Blake Dowling
In 2022, we learned (again) that anything can be hacked as we saw Chinese hackers stealing COVID-19 relief funds from the U.S. government.
And in the Rackspace situation, we learned that the “cloud” is vulnerable.
Thankfully, after a three-week outage, Rackspace has begun to restore old email boxes after they were frozen by ransomware.
We will relearn these lessons (and new ones) on NFTs, crashing cryptocurrency and meta-and other verses for many years to come. That is until the cyber-utopia, where we have the perfect balance of cyber-protections (SOC, 2FA, etc.), innovations, law enforcement (arresting hackers), and education (cyber-training).
Until then, stay focused on your cyber, and let’s end the year by taking a tour around the state and globe looking at some interesting tech.
Specifically, evasive tech, tech that veers from the norm and some creepy tech.
Tech that gets under our skin — literally — is a good place to start.
Most of us might as well have our phones stuck to our hands with super glue. So, why not up the stakes?
Are you ready for an RFID chip under your skin that allows you to open your car door without a key or pay for an item in a store without a wallet, credit card or phone? This tech is available now and just like your pet that has a chip embedded in case they get lost; you too can dive right in and enjoy the benefits of this technology.
The nice people at Walletmor can get you started ASAP for around $300. Download the app, activate it, and see the doctor for installation.
Then you are ready to freak out cashiers — like this fellow in Britain who has 32 implants.
I’m sure there are some clever fish-and-chips jokes out there, but instead of sharing those, let’s move on to shocking new technology to help you get your lazy self out of bed.
Are you a hit-the-snooze-button-over-and-over kind of person? Oh boy, do I have the cure for that!
How about a wearable that gives you a morning shock to get you out of bed? That’s right, Shock Clock 3 is the latest and greatest to get your day moving.
It literally jolts you with a silent snap, so you wake up fast.
(Bonus, your spouse or bedmate is not rudely awakened by you snoozing the alarm, either.) Plus, there are other uses where you can shock yourself to quit smoking or drinking.
Think of it as self-administered shock therapy.
In South Florida, you can get high-tech with your workout routine with Biohacking Health and Fitness.
Biohacking is DIY biology on changes in lifestyle, diet and health with some technology thrown in. You can call this groundbreaking, cutting edge or creepy; either way, you can get a pulse session (pulsed electromagnetic field), or jump in an infrared bed for some 400-700nm wavelength for optimal photobiomodulation.
Perhaps, you are into vibrating plates to enhance your squats or pushups to the next level. Wow. This could be great and not creepy at all; that’s your call.
While this next item is on the low-tech side of the house, the creepy doll with glowing eyes from Central Florida is certainly getting some media attention this year.
Speaking of creepy, we can’t talk about creepy tech without noting the potential ramifications (and misuse) of video surveillance. If unchecked, artificial intelligence, paired with video surveillance, can track you anywhere there are cameras.
American Civil Liberties Union Florida is tracking facial recognition closely as it pertains to our rights. The concerns and positives too are vast. The ACLU fails to mention how this tech can help fight crime and find guilty persons as they only focus on the negative; but if you want to dive in, keep in mind, tools like this are a major plus for law enforcement so we just need to find some balance in the coming years. I reached out to the ACLU but got no response, so we will wrap it up.
All things are in the eye of the beholder.
Perhaps a UV bath is a cure for my back pain, and perhaps a microchip in my hand will bring me joy when I open my car door without it. Maybe one person’s creepy doll is another’s Cabbage Patch Kid.
Either way, 2023 is around the corner and we get to explore it together. See you out there for the innovative tech, the creepy tech and all the rest.
Thank you for reading my columns this year, happy new year … and see you next time.
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Blake Dowling is the CEO of Aegis Business Technologies. He can be reached at [email protected].
