Hashtag Trending

Deutche Telekom is using what they call “digital humans” for customer service and claiming great results. Mark Zuckerberg gives some insight into Meta’s different approach to AI strategy in recent interviews and Elon Musk suffers quality issues on two offerings which may have been rushed to market.” All this and more on the “Murphy was an optimist” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love.

Capital Gains tax in Canada gets criticized by tech sector. Amazon drops 100,000 jobs while vastly increasing its use of robots. Tesla’s luxury Cyber Truck faces a huge recall. AI Rapidly Catching Up to Humans Across Benchmarks, AI Hallucinations Could Be Solved Within a Year, Was the AI incident with Air Canada’s chat bot really AI? All this and more on the “take the money and run” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love.

We’ve heard a lot about Quantum computing and somehow it seems like it’s nuclear fusion - there’s all of these great advances that make the news, but the idea of actual use in business seems a long way off. For me, it seems… I understand it conceptually. I just can’t figure out why its possible. Maybe its’ because I grew up being able to see transistors and how they work and so even though the ability to put thousands and possibly millions of transistors on a silicon chip is a feat of engineering, I still sort of know how it works. But quantum. It’s seems more like magic. Things that exist as probabilities, that can be linked over potentially vast distances and affect each other even without a know connection. Things that only truly exist in their state of uncertainty until you observe them. How does that work? Why does it work? So you hear about it, but it doesn’t seem real somehow. I go back to my nuclear fusion parallel. Great idea. You can sustain it in some big lab for a couple of seconds but that’s it. But lately, there are signs that quantum might be more real than we think. While we’ve heard of these quantum processors in large laboratories, IBM just announced that a US university will be getting an IBM quantum computer for research and teaching - and that they are going to do the same for several other universities in the US. Suddenly it seems a little more real. And as always, I’m interested in what’s happening out in the big world, but I’m also wondering what is happening in Canada. And it turns out that there is some work being done here, advancing the idea of Quantum Computing in commercial usage. Quantum Algorithms Institute is a collaboration between government, the academic community, and Canada’s growing sector of quantum computing companies. We work with companies across industries to build experience in the real-world application of quantum solutions. My guest today might make that even more real - she’s with a program that is planning on teaching students to program for quantum computers. She’s a professor at Wilfred Laurier University and the Chief Technology Officer of the Quantum Algorithms Institute My guest is Dr. Shohini Ghose...... Note: The link to the Quantum Algorithms Institute

Meta’s new AI release sparks a debate about open versus closed source AI, major legislation expanding US government surveillance capabilities goes largely unnoticed, big questions about how accurate these AI launch videos are, and before you book that next business trip, a former Boeing manager says he won’t fly on some Boeing planes. All this and more on the “flying under the radar” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love.

More Windows PCs previously blocked are now able to upgrade to Windows 11. Apple has fallen to number two in terms of iPhone market share. Salesforce makes news with a possible acquisition of Informatica. And a new AI wearable device gets savage reviews. All this and more on the “winners and losers” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love.

YouTube clamps down on third party apps that block ads. Experts predict a new cyber-war between Iran and Israel. Elon Musk backs down on his fight with the Brazilian government and Broadcom makes concessions in the face of customer outrage and European regulatory scrutiny of its new VMWare pricing. All this and more on the “who blinks first” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love. Let’s get into it.

Solar power is the largest source of new US electricity generation for the sixth month in a row, Microsoft is hiking prices on Dynamics 365 business apps by up to 16.7%, VMware's Desktop Virtualization products rebranded as "Omnissa", Tesla is laying off over 10% of global workforce amid delivery slump and the U.S. government gets some scathing criticism over Microsoft's cybersecurity failures All this and more on the “price might not be right” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love.

Google Enhances Browser Security with AI and announces a New Paid 'Premium' Version, Google users report account lock outs that beat their two factor authentication. Google Blocks California News Access Amid Fight Over a Journalism Payment Bill and Gen Z Ditching Google for TikTok and YouTube Searches** All this and more on the “too much Google” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love.

