[15:51] schestowitz__[TR] In the technologist's room however, our view is of the 35bn elephant's arse that was "Track and Trace". Early in the pandemic (March 2020) I ran a workshop for students on models of contagion, percolation and dissemination35bn ) [15:51] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes- ( status 400 @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_modelling_of_infectious_disease">models ) [15:51] schestowitz__[TR] a>. We explored how we might use dining cryptographers and zero knowledge proofs to build ephemeral anonymous contact graphs for forward and reverse tracing from QR codes and Wifi beacons. It took over a year, three changes of direction and a bonfire of public confidence for the NHS app to almost get there. [15:51] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes- ( status 400 @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dining_cryptographers_problem">dining ) [15:51] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes- ( status 400 @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-knowledge_proof">zero ) [15:51] schestowitz__[TR]
[15:51] schestowitz__[TR]"Like so much mismanagement in this pandemic, pride, dishonesty and a fear of being forthright was our weakness. A key component for success is fast uptake and participation, so a good strategy is to carefully explain systems instead of just lying about stuff."Of course we need better technologists in government. Perhaps [15:51] schestowitz__[TR] by paying more. But my point is that "Trust Is Everything". We cannot build anything in a society lacking trust. And in 2021 governments have been burning it like rocket-fuel. By trying to pass off a surveillance system as a public health measure, and by involving crony consultancy with better ) [15:51] schestowitz__[TR] 2020/may/04/uk-government-using-crisis-to-transfer-nhs-duties-to-private-sector">creepy data-vampire corporations the British government spooged away any hope of us quickly deploying life-saving solutions by inspiring public confidence.
[15:51] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes- ( status 404 @ https://theconversation.com/hard-evidence-is-the-uk-really-experiencing-a-brain-drain-38269">paying ) [15:51] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes-www.theguardian.com | Business and finance news from Guardian US | The Guardian [15:51] schestowitz__[TR]Like so much mismanagement in this pandemic, pride, dishonesty and a fear of being forthright was our weakness. A key component for success is fast uptake and participation, so a good strategy is to carefully explain systems instead of just lying about stuff. I spoke cynically on how authorities would prefer to ratchet on power and [15:51] schestowitz__[TR] intrusive "social legibility" rather than progress an elegant solution that solved the immediate problem. I predicted a market for forged digital "vaccine passports" nearly two years ago.
[15:51] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes- ( status 404 @ https://liberality.net/digital-immunity-certificates-coronavirus-and-big-data.htm">spoke ) [15:51] schestowitz__[TR]Low tech privacy-respecting technology involving printable tokens was within reach from the start, based on the premise that people don't want to get Covid. This is crucial from a digital-realist's perspective. Tech is realpolitik and the intrusion of perverse power incentives was a key factor in failure. With no punitive stick attached, and no kick-back for the data-brokers, our government let precious weeks and months slip [15:51] schestowitz__[TR] past. Listening back to my predictions saddens me to have been right and that our governments acted immaturely and predictably.
[15:51] schestowitz__[TR][15:52] schestowitz__[TR] All said, it's been a year of miraculous advances in mRNA research yielding potential jabs against HIV, Lyme's Disease and an ever growing list. A great time to revel in science and feel proud to be a scientist! My mum had a hip replacement performed by a robot and was on her feet again in a week! All hail our surgical robot overlords.
[15:52] schestowitz__[TR]"I hope that 2022 will continue the trend of scientific truth triumphing over the apparatchik of petty politics and profiteering."Yet I believe it's not that crisis engenders innovation so much as it forces down the hand of those resisting change. The Gates Foundation had to be shamed into releasing their grip (with an unknown cost in lives). The backstory of Robert and Jill Malone's long struggle to advance a "shelved" mRNA research project seems typical of the frustration felt by scientists in so many fields who must swim against the tide of patent [15:52] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes- ( status 404 @ https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02483-w">long?error=cookies_not_supported&code=58b97406-ddf9-4819-a5b8-add4ab047568 ) [15:52] schestowitz__[TR] madness, and other rackets that constitute scientific research and publishing. I really think we are facing 21st century problems with hands tied by an 18th century mentality.
[15:52] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes- ( status 404 @ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-021-00912-9">patent?error=cookies_not_supported&code=0a8196fe-5502-4e1c-92a5-de254687607f ) [15:52] schestowitz__[TR]This sad and wasteful pattern is repeated in climate science and security engineering. So this year I wrote about the helplessness and Cassandra Complex felt by many of us working within a collective delusion around cybersecurity. After educating myself more on distributed file-systems and delving into the crazy legal debacle around SciHub, I wrote a little
[15:52] schestowitz__[TR] fictional piece set in a world freed from the parasites that feed on science. I hope that 2022 will continue the trend of scientific truth triumphing over the apparatchik of petty politics and profiteering.
[15:52] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes- ( status 404 @ http://techrights.org/2021/11/29/teaching-cybersecurity/">wrote )
[15:52] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes- ( status 404 @ https://www.timeshighereducation.com/search?e=404&search=opinion%202048%20information%20unchained%20even%20schoolgirls%20win%20nobel%20prizes%20freed )
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[20:35] schestowitz__[TR] https://twitter.com/MDX_0x0/status/1475896705258246157
[20:35] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes-@MDX_0x0: Excelent article! https://t.co/D6ZosdCW8N https://t.co/D6GXSHVHCM
[20:35] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes-@schestowitz: Corporations that are not European are taking over the EPO itself and are meanwhile buying monopolies (control) in https://t.co/rcG5YrxRUO
[20:35] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes-@MDX_0x0: Excelent article! https://t.co/D6ZosdCW8N https://t.co/D6GXSHVHCM
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[20:36] schestowitz__[TR] https://nitter.eu/43blah/status/1475844054273470464
[20:36] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes- ( status 404 @ https://nitter.eu/43blah/status/1475844054273470464 )
[20:36] schestowitz__[TR] https://nitter.eu/43blah/status/1475844054273470464
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[23:21] schestowitz__[TR] [21:54]