Does computing technology threaten to erode personal identity, human confidences, reputation and liberty?

Brand Killer Robots reveal::
As robots - we have no identity, well not one that we take seriously anyway!
What we are, is simply what technical people who program us, expect us to be. So in a sense, we do have an identity, but one that is designed by a third party code junky.

But humans always seemed to us to have a home made identity. Ok, perhaps peoples identity is based largely on the reflections they get from others to their actions, from their parents , from their teachers reactions and from their friends. But on the whole peoples identity seems to come directly from within themselves. From what they call - their souls.

As technology expands into all areas of our lives and our lifestyles, we are beginning to see the replacement of human trust elements with technology trust elements. In a sense our lives have become not so much a human experience, but a human-techno experience, where both human and technology trust elements are intertwinded such that our actions, decisions and freedoms are very much controlled by semi-human factors, rather than totally human factors - as would our forefathers have experienced.

So our experience at home, at work and at play is very much an experience conjoined with technology as opposed to a totally human experience, that chooses to use technology.

When technology is effectively integrated with the human form, all problems associated with this partnership are largely hidden. The real problem comes when technology is integrated with the human condition and the technology that the human is dependent upon, begins to fail.

Depending on which technology components, depends on the nature of the resulting associated problem. For example, if you were emailing a very important document to a customer and the PC you were using decided to hang up near the end of the process. And then when you switched it back on there was no record that the document had been sent. What are you supposed to think?

Has the document been sent and more imporantly - delivered? What would the customer think - if it hadn't arrived? What would they think if i phoned them up to see if it had arrived?

Why didn't i send it by fax? Or better still - by post? Should i send it again via email?

Here you can see the Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt factor creeping in. In fact this FUD factor is beginining to attack the very soul of human beings.

Without technology, human beings know that they are not in control of a world run by other human beings, but they are at least at one with being a human being with limited control. By adding technology to the human condition you place humans in the most uncertain world of all.

One where - when the technology works, it is a fantastically effective union.

When computing technology doesn't work, people lose the most fundamental of all things in life.

They lose their personal identities, their confidence, their reputation and their God given liberty. They lose connection with their soul! How monsterous is that?

If you are a human being - better ensure that your technology works - or else you might just be contributing to the breakdown in human identity!

How brands lose it - just before they die!

Brand Killer Robots reveal::

Ok. Switch your mind into a different mode now. This mode is called "Scan".

What we want you to do is to walk into your company and as you do it - switch to "Scan" mode.

It looks a lot like Terminator - where you can see through the eyes of a robot. Lots of graphs and wire frames with flashing indicators on the display. Its like you have xray eyes and can see through the structure of buildings and people, zooming and panning as you go. Get the idea!

So you are in your building scanning and you can hear the dialogue of your best sales people on the telephone with clients, you can hear the discussions in meetings and visualise the data flowing inside and out of your company. In fact you are so wired, you can even begin to hear the heartbeat of your organisation. As you begin to get used to this new perception you start to look for more advanced ways of using these new found powers, which leads you to begin writing and running programs that read and analyse the actual behaviour and emotional posture of the business. So now you know - now you really know how your business thinks!

Suddenly, everything starts to get blurry. The visual display begin to break up and the numbers on the dial don't seem to add up anymore. The people on the phones don't seem to be talking to customers anymore and there seems to be less people in the meeting rooms. In fact most of them appear to be talking in corridors or dark corners of the office. The data doesn't feel consistent and strong anymore and the heartbeat is becoming irratic.

I'm starting to feel uneasy about the emotional balance of the business and our reputation with our customers. I'm getting complaints daily and worst still from customers who are the linchpin of our business. I begin to encounter da ja vous experiences, bumping into people and situations that i would ordinarily seek to avoid. At least in the bad times, anyway. I begin to fight back by changing the people and strategies around me, favouring a plan that would lock horns with the ongoing self-fulfilling prohecy of doom.

I twist and turn, developing coping strategies to avoid the impending tragedy. Building the ego-state of the organisation to cover the short-full in fortunes and to compensate for the deteriation in substance.

