PinnedGetting prescription cannabis meds in the UK legally: a beginner’s guideCannabis-based medicines have been improving the health and quality of life of millions of people in many countries, for many decades, with very few harmful side effects. …Cannabis11 min read
PinnedPrescription cannabis and quality of life: a case study from the UKWithin four days of receiving her prescribed cannabis-based medicine, a women in her late sixties reported feeling “like a different person,” and in a good way. …Cannabis7 min read
PinnedAI problem awareness grew in 2020, but 46% still “not aware at all” of problems with artificial intelligenceThe general public’s awareness of problems with AI grew in 2020, yet 46% of US adults are still not aware of those problems. …6 min read
PinnedNot even 10% of us trust tech firms to protect our personal information20 May 2020 — A recent Google survey suggests less than one in 10 adults in the US and UK trust tech firms to protect their personal information. According to the survey’s author, UK-based independent researcher Stephen Cobb: “This could be a big problem for current efforts to recruit technology…9 min read
Dec 9, 2018Risk perception and digital securityIn 2017, I wrote: “the digital technologies that enable much of what we think of as modern life have introduced new risks into the world and amplified some old ones. Attitudes towards risks arising from our use of both digital and non-digital technologies vary considerably, creating challenges for people who…Cybersecurity4 min read
Feb 12, 2018Tillerson on cyber, hacking, and deterrence: right? wrong? both?Recently, when he was asked about Russian interference in America’s elections, the Secretary of State of the United States said: “if it’s their intention to interfere, they’re going to find ways to do that.” (Fox News interview, Bogota, Colombia, February 26, 2018). That sounded very defeatist to some people, like…Cybersecurity5 min read
Jul 9, 2017US-Russia cybersecurity talks: right script, wrong actors?Should the US and Russia hold talks on cybersecurity? In July of 2017, a lot of Americans shouted “No!” when US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the two countries were contemplating working together “to better understand how to deal with these cyber threats.” I can understand why people…Nuclear Weapons7 min read
May 27, 2017Righteous Malware and EternalBlue: a cybersecurity prophecy come trueIn 2017 the world experienced two very costly outbreaks of malicious code or malware: WannaCry and NotPetya. Collectively, they caused IT mayhem for thousands of organizations, imposing well over a billion US dollars in “respond and repair” costs (the impact of NotPetya on just three companies alone — Fedex, Maersk…Cybersecurity9 min read