Welcome to HashTag Trending, the weekend edition. I’m your host Jim Love. I can understand if many of you get frustrated about politics. What we see for the most part is a lot of BS. Ask a politician a simple question and you’ll get a lot of non-answers, talking points ways that their political opponents have it wrong. Yes, that’s true even in Canadian politics. So what do we do? We can get involved and try to change the process. I’ve certainly done that. I’ve worked for every political party at one point. I’ve worked for the NDP - Neil Young - not the musician and Bob Rae, I’ve worked to support the Liberals under Stephane Dion, one of the most incredible people I’ve ever met, I’ve been a riding president of a Progressive Conservative riding which led me to meet and grown to like Joe Clarke for the authentic person he is. I know what you are thinking. What’s wrong with this guy? Can’t he take a side? And the clear answer is no. I can’t take sides. There is only side - and that’s what’s best for Canadians. So I’ve never been a believer in party labels. I wanted to work with authentic people who wanted to make Canada a better nation and make a future for our children. And the need was never greater. Canada is in crisis. Our productivity numbers are plummeting. Regardless of what you get fed from government sources, we are not a leader in AI, or in digital government. But equally, the stuff that the opposition parties are feeding you - that’s nonsense as well. The reality is if you strip away the party lines, if you talk to the smartest people in Ottawa, you’d know the truth. We are in crisis. Our future standard of living is in real jeopardy. And yet, we are an incredibly resilient people, we have so much going for us, that if we could get it together we could fulfil that quote of Wilfred Laurier - the 21st Century belongs to Canada. But what do we do? Fortunately, we have a structure in our Government where parties don’t really have to matter. It’s called the Senate. For my American listeners, you have a Senate as well - it’s called the body of “sober second thought.” The difference in Canada - our senators are actually sober. I say that in jest, but in our Senate, and I’m not taking political sides, but credit where credit is due, our Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, said he would no longer make political appointments to the Canadian Senate. He would appoint knowledgeable people and challenge them to “challenge the government’s thinking.” In other words, he would try to make the Senate truly a “body of sober second thought.” A place where non-partisan citizens would join with only the best interests of the country at heart. A place where people who weren’t politicians could offer their experience and expertise to the governance of our nation. There’s nobody you will meet that embodies this more than my guest, Colin Deacon. Senator Deacon is a serial entrepreneur and someone who knows technology and knows how to build businesses that export to the world in a digital economy. And we’re lucky to have him - both in the senate and for this interview. I met Senator Deacon at the Digital Governance Council, another group of non-partisan, business and government leaders who also have one objective - to help Canada become a leader in the digital economy. I was totally impressed by him and asked if he’s sit for an interview with us. I hope you’ll be as inspired by it as I was.

US Internet providers must now display clear pricing and product information. HP Ink controversy continues to stain the company’s reputation with consumers. Is the EU’s competition legislation working? Early numbers seem to show it might be. And there’s a 10 million dollar bet that Elon Musk is wrong about AI. All this and more on the “all bets are off” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love. Let’s get into it.

Google unveils its “Code Assist” tool into what is becoming a crowded and competitive market. Anthropic claims that AI is not only smart, it is at least as persuasive as humans and maybe more so. LinkedIn takes action against phoney AI enabled recruiters and US legislators continue to put the squeeze to big tech and AI. All this and more on the “fool me once” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love. Let’s get into it.

Android finally has a real “find my phone” feature. Keeping track of the wild variations in predictions about AI. From the Musk Files – Can Twitter go back to the way it was? And is “Cloud Lock-In” really a thing? All this and more on the “Finding answers to big and small questions” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love. Let’s get into it.

A new study from Finland raises some alarms about privacy on Apple devices, another, a company, again from Finland, finds a way to make concrete using CO2 emissions, some leading edge and some legacy systems in the news and a newsletter about our phone addiction strikes a nerve with the catchphrase "reclaim your brain!" All this and more on the “Here comes the Sun” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love. Let’s get into it.

