated ambitions will ever fully come to fruition.

But why did the Badger sigh so deeply on hearing about ‘Golden Dome’ on the radio? It was simply an instant reaction to the feeling that it’s another step on the road to creating the Terminator film’s SKYNET system for real, and that our species seems intent on a path that can lead to eventual self-inflicted extinction.

AI and copyright…

Posted on by The Information Badger in AI, Digital Transformation, Education, Ethics & Regulation, Information Technology, Intelligent machines, Legal matters, Online Services, Technology

Elton John recently had some sharp words to say about the UK government’s plans to exempt AI technology firms from copyright laws. Apparently, there’s currently a game of ping-pong underway between the House of Commons and the House of Lords regarding this plan. Many writers, musicians, and artists are furious about the plan, and Elton’s comments caused the Badger to scratch his head and ponder. Why? Because, like many individuals and bloggers, his website’s content could be plundered by AI without his knowledge or permission regardless of the copyright statement on its home page. With AI models and tools increasingly mainstream, Elton’s words made the Badger realise that he, and probably many others around the globe, should have copyright more prominent in our thoughts.

Copyright law is complex and, as far as the Badger understands, ‘fair dealing’ or ‘fair use’ allows limited use of copyright material without permission from the copyright owner under specific circumstances. Fair dealing/use is not a blanket permission, and what constitutes this depends on factors such as how much of the material is used, whether its use is justified, and whether it affects the copyright owner’s income. The Badger’s not a lawyer, but  he senses that AI and copyright is a legal minefield that will keep experts with digital and legal qualifications in lucrative work for years to come.

As the Badger pondered, he scratched his head again and then asked Copilot if AI used material held on copyrighted websites. The short response was that it (and other AI) follows strict copyright guidelines and only generates brief summaries of copyrighted material respecting fair use principles and with pointers to official sources. To test the efficacy of the answer, the Badger asked Copilot for the lyrics of Elton John’s song ‘Candle in the wind’. Copilot responded with ‘Can’t do that due to copyright’. Typing the same request, however, into the Badger’s browser readily produced the lyrics. Make of that what you will, but it does make you wonder why you would need to use AI like Copilot for this kind of interaction.

At the heart of Elton John’s point is the long-established principle that if someone or an enterprise wants to use copyrighted material in something that produces a commercial gain for themselves, then the copyright owner should give prior permission and be paid. AI is a disruptive technology, much of it controlled by the same giant US corporations that already dominate the tech world. AI cannot be ignored, but exempting tech firms from copyright law seems wrong on many different levels. The Badger’s concluded that he should improve his understanding of copyright law, and that AI tech firms must not be exempt from such laws. After all, if you were to take a leaf out of President Trump’s playbook then if you want something, you need permission AND  you must pay.

VE Day, Gen-Z, resilience and preparedness…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Information Technology, Internet, Learning, Life, Online Services, Risk, Technology

Many have family members who lived through the violence and hardships of World War 2 as civilians or combatants. Their experiences shaped not only their own lives, but also the values they instilled in their children. The Badger’s father, for example, proudly served his country in the military and then worked hard to create a better life for his family once he was demobbed. He was the epitome of that ‘Keep calm and carry on’ and ‘There’s no such word as can’t, try!’ generation, and he brought his children up to embody discipline, standards, hard work, duty, calm objectivity, preparedness, and a sense of right and wrong. These instilled values have served the Badger well over the years. The 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE), a day which saw spontaneous rejoicing and street parties, is being celebrated on Thursday the 8th May 2025. It’s an opportunity to reflect on the sacrifices and resilience of a WW2 generation, civilians and combatants, who resisted tyranny. It will be poignant for the Badger because his father, sadly no longer with us, was unable to celebrate on VE Day at the time.

Life is very different today, as the Badger explained to a couple of Generation Z digital natives last weekend. Homes in the 1940s  were different. The internet, social media, instant communication, music and video streaming, electronic games, smartphones, personal computers, online banking, online shopping, robots, and driverless cars were science fiction, and children played physical games that would make today’s health and safety coterie wince. The Gen-Z natives struggled to relate to how life functioned in the 1940s without digital technology. The Badger then asked them two questions – what would you do if a) the UK experienced an electricity blackout akin to that seen recently  on the Iberian peninsula, or b) cyber-attacks took out online and critical infrastructure services for a prolonged period. ‘We’ll get by until someone sorts things out’ was the glib response, although they had no real idea about how they would actually get by! This made the Badger wonder about the resilience of our completely digital-native Gen-Z generation. As individuals, perhaps we’ve all become complacent about the risks associated with our dependence on digital services.  

