IVR Deconstructed

A report was released in September by scientists working on the OPERA experiment that detected neutrinos (an electrically neutral subatomic particle) moving faster than the speed of light.  Based on Einstein’s theory of relativity, this was previously assumed to be impossible.

Scientists discovered that neutrinos in the experiment travelled from CERN in Switzerland to OPERA in Gran Sasso, Italy faster than light, taking only about 60 nanoseconds to arrive.  If this was indeed the case, this would undermine Einstein’s theories of relativity and result in a rethinking and overhaul of modern physics.

The cosmic speed limit, which postulates that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, has been thrown into question over the past couple of months due to these results.  According the Guardian, if the results of these studies are indeed accurate, it would be considered an enormous breakthrough and would most likely result in a complete overhaul of the theories and assumptions governing the study of physics.

If this data is in fact correct, it means that a whole new and different set of theories would have to be offered in order to explain what was previously thought to be impossible.

The scientific community was awash with skepticism upon receiving this news, arguing that there must have been some sort of error within the experiment’s set up or execution.  In the two months following the experiment, the teams at OPERA and CERN have attempted to duplicate these results in the hopes of figuring out whether this was experimental error or if they have indeed made a momentous scientific discovery.

CERN has systematically repeated these findings and, as of November 18, confirmed the same result.  The CERN team conducted an improved version of the experiment executed by the researchers at OPERA and have “reinforced the previous finding and ruled out some possible systematic errors.”

However, a study released just today by ICARUS at Gran Sasso have said that OPERA’s findings have to be wrong because the energy levels of the arriving neutrinos were too high.  If the neutrinos were actually travelling faster than light, they would have lost most of their energy upon arrival.

It is too hard to say at this juncture who is correct.  As with any scientific or technological breakthrough, there will need to be multiple tests and experiments performed by independent teams of scientists to either refute or confirm these findings.  At publication time, the U.S., Italy and Japan are all in the process of developing their own experiments in an attempt to duplicate OPERA’s findings.

While this is a huge, sweeping example of scientific evolution and revolution, these types of discoveries and modifications are occurring on a daily basis, even in the IVR field.  The past ten years have seen revolutionary improvements in IVR technology, with tools available that were not even conceivable a decade ago.

A lot of the time, the process of discovery and invention is very slow and incremental, but patience and methodical research eventually lead to discoveries that reinvent the wheel, or redefine the laws of gravity and physics, as the case may be.

This is not at all meant to be a doom and gloom, prophetic post about the end of the world or anything like that. But I think given the situation in Europe at the moment, and given the last few years of economic crisis, it’s maybe time to take a look.

There’s a danger in a global community and global economy. In many ways, it’s a wonderful thing—we’re all connected like we never were before. But it has its drawbacks.

In prehistoric times, the world was populated by an infinite number of small groups. Most populations were villages with no more than 150 people or so—that’s the number sociologists have put forth as a kind of Goldilocks number (not too few, not too many).

Neighboring societies interacted socially and maintained relationships for mutual benefit. With such small populations, interbreeding would have naturally caused problems.

It was customary for young men and women to go off to another village when they got married. In times of war, villages would band together against outside threats.

Other than that, there wasn’t a whole lot of interaction. And there wasn’t any interaction between cultures on different continents. It wasn’t until large-scale shipping developed that cultures from thousands of miles away interacted and learned about each other.

This is entirely different from our global society today. Literally thousands upon thousands of people travel from one continent to another every day now. Societies influence each other culturally, economically and physically across continents.

Bottom line, the problem with a global society (especially a global economy) is that one small part can take the whole thing down. Whether it’s financial failure, as in the case of Greece and Europe at the moment, or some kind of virus like avian flu crossing oceans.

I really don’t mean to be fatalistic or anything, but it’s a reality. When the Chinese Ming Dynasty finally overthrew the Yuan Dynasty of the Mongols in 1368, it had absolutely zero effect on the Incas in South America. See what I mean?

If Greece falls, it will have a major effect on the rest of Europe and a big effect on the world’s markets. Which is why some in Europe are talking about cutting Greece loose or dissolving the Eurozone altogether.

Anyway, it’s something to think about.

If you’ve logged on to Facebook in the last couple of days you might have noticed some wildly offensive images on your news feed.  Unfortunately you are not alone, as Facebook has received over 6 million complaints from users regarding both questionable content.

Typically the image or content is presented as a post to a friend’s account, and will be visible to everyone but the account holders themselves.  Reports began flooding in on Monday and have only ramped up since.  What is noteworthy about this is that the hacker(s) actually defeated Facebook’s tight security, and up until earlier today, the site had no idea how the spam was being transmitted and by whom.

Just a week ago, infamous hacking collective Anonymous threatened to hack Facebook in response to what they felt were egregious privacy violations on behalf of the company.  The threatened attack was planned for November 5^th but didn’t occur on that date.  Many thought that this spamming was indeed the belated work of Anonymous.

This type of large-scale attack has served to expose Facebook’s vulnerabilities, especially because the problem is so widespread and has gone on for a lengthy amount of time.