Play fair in the Play Store or Google might be coming for you. The AI industry is scrambling for data in a new “data arms race.” The Canadian Government announces its upcoming AI strategy. And if you didn’t buy those glasses for the eclipse, you can still have have a meaningful participation in a world wide study. All this on the “you’re so vain” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love. Let’s get into it:

Welcome to Hashtag Trending The Weekend Edition. I'm your host, Jim Love When I was a kid, I was a bit of a loner. Big shock, right? Yeah. Nothing made me happier than sitting there reading a book or, or something that grabbed me. My, my favorite reading? Mysteries. My favorite character? Sherlock Holmes. The way he could solve a puzzle. I loved, Puzzles. I love mysteries. I loved word puzzles. Oh, I'm one of those kids who thought that the secret decoder ring from Roger Ramjet was just the greatest thing in the world. And I even tried learning Morse code so I could try to decipher the sounds I heard on this old multiband radio that I had found and repaired remarkably without killing myself. Although to this day, I still know what a ground wire is. Now, later I would sell papers on Saturdays down by the Kresge's in Port Arthur for the News Chronicle. And I would keep one of the papers so I could read Ann Landers, our version of Dear Abby in Canada the advice columnist, the double sets of funnies, one inside the paper and the other color comics. And then there was this thing called the book. The cryptogram. It was an encrypted message you had to solve. Now forget the crossword. The cryptogram was the work of real detectives. So I had to learn the frequency of letters. And this is, there's no internet at this point. I'm going to the library for books. I learned what the likely positions of letters were, where they weren't. And slowly I learned to crack these messages. Now, they were nothing special when you cracked them, but as a kid, the satisfaction of breaking a code, that was it. Now, later, as I got older, the radio spent more time on a Chicago radio station that played rock and roll songs before they made their way to our backwoods. And the code breaking went away. Decades later, I actually enrolled at a course in linguistics. And it all came back. In my adult life still read mysteries. I love them. But the ones with codes to crack still keep me engrossed. The Name of the Rose, the Da Vinci code. So when I got a note from the authors of this book called Code Breaking, A Practical Guide. I had to have them on the show. So welcome to my guests, Elonka Dunin and Klaus Schmeh.

Amazon Web Services Cuts Hundreds of Jobs, Microsoft puts a huge cost on staying on Windows 10, A small hotel chain gets clobbered by a cyber-attack, Germany moves 30,000 desktops to an open source version of Office and a lone Microsoft engineer thwarts years spent by a hacker infiltrating a widely used Linux utility that could have hit millions of devices. All this on the “see something, say something” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love.

One fifth of employees admit to using “unapproved AI tools,” the FCC is going to bring back net neutrality, Apple hints at an AI model for Siri, Meta is losing key AI talent and is Stability AI just the first of AI companies to face the cold hard economic realities? All this on the “After the Gold Rush” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love.

Google settles lawsuit regarding tracking of people using Incognito mode, a breakthrough in optical fibre research could dramatically increase capacity and speed of existing fibre networks, more bad news on security issues for AI code generators and Ukraine reaches a deal with Space X to restrict Russia’s use of Starlink on captured Ukrainian territory. All this on the “thank god I can keep my Starlink guilt free” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love. Let’s get into it:

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The state of AI is the second in this series prepared for the long weekend. In part one, we traced the evolution of Artificial Intelligence. In episode two, we discuss where we are today in the implementation of AI using a model developed by Jackie Fenn, a Gartner analyst who developed the "Hype Curve" - a way of understanding the introduction and maturity of technology developments and trends in a commercial setting. We try to give some perspective on why there is such enthusiasm for AI, but so little in the way of practical implementations. In doing this we propose some reasons why companies must move forward. We also propose some ideas about how companies can move forward.