treacherous road

Tesla顧客 使用自動駕駛超過2億公里後，第一個車禍死亡的 事件在上個月發生。 車禍事件94%是人為錯誤。 Tesla 的自動駕駛技術是全球第一， 因為它有 眾多的顧客，將實際道路的自動駕駛狀況，不斷地傳回公司。讓 Tesla 可以不斷地改進自動駕駛的軟體。 去年年底，TOYOTA跟Ford 需要各自召回3萬多輛的車子， 因為他們的自動煞車的雷達有問題。 自動駕駛的軟體，平常有規定，如果手不放在方向盤上面一段期間後，會用影像跟聲音警告你，如果不聽警告，車子會慢下來。 即使是有這些防範措施 ，似乎自動駕駛的軟體，還是有很大的改進空間。
http://www.afr.com/technology/fatal-tesla-crash-on-autopilot-sparks-us-investigation-20160630-gpvzcn

double-edged sword

Forty years ago, NIH started the DNA research. Next month, NIH is going to issue guidelines for the first groundbreaking gene-editing CRISPR-Cas9 medical treatment of myeloma, melanoma and sarcoma. This CRISPR-Cas9, though beneficial for disease treatment and prevention, may upend human evolution if some rogue institutions use it for eugenic alteration in embryo in the foreseeable future.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/06/21/federal-panel-approves-first-test-of-crispr-editing-in-humans/

a slippery slope

If a presidential candidate can spend 12 minutes to lambaste and humiliate a federal judge who presided over Trump's legal case, it portends a slippery slope of the democratic system. 

http://time.com/4351376/donald-trump-university-lawsuit-gonzalo-curiel/

To buy a cow by clicking buttons without a bank account

U.S. has the Silicon Valley while Kenya has the "Silicon Savannah". It takes years for Taiwan to adopt the 3rd-party payment. In Kenya, most of the 23-million people don't have bank accounts but 90% of them use basic cell phones to pay bills for any thing. It ranges from paying taxi drivers to roadside peddlers, or even buying a cow simply by clicking a few buttons on the cell phones. Reason for this sweeping success and popularity of electronic payment even without a bank account: Kenya government is bold enough to brush off the lobby from the formidable bank industry.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/future-of-money-kenya-m-pesa-60-minutes-2/

disruptive innovation

Stripe, a payment processing company for Apple Pay, Android Pay and Alipay, was founded in 2010 by a Harvard dropout and a MIT dropout. Now, the company's market value surges to $5B. With the burgeoning and booming fintech, some of the coveting jobs in the banks may vanish into thin air in the near future.    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fintech-shaking-up-the-financial-industry/

Every phone can be eavesdropped even with strong encryption

Strong encryption makes your mobile phone invulnerable? Dream on! CBS "60 Minutes" tonight demonstrated that hackers can eavesdrop any mobile phone of their own accord in the whole world.  http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-hacking-your-phone/

New college application platform

這個月超過90個美國大學(包括哈佛, 史丹福，耶魯等著名大學)將推出新的申請大學的免費線上工具，稱之為 Coalition for Acess, Affordability and Success. 美國高中生現在申請大學的準備程度，已經到幾乎瘋狂的地步。 而且貧富不均越來越明顯， 經濟狀況好的家庭小孩子，essay 可以請專人修改五六十遍，考試可以進補習班或是請家教。 美國社經地位不高的家庭小孩子，即使是非常傑出， 竟然超過一半以上， 也都不申請任何一流的學府，因為他們自認為，他們不可能有能力在申請過程中精緻地包裝自己。 現在這個 90家大學承認的新的線上申請工具， 就是要改善這種不公平的現象。 這個免費平台最重要的是， 每個人都有一個他自己的 digital locker. 也就是申請學校的時候，不再是用可以包裝自己的書面資料，而是用活生生的Video 來展示自己真實的一面, 自己的創新, 自己和別人不一樣的地方和自己的任何成就. 這應該比純粹用書面資料來的公平一點。 至於這個新的大學申請工具，是不是真的能夠改善這種不公平的現像，或是反而更增加學生的負擔 ，這要等幾年以後才看得出來.

http://www.coalitionforcollegeaccess.org/