TECHNOLOGY:
This Tag Team is Set to Take over Email
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about ‘How to Beat the NSA Using the Deep Web‘. I explained how using the ‘Onion Network’ you can keep your identity hidden from prying eyes.
Part of this was a story about Lavabit, an encrypted email service provider. Lavabit shut their business because the FBI got too close for comfort. So close in fact they were going to send the founder to jail. That led Lavabit to put the security and privacy of their 400,000 users above the demands of the FBI. Hence they closed the doors. It was a strong statement to the US government about privacy and freedom of information.
Another company involved in the encrypted communication is Silent Circle. They’ve built their own network of tools to allow secure, encrypted global communication. All you need to do is subscribe to one of their packages, download an app and you’re on the road to privacy.
Now every call you make, text you send or file you transfer is encrypted and secured. Of course Silent Circle might end up going down the same path as Lavabit. Hopefully they won’t, but you never know the kind of threatening tactics the NSA, FBI or CIA might just throw their way.
But Silent Circle does have some sympathy for Lavabit. They are both trying to achieve the same thing, protection of privacy. And this sympathy has led Silent Circle and Lavabit to team up on a new project.
This combined effort has launched a new alliance. It’s the Dark Mail Alliance. It’s a new way to email with tight end-to-end encryption.
It’s pretty early doors so far, but the site is up and running for people to register their interest. Not much information is available about the project or the technology. And you can understand why.
What we do know is it’s likely you’ll need both users (the recipient and the sender) to use the DarkMail program for the system to properly work. However, if I send you an email and we both use DarkMail then the NSA’s got no hope.
I know I’m going to get on to the website and register my interest. I encourage you to do so also. And with recent news the NSA has intercepted data from both Google and Yahoo’s data centres, it makes more sense than ever to look for more privacy online.
I get the feeling this tag-team effort to ‘stick it to the man’ might just end up being one of the biggest digital project of all time. With sufficient support we might all be using the DarkMail Alliance soon enough. It could very well be the first choice for email of everyone, everywhere.
HEALTH:
Stem Cells will re-shape the way we think about Medicine
We are entering a new era of medicine. The whole world is shifting in how we approach our health and wellbeing. And medical technology is reshaping the very concept of medicine as we know it.
Personalised Medicine and Regenerative Medicine are the key catalysts for this massive shift in thinking. Both of these are crucial to the progress of human life.
Personalised medicine is about getting genetic information. Armed with this information you put preventative measures in place to improve your health. DNA analysis and genome mapping are two tools used to get this genetic information. And it all leads to huge amounts of personal information, like a crystal ball for your future health.
Then there’s Regenerative Medicine. Regenerative medicine is about repairing and healing your body when illness or disease strikes. It might be bad joints, or a problem heart or even a degenerative brain condition. Regenerative medicine holds the potential to reverse irreversible conditions, and even reverse the entire aging process.
Both the Personalised and Regenerative Medicine movements are leading to medical miracles. And a recent gene therapy success has highlighted how important these movements are.
Five children recently received gene therapy treatment for an immunodeficiency disease known as ADA-SCID. Those inflicted have no immune system and cannot survive in a world filled with germs and bacteria.
One of the five children treated was baby Nina. As reported by New Scientist Magazine,
‘Stem cells were harvested from Nina’s bone marrow and given a working version of the ADA gene, before being injected back in. That was in April, and she wasn’t expected to show much of an improvement before December. But by August her white blood cell count had nearly doubled, and today she has the immune system of a healthy newborn baby.‘
The story of Baby Nina is just one example of the exciting new world of medicine. Stem cells and gene therapy are part of the new future. It’s an exciting time to be alive and an exciting time to watch these technologies become ‘company makers’.
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As the years roll on we’ll all benefit from these technologies. It will help us to live longer, live healthier and for those who take action…make some healthy profits.
ENERGY:
How to take a 1,750 mile road trip that costs $0 in fuel
This road trip might cost you $0 in fuel. But it might cost you anywhere from $69,000 to $100,000 in the price of the car.
The leading electric car maker Tesla has officially opened the first connected network of recharge stations in America. It’s the ‘West Coast Supercharger Corridor’ and it stretches from San Diego to Vancouver, Canada.
Here’s what the Supercharger corridor looks like,
The red dots along the left side of the picture are indeed the West Coast corridor (for the orientation impaired). In effect the distance from San Diego to Vancouver is 1,750 miles.
Let’s look at the base model (Model S) that gets about 208 miles to the charge. So that means leaving San Diego you’d be able to make it to Los Angeles, and recharge there (in 20 minutes). Then on to recharge at Atascadero, Fremont and Corning all located in California. Then on to Woodburn and Springfield in Oregon.
Next stop Centralia and then Burlington in Washington. From Burlington you’d have enough charge to get to Vancouver, drive around for a while and then get back to Burlington and head back down the coast again.
Over 1,750km you’d only need to stop 8 times. And spend 2 hours and 40 minutes charging over the entire trip. Oh and it’d cost you exactly $0.
Compare this to an equivalent car, the Audi A6. The two-litre TFSI A6 does a combined mileage of about 28 miles per gallon. And has a 19.8 gallon fuel tank. So over the course of the same journey the Audi would need to stop 4 times at the pump filling the tank each time (it would need 3.15 tanks of fuel to make the journey). So you’d only need to stop half as many times in a petrol powered car. So from a time perspective the Audi wins.
However…the Audi would cost about $243 in premium petrol, one way. So where the Tesla would cost $0 for the round trip, the Audi would be $486.
Now whichever way you look at it there is no other premium car on the market that even comes close to the benefit of the Tesla Model S.
Further to that, Tesla will have the entire East-West corridor of America connected by the end of winter. And it doesn’t stop there. Tesla’s next major market is Europe. Their aim is to have all of Western Europe and England connected by the end of 2014.
There seems to be no stopping this juggernaut of the motoring world. The next vehicle, the Model X is due to hit the market next year. And the ‘affordable’ $30,000 model is to come in 2015.
Tesla is a ripping company, with class leading technology. Their CEO, Elon Musk, has the Midas touch, and they’re building the required infrastructure to make this all worthwhile. For what it’s worth I love the company, but I hate the stock price. The hype and hysteria around it is usually a sign something’s going right. But in the fundamentals of buying stocks you need to make sure you avoid buying high.
Sam Volkering+
Technology Analyst, Revolutionary Tech Investor