Just today Facebook released a statement that “the root of the problem is malicious JavaScript that some users were tricked into pasting to their browser URL bar.” Interestingly enough, this attack was both started and perpetuated by users through the misrepresentation of code that they were tricked into disseminating.

Users actually copied and pasted this malicious JavaScript into their browsers, which caused them to unknowingly share the offensive content.  Users who are unwittingly doing it have been alerted and informed through educational checkpoints, and Facebook’s team has figured out how to swiftly pull and shut down these malicious pages.

This incident showcases two things.  The first is that huge websites with hundreds of millions of users often times have the highest levels of security but due to their massive consumer base are also extremely vulnerable to both external and internal threats.  Any of their hundreds of millions of users could have been responsible for this, and other users only exacerbated the problem by additionally sharing the JavaScript.

The second aspect of this incident showcases something much more positive about the company.  This was a malicious attack of epic proportions.  Just yesterday Facebook had no idea how this attack occurred, who was responsible for it or how to stop it.  Today they have identified the source of the spamming, are narrowing in on the culprit and have put in massive safeguards worldwide to immediately kill any malicious pages.  For a site as big as Facebook, this is extremely impressive.

Technology companies of any kind, whether they are a social network or an interactive voice response retailer are constantly faced with new and challenging security threats.  With technology evolving and changing as rapidly as it does, there are hazards that companies aren’t even aware of.  In order to guarantee the safety and security of their product, tech teams need to be as prepared as possible for attacking threats, and in the event that something does happen to get through, they need to address it extremely quickly before their customer’s information and security is compromised.

I am not a fan of Facebook (I am not even on the site anymore), but for what may be the first time ever, it appears that congratulations are in order because the company didn’t panic and addressed the issue in the swiftest manner possible.  

There’s another aspect to the NBA players and owners sabotaging the season that they don’t seem to be talking about. So far it’s all about their own entitlement. No mention of all the people who rely on the NBA for their livelihoods—the NBA ecosystem.

Right now the NBA players union is dissolving and forming an association so it can take the league and team owners to court. They feel they should rightly continue to receive the lion’s share of the league’s earnings.

But, at least to me, there are a few (thousands, actually) factors they haven’t taken into account, namely all the people who work at the arenas, the businesses around the arenas, even the ticket scalpers.

Those people will have less work or be out of work altogether. Not have a $3 million salary versus a $1.5 million salary. They’ll struggle just to make rent. To buy food. To live.

The U.S. unemployment rate is still at 9%. In my opinion, now is most definitely not the time for wealthy players and owners to squabble over their millions, swelling the numbers of unemployed even more.

Honestly, to me it’s selfish and shows just how removed from the fans these guys really are. While none of the players’ or owners’ immediate kin have to worry about money, both the players and the owners should be well aware of they have.

Everyone knows someone who’s been laid off during the recession and found it difficult to find a job. You’d think the owners and players would too—they weren’t all born rich.

Hardly. A lot of players came from poor upbringings and still know people back in their old neighborhoods. It’s a sport that doesn’t require money to be play. Soccer is the same. In inner city Chicago, the kids are playing basketball; in the favelas (slums) of São Paulo, Brazil, the kids are playing soccer.

But regardless of upbringing, you can bet the owners at least know exactly how many people they employ at their venues.

Stay tuned for Part 2…

In the simplest terms, the NBA owners aren’t turning a profit, but the players want a raise, to maintain a bigger slice of the pie than the owners and also retirement benefits.

That’s right. Retirement benefits. (I’m sorry, but if those guys don’t have enough money to get by after making millions, it’s not retirement benefits they need, it’s financial planning help—which the players union provides for them, by the way).

Even the small-time players still make far, far more than the regular guy off the street, even if it’s just for a year or two. Money after retirement shouldn’t be an issue. But of course it’s not really about ‘getting by,’ it’s about splitting up booty. But that’s all I’ll say about the actual argument.

Now, I’ve been an NBA fan most of my life. I love it. I’m one of those guys who prefers the NBA to college (although I love college hoops, too). In my opinion, it’s the highest level of the game on the planet (along with the professional European leagues).

I believe the worst players on the worst teams in the NBA will smoke the NCAA national champions every single time. The game is far more skilled, far more complex, bigger, faster, rougher and played harder.

Okay. I can hear all the guffaws out there, so here’s my pro-NBA argument—

The offensive players are so skilled and the teams so skilled at running their offenses that they make it look easy, like the defenders aren’t trying. But remember—only the most athletic and skilled (or potentially so) make it from college to the pros, and 99% of them get absolutely schooled for a couple years when they get there.

The rookies always talk about how hard it is, not just because it’s a different game but because it’s just plain harder. And these are the exact same guys who played at the highest level in college.

It’s not like they all get lazy when they make it to the NBA. Most have to work very hard on their game for years—the big guys usually need to improve their footwork and develop their shots, the perimeter guys usually need to extend the range on their shots, et cetera.

No. They have to work even harder just to stay in the league. And if they give up at the end of games they can’t possibly come back from sometimes, it’s only because it’s such a long season—three times as long as the college season—and it takes a toll. Watch during the playoffs and you’ll see ultimate effort.

And that’s the thing I’ll miss out on this year if there’s no season. Me and millions of fans all over the world. Regular guys (and girls).