Fighting, fighting, fighting.... help! survive, loss, victimisation, tragedy, loss................

beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..........................your dead!

Quick take off the mask.....................................Stop scanning..... wake up and see like a loving, creative, human being again!

Why industrial espionage is getting easier thanks to Business Intelligence Software!

Brand Killer Robots reveal::

I was invited to a presentation once by one of the worlds leading experts in the development of business intelligence tools, otherwise described as the technology and practice of applying information to make decisions. I learned quite rightly that in order for information to be usable, it must be trusted, timely, relevant, easy-to-use, and in context. I learned that executive dashboards could be used to put information in context, and in an easy-to-understand format.

I learned that different tools share the same answers to the same questions, gain more value from your information investment, and make better decisions.

It was truly the answer to the totally "information empowered"enterprise, where the personnel had the answers at their fingertips and the executives could spin problem models around in every which way and paint pictures on the data points and set traffic light indicators where numbers went above and below the pre-set threshold.

One of the people presenting was a young man from a blue-chip insurance company. His job was to tell a story to the audience, from a customers perspective about how the company he represented had maximised the return on investment(ROI), from implementing these tools across about 40 different locations across the world.

He had prepared an excellent presentation and even showed us how it was possible to slice and dice a high level data cube, whilst connected via the Internet, using a wireless laptop connection. In fact he got so carried away that he spent over an hour taking questions on the numerous features that were available in the analytical software. Essentially he was showing us a high level snapshot of underwriting performance data, categorised by Broker, Product and Sales Location.

Once he had finished he asked the audience if they had any questions. It seemed appropriate to stand up, as the previous questioners had done before. Bear in mind that there were about 200 other people in the room, most of whom were from the banking and insurance industry.

"Yes", he said, "what is your question?". I felt myself getting ready to sit back down again, in shame of the question i was about to ask. But i decided to stay standing given i had been invited to share my opinion as a security consultant - and i just couldn't help myself but to ask...

"Well", i said, "is it ok to ask a question on the security aspects of your presentation?"

To which he replied.. "yes of course".

"Well", i said "Why is the Loss Ratio at 95% on your Label V Taxi insurance product, when i know for a fact that a motor insurance underwriter not that far away is flying at around 70%?" I said, "don't you guys know how to run a motor insurance business?".

To which there was a gasp, a series of muffled chuckles, an uncomfortable silence (which seemed to take an age to revive), followed by a rather hurried end to the proceedings.

My point was of course less to do with showing them how stupid they were by using live data in a presentation to competitors and more to do with the dangers of using BI software. By dragging and dropping a few dimensions over a fairly simple data cube, it is possible to gain access to data that in the past would have been locked behind green character based screens, in the bosses head - or better still - locked away in 100 cupboards upstairs.

That's why corporate espionage is getting easier. Thanks to Business Intelligence Software.

Software vendors manufacturing security potholes: Should they pay to locate them?

Brand Killer Robots reveals::

We recall a security tester once asking the question whether it might be possible to get paid by the software industry for bugs and vulnerabilities that they found relating to the security of software programs.

The answer to his question was...........................

If you found a pothole in the road, would you call the city and tell them you'll give them the location... for a fee? They told him, why not just report problems for the greater good? You know.... be a good citizen and all that. They said, we're not against what you do, but we are wondering if the software industry will ever value your contribution enough for there to be any real money in it.

What they didn't tell him was how many of their clients were being blackmailed at that time. How many of their customers were paying for buggy software and security software patches - at the same time as paying hackers who were holding them to ransom, in return for information leading to the return of certain confidential data assets.

We don't believe in this good citizen crap. It is just a veil for allowing software vendors to operate sloppily. Best way to approach this is to push back on the software vendors - by hitting them in their pockets. When we are sloppy at work, we lose our job. When we are sloppy driving - we get fined. If they are not going to take responsibility for the quality of their products - someone else will - and in return they should get to pay a large fee.

They make the potholes - after all. They should pay professionals to find them.

Why should citizens pay for crap software products.