In fact, do you know how you would ‘keep calm and carry on’ if digital services suddenly disappeared for a prolonged period? Do you have any personal emergency measures or pack of essentials to fall back on if something catastrophic happened to the electricity grid? Individuals rarely consider such questions even though our digital world is highly complex and believing ‘it’ll never happen’ just reflects naivety. Without their tech will digital-native Gen-Z ever be as resilient, resourceful, and prepared to make sacrifices like those of the 1940s in really tough times? If the Badger’s conversation was anything to go by, the jury’s most definitely out…

Frustration caused by the plague of delivery vans…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Automation, Delivery, Driverless transport, Drones, Human Resources, Information Technology, Online Services, Public safety, Smart & New Technology, Technology, Transport

Life’s full of ups and downs, and some weeks are better than others! For the Badger, Easter week was full of frustrations, all ostensibly caused by society’s addiction to online shopping with home delivery. Like many, the Badger used his car to visit family, friends, and for errands over the Easter period. Every journey was delayed at some point by the stop, start, and illegal parking activities of vehicles that were part of the ever-growing plague of multi-drop delivery vans on UK streets.

Here’s one example that caused frustration. The Badger drove an elderly neighbour to their appointment at the local health centre, a journey which normally takes ~7 minutes with a route that entails driving through the town’s High Street. Well before reaching this busy street, traffic had slowed to a snail’s pace. This was because a well-known company’s multi-drop delivery van had parked on double-yellow (no-waiting) lines in the middle of the High Street. The driver had left the van to deliver a collection of packages to nearby residences. The illegally parked van caused havoc as car drivers tried to navigate around it against the constant flow of traffic coming in the opposite direction. Just as the Badger reached the High Street, the van driver returned, collected another armful of packages, and walked off with them in a different direction ignoring the obvious disruption their van was causing.

Just before it was the Badger’s turn to navigate past the van, the driver returned, drove off, and stopped again on double-yellow lines 50 metres further along the street. This made the disruption worse because another multi-drop delivery van had parked close by on the opposite side of the road creating a chicane for traffic in both directions. As a result of all this, the 7-minute drive to the Health Centre took nearly 25 minutes, making the Badger’s neighbour slightly late for their appointment. This, and similar experiences on other journeys over the Easter period, triggered some musing.

Online shopping with home delivery has revolutionised convenience, but one consequence is the plague of vans on our roads and the tendency of their drivers to ignore the rules of the road due to tight schedules, high delivery volumes, and the need for frequent stops. Since these van drivers seem to be immune to the rules of the roads, the Badger thinks there’s a need for an enforcement solution. If today’s digital tech can tell you when your online purchase will arrive at your door, then it’s clearly possible to use drone, satellite, and information technologies to a) detect in real-time when multi-drop van drivers park illegally on double yellow lines and b) automatically fine them and their employer for the misdemeanour. It currently seems that no amount of ‘company policy’ or ‘driver training’ makes a difference, but hitting them in their pockets probably will…

Have Millennials benefited from being the first real ‘digital native’ generation?

Posted on by The Information Badger in Change, Digital Transformation, Human Resources, Information Technology, Life, Technology, Wellbeing

Millennials are the first ‘digital native’ generation. They’ve grown up with the internet, mobile telephony, and instant information at their fingertips. The digital world of the 1980s and 1990s, when Millennials were born, laid the foundation for today’s advanced capabilities. As Millennials have moved from childhood to adulthood and parenthood,  and from education to employment and family responsibilities, they’ve embraced the relentless wave of digital advances and made them part of their life’s ecosystem. A quick recap of the tech in the 1980s and 1990s illustrates the scale of the digital revolution they have embraced.

The 1980s saw the rise of PCs like the IBM PC, Apple II, and Commodore 64. All had limited processing power. MS-DOS was the popular operating system, hard drives were a few tens of megabytes, and 1.44MB  floppy discs were the common removable storage medium. Software had largely text-based user interfaces and WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3 dominated word processing and spreadsheets, respectively. Local Area Networks (LANs) started appearing to connect computers within an organisation, and modems provided dial-up internet access at a maximum rate of 2400 bits/second.

