Auction of Tallahassee Mall is an Opportunity

Tallahassee Mall, a North Monroe Street landmark for over 40 years here in Tallahassee, is now on the auction block.

Usurped as the place to shop by Governor's Square Mall since 1979, it's long been withering compared to its across town rival in what is apparently still our "one-mall town".

Can the "imPhone" Be Far Behind?

University of Michigan

This (1) cubic millimeter Game Changer could be the forerunner for my next cell phone. (Okay, maybe the one after that.)

The next computing paradigm... "implant phones"!

Because this little guy is real. It's not just a chip!

This is a complete computer sporting two (2) processors, memory, battery, solar cell, temperature sensor, radio with antennas and low-res camera imager.

NSA Can, But Should They?

Laws and oversight are the mechanisms used in free societies to limit what is allowed to be done out of the things that can be done.

As a 30+ year computer professional (e.g. geek) (who managed to CLEP college English), I fear computer-people and non-computer-people are talking past each other regarding the NSA revelations due to semantics.

Younger computer-people, like Edward Snowden, have grown up in an environment of "if it can be done, it will be done." The only practical restrictions on something are those that the computer system enforces.

Thus, when Mr. Snowden says that any analyst can tap any phone, in a technical sense he is probably correct. Certainly any Systems Administrator, as he apparently was, has the knowledge, tools and "system authority" (e.g computer-enforced authority) to do anything the computer system is capable of. He could not administer the system if he didn't.

Too Big to Fail

Capitalism depends on competition.

Competition depends on the risk of failure. A business "too big to fail", by definition, is immune from the risk of failure and so is immune from competition. Therefore, a business "too big to fail" is not a capitalist business.

Institutions too big to fail, like governments, are held accountable by the governed through elected representatives.

Any business "too big to fail" is beyond the market's influence. Owner self-interest reigns unchecked. Public regulation is then required in its place in order to mitigate the natural drive to predation of competitors and exploitation of customers.

Without significant competition or government control, a company that is "too big to fail" cannot help but economically prey upon the all in its single-minded pursuit of profits.