The Digital Future

Are we heading toward another economic meltdown?

Dave Meyer and Mark Anderson — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:49:23 +0000

Back in 2007, Strategic News Service publisher Mark Anderson warned KPLU listeners about the dangers of "cheap money" from Japan, which helped fuel the subprime mortgage debacle. Mark advised investors to put more of their money into cash, rather than stocks.

The following year, the bottom fell out of the stock market.

Is history about to repeat itself? Mark believes Japan and other nations are printing too much money again, making conditions ripe for another meltdown.

With Mark's permission, we're reprinting a special alert he recently sent to SNS subscribers on April 12:

The cyber threat from China

Dave Meyer and Mark Anderson — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:30:00 +0000

Are hackers from China stealing U.S. secrets?

China has denied these allegations for years. But a recent report by cybersecurity firm Mandiant thoroughly documents the activities of a team in China that has apparently ransacked terabytes of data from U.S. corporations.

Our technology commentator, Strategic News Service publisher Mark Anderson, has been warning us about the growing cyber threat from China. On this month’s edition of The Digital Future, Mark tells KPLU’s Dave Meyer the Mandiant report is truly a “smoking gun".

Will the Internet be our downfall?

Dave Meyer and Mark Anderson — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:27:00 +0000

Is the convenience of the Internet worth the potential chaos it can cause?

On this month’s edition of The Digital Future, Strategic News Service publisher Mark Anderson and KPLU’s Dave Meyer look at the dark side of our online world.

Dangerous times for American PC companies

Dave Meyer and Mark Anderson — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:25:00 +0000

Will we ever see a day when personal computers are no longer made in the United States?

It may seem unthinkable in the land that gave birth to Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and IBM, but Strategic News Service publisher Mark Anderson is seeing cause for alarm. He explains the situation to KPLU’s Dave Meyer on this month’s edition of The Digital Future.

Mark Anderson's technology predictions for 2013

Dave Meyer and Mark Anderson — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 12:58:00 +0000

Strategic News Service publisher Mark Anderson is predicting 2013 will be a big year for tablet computing, e-books, and cars that drive themselves.

Mark shares some of his predictions with KPLU's Dave Meyer on The Digital Future. Click on through to read the full list of 10 predictions.

Mark Anderson's 2012 technology predictions in review

Dave Meyer and Mark Anderson — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:08:00 +0000

It's been nearly a year since Strategic News Service publisher Mark Anderson unveiled his predictions for 2012. Although the year's not over yet, it looks like things are going the way Mark said they would.

Mark and KPLU's Dave Meyer review the predictions on this month's edition of The Digital Future.

Digitizing the planet

Dave Meyer and Mark Anderson — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Most of us have digitized our financial records and music and photo collections. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. On this month’s edition of The Digital Future, Strategic News Service publisher Mark Anderson tells us about efforts to digitize the Earth.

Computer sales are exploding

Dave Meyer — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 12:00:00 +0000

According to recent headlines, PC sales are sluggish.

But, if you include tablets and smartphones along with desktops and laptops, computer sales are exploding!

In this month's edition of The Digital Future, Strategic News Service publisher Mark Anderson tells KPLU's Dave Meyer that computing is evolving into two main areas: production and consumption. And you need to count both sides of the equation when looking at computer sales.

Mars and the value of science

Dave Meyer and Mark Anderson — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 12:00:00 +0000

The Mars rover Curiosity has been making its first tentative drives on the surface of the Red Planet. Soon, it will make a quarter-mile journey away from Bradbury Landing to explore a site called Glenelg, where it'll examine rock formations.

On this month's edition of The Digital Future, Strategic News Service publisher Mark Anderson tells KPLU's Dave Meyer that the August 5th Mars landing is more than just another triumph for NASA; it's a reminder that science is reality.

"Wall Computing" has arrived

Dave Meyer and Mark Anderson — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Ten years ago, Steven Spielberg's Minority Report gave us a glimpse into the future of computing interfaces. In the film, Tom Cruise's character interacted with a wall-sized display via hand gestures, rather than a mouse and keyboard.

In 2008, Strategic News Service publisher Mark Anderson predicted this sort of technology, which he calls Wall Computing, would soon make the leap into corporate conference rooms.

On this month's edition of The Digital Future, Mark tells KPLU's Dave Meyer that Wall Computing is becoming a reality, heralded in part by Microsoft's recent acquisition of Perceptive Pixel, which makes large, multi-touch computer displays.

Has Apple hit its peak? Commentator bails on its stock

Dave Meyer and Mark Anderson — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 12:00:00 +0000

When Steve Jobs went on his third and final medical leave at the beginning of 2011, Strategic News Service publisher Mark Anderson advised his subscribers to get ready to sell their Apple stock.

Recently, Mark took his own advice and sold 75% of his Apple holdings. He explains why on this month's edition of The Digital Future.

Let's turn carbon emissions into something useful

Dave Meyer and Mark Anderson — Tue, 29 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000

The average coal-fired power plant spews out more than a million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year.

Wouldn't it be great if that greenhouse gas could be put to good use?

On this month's edition of The Digital Future, Strategic News Service Publisher Mark Anderson tells KPLU's Dave Meyer that all that carbon could be used to make fuel, chemicals and other products.

China, telecommunications and national security collide

Dave Meyer and Mark Anderson — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:00:00 +0000

China's largest telecommunications company has a "trust issue."

Huawei is headquartered in Shenzhen, China. It manufactures equipment for telephone and broadband networks. The only larger telecom in the world is Swedish-based Ericsson.

The Australian government recently announced Huawei would not be allowed to bid on that country's National Broadband Network, due to security concerns.

Strategic News Service publisher Mark Anderson was in Australia at the time, and applauds the decision. He talks about it with KPLU's Dave Meyer on this month's edition of The Digital Future.

What happens when computers transcend human limitations?

Dave Meyer and Mark Anderson — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 11:00:00 +0000

According to Moore’s Law, computing power doubles every two years. Processing power has been increasing at that rate for more than 50 years.

What happens when our machines can perceive the world far better than we mere humans can?

Strategic News Service publisher Mark Anderson and KPLU’s Dave Meyer ponder the implications on this month’s edition of The Digital Future.

Predicting the future of technology: How is that done?

Dave Meyer and Mark Anderson — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Every month on The Digital Future, Strategic News Service publisher Mark Anderson shares his analysis and predictions with KPLU’s Dave Meyer. Today, we learn how he looks into the future.

Mark has been making predictions about technology and economics since 1995. His publicly graded accuracy rate over the past 10 years is over 93%.