The 1990s saw PCs become more powerful. Windows became a popular operating system making software more user-friendly and feature rich, and Microsoft Office gained traction. CD-ROMs arrived providing 700MB of storage to replace floppy discs, hard drive capacities expanded to several gigabytes, and gaming and multimedia capabilities revolutionized entertainment. Ethernet became standard, computer networks expanded, the World Wide Web, email, and search engines gained traction, and mobile phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) like Palm Pilot emerged.

Today everything’s exponentially more functionally rich, powerful, and globally connected with lightning-fast fibre-optic and 5G internet connectivity. Cloud computing provides scalable convenience, computing devices are smaller, data storage comes with capacities in the terabyte and petabyte range, and social media, global video conferencing, high-definition multimedia, and gaming is standard. Smartphones are universal, fit in your pocket, have combined the functions of many devices into one, and have processing powers that far exceed those of computers that filled entire rooms in the 1980s and 90s.

But has the Millennial generation benefited from being the first real ‘digital native’ generation? Yes, and no. This generation has faced significant hurdles affecting their earning potential, wealth accumulation, and career opportunities. Student loan debt, rising housing costs, rising taxes, the 2008 global financial crisis and its aftermath, the COVID-19 pandemic, soaring energy costs, and now perhaps tariff wars are just some of these hurdles. When chatting recently to a Millennial group asserting that their generation’s woes were caused by technology, the Badger pointed out first that these hurdles were not the fault of technology, but of ‘people in powerful positions’, and secondly that they should note Forrest Gump’s line ‘Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get’. Whatever you get, you have to deal with…and that’s the same for every generation.

‘Crash, Bang, wallop’ and the need for more Defence spending…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Defence, Information Technology, Innovation, Public safety, Security, Technology

The Badger’s first projects on joining the IT industry involved software and systems design, development, and delivery in the UK Defence sector. The experience provided an excellent foundation on which to build a wider IT career. Problem-solving using innovative software and hardware to provide operational capabilities, working with military people who were focused on getting the job done to rigorous standards, and ensuring deliverables met strict requirements, proved invaluable in cementing the right mindset for success. The military people the Badger encountered were well-trained, capable, and passionate about having operational capabilities that were effective against potential aggressors. Indeed, employers like the Badger’s recruited many of them at the end of their military service because their discipline, professionalism, work ethic, teamwork, and leadership skills were useful beyond just work in the Defence sector.

This was, of course, some decades ago when UK Defence spending was at a level before progressive reductions due to the so-called ‘peace dividend’. Today the UK spends ~2,~3.5, and ~5 times more on Education, NHS, and Welfare Benefits, respectively, than it does on Defence. The Badger’s felt for some time that Defence expenditure must rise, especially as security and defence today relies more than ever on fast-changing, digital information, command, control, communication, and unmanned weapons, as well as the brave soldiers, sailors and airmen who put themselves in harm’s way.

Which brings the Badger to something he does grudgingly, and that’s to thank the President of the USA for demanding NATO countries increase their Defence spending! The Badger’s not a warmonger. He just believes that it’s obvious that increasing UK Defence spending is long overdue. An increase can only be good for the UK’s economy and growing our own truly indigenous digital tech capabilities. Raising Defence spending will create more  high-value tech jobs, boost our natural flair for innovation, and help us hold our own in a fractious, tech-dominated world. That, however, is the limit of thanks to the USA’s democratically elected President and administration.

The Badger was creating a playlist of novelty songs when he saw the public berating and ejection from the White House of  Ukraine’s President on television. Having added ‘Crash, Bang, wallop, what a picture’  and  ‘Hole in the Ground’  to the playlist, the Badger immediately sensed that both had relevance to what he’d seen. The USA administration’s bullying of Ukraine, its coveting of Canada and Greenland, and its crass comments about the warfare experience of its allies, adds weight to why UK Defence expenditure must rise. For the average person in the street this side of the Atlantic, trust is hard-earned, easily lost, and hard to re-establish. Trust that the USA is a reliable ally is rapidly evaporating. More strained relationships with those embarked on a particular style of Making America Great Again looks inevitable, but that’s nothing to fear because history shows we are resilient in the face of adversity.

AI – A Golden Age or a new Dark Age?

Posted on by The Information Badger in AI & Robotics, Automation, Change, Digital Transformation, Ethics & Regulation, Information Technology, Intelligent machines, Life, Risk, Technology

The Badger’s experimented with Microsoft’s Copilot for a while now, sometimes impressed, but often irritated when the tool ends its answer to a question by asking the user’s opinion on the underlying topic of the question. For example, the Badger asked Copilot ‘When will self-driving cars be the majority of vehicles in the UK?’  Copilot’s answer was sensible and distilled from quoted sources, but it ended with ‘What are your thoughts on self-driving cars? Do you think they’ll revolutionize transportation?’. The Badger wanted an answer to his question, not a conversation that will capture, store, and use his opinion for the tool’s own purpose. Responding with ‘None of your business’ gets the reply ‘Got it! If you have any other questions or need assistance with something else, feel free to ask. I’m here to help’. That last phrase should be supplemented with ‘and make money!

Overall, his experimentation has made him wonder if AI is leading to a new Golden Age for humanity, or a new Dark Age. So, what’s the answer? A new Golden Age, or a worrying Dark Age? AI and Machine Intelligence advocates, giant businesses investing huge amounts of money in the technology, and even governments with a ‘fear of missing out’, are quick to say it’s the former. The Nobel Laureate Geoffrey Hinton, the godfather of AI, isn’t so sure. He articulates the risks well, and he’s highlighted that the ability of AI to eventually wipe out humanity isn’t inconceivable. Listening to him interviewed recently on the Today programme, BBC Radio 4’s flagship news and current affairs programme, struck a chord. It made the Badger realise that such concerns are valid, and that a Dark Age is a possibility.

So where does the Badger stand on the Golden or Dark Age question? Well, the last 25 years has made us believe tech-driven change is a good thing, but that premise should be challenged. New technology may drive change, but it doesn’t necessarily drive progress because it’s politics that really determines whether change makes people better off overall. Politicians, however, have struggled woefully to deal with tech-driven change and the new problems it’s created for society so far this century. There’s little sign this is changing for AI. Humans are fallible and can make poor judgements, but if we become reliant on AI to make choices for us, then there’s a real danger that our confidence and capacity to make our own independent decisions will be lost.

The Badger’s answer is thus nuanced. A Golden Age will unfold in areas where AI is a tool providing a tangible benefit under direct human control, but if AI is allowed to become completely autonomous and more intelligent than humans, then a Dark Age is inevitable. Why? Because things with greater overall intelligence always control things of lower overall intelligence. Can you think of an example where the reverse is true?

2025 – A year of ‘Strain and Change’…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Information Technology, Leadership, Life, Opinion, Public Institutions, Risk, Technology, Transformation

The festive season is over, and most people are once again embroiled in the routine of normal life. Many start the year mentally refreshed, physically rested, and game for the next challenge, but some do not. And there’s the rub, to use an idiom from Shakespeare, because those starting the year unprepared for a challenge will surely find this year difficult. Why’s that, especially when every year presents challenges that must be dealt with? Well, the omens for 2025 suggest it’s going to be a particularly testing one across a broad range of fronts. As a relative put it over the holiday period, the world order’s changing fast, there’s disgruntlement with political leaders, AI and disruptive advances in digital tech driven by huge corporations continue unabated, retrenchment from the globalisation that’s been a norm for years  is underway, and so ‘Strain and Change’ will be everywhere in 2025.   Those stepping back into life’s rhythms expecting the status quo and unprepared for challenges are thus likely in for a rude awakening.

With this in mind, the Badger found himself chuckling as he read what the BBC’s Tomorrow’s World TV programme predicted in 1995 for 2025. When Professor Stephen Hawking told that programme that ‘Some of these changes are very exciting, and some are alarming. The one thing we can be sure of is that it will be very different, and probably not what we expect’, little did he (or the Badger) know that the Badger’s last post for 2024 would echo the same sentiment! The Badger started wondering what advice Professor Hawking, who produced many pearls of wisdom, might have given us at the start of a year of ‘Change and Strain’. After a little research, the Badger decided he would simply concatenate two of his memorable pearls of wisdom to say:

‘It is very important for young people to keep their sense of wonder and keep asking why. It’s a crazy world out there. Be curious. However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at’.

This seems apt in many ways, but especially for today’s always on, social media dominated, digital world where Hawking’s sentiment can be expressed as  ‘Don’t take anything you read, watch, or hear at face value. Be curious, ask questions, and always believe that you can take action to better your situation’. The Badger thinks that ‘Strain and Change’ is the drumbeat of 2025 technologically, nationally, geopolitically, commercially, and economically. Accordingly, whatever challenges lay ahead, they must be faced with the mindset embodied in Professor Hawking’s concatenated words above. As for the Badger? Well, he’s motivated, refreshed, and well prepared. The only status quo he’s anticipating in 2025 is the continuation of timeless, good, vintage music of which ’Living on an Island’ is a good example…