BIGWIG SOFT

The tumble in cryptocurrencies that erased nearly $500 billion of market value over the past month could get a lot worse, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s global head of investment research. Most digital currencies are unlikely to survive in their current form, and investors should prepare for coins to lose all their value as they’re replaced by a small set of future competitors, Goldman’s Steve Strongin said in a report dated Feb. 5. While he didn’t posit a timeframe for losses in existing coins, he said recent price swings indicated a bubble and that the tendency for different tokens to move in lockstep wasn’t rational for a “few-winners-take-most” market. “The high correlation between the different cryptocurrencies worries me,” Strongin said. “Because of the lack of intrinsic value, the currencies that don’t survive will most likely trade to zero.” Today’s digital coins lack long-term staying power because of slow transaction times, security challenges and h...

In truth, there is no reason that a financial system has to be this complex and so volatile It has been comical to watch the parade of guests on the business news channels this week try to explain to viewers, and to one another, why our hyper-efficient financial markets — the ones that are supposed to be so brilliant at pricing the value of everything — have been bouncing around like a squash ball on an overheated court. Pay no attention to the volatility, these financial wizards assure us. It’s just a little technical correction, a bit of froth being taken off the top of a market that had gotten a little ahead of itself.  The fundamentals of our otherwise sound economy will soon reassert themselves. Why is it that when the market is climbing by improbable leaps and bounds month after month we are supposed to take that as a genuine reflection of the fundamentals, but when the market is in a free fall, we are suppos...

SAN FRANCISCO — Copy and paste this to your Facebook wall: That Facebook status update that you just shared hoping you can still see updates from your friends? Yeah, it's a hoax. Facebook is not going to limit status updates in your news feed to 25 people. No, really. Here's the status update that is causing otherwise reasonable human beings to abandon logic (and apparently the ability to search Google): "The new algorithm controlling Facebook's news feed now shows only posts from the same few people, about 25. Their system chooses the people to read your posts, but I would like to choose for myself. Therefore, I ask you a favor: please, right now...Leave me a quick comment, a 'hello,' a sticker, whatever you want - don't just 'like' - post something - so you will appear in my news feed. I have some interesting news coming and want to make sure it reaches you." Then the status update urges everyone to copy and paste it to their ...

5G is going to be a really big deal. The lightning quick "next generation" wireless technology is expected to power self-driving cars, virtual reality, smart cities and networked robots. But what else can it do? Ericsson has joined up with researchers from King's College London to dream up futuristic applications for 5G. They're looking at everything from music to medicine. The team is focused on using the technology to transfer physical skills across networks, creating something they call the "Internet of Skills." One example: A surgeon with virtual reality equipment and haptic gloves, which sense motion and pressure,could operate on a patient on the other side of the world via a robot. Remote surgery has been possible for a while, but 5G speeds should eliminate all delays and lag. That means the surgeon could get instant feedback via the gloves. "With 5G and the new networking architecture we're building, we'r...

South Korean authorities are adopting some pretty high-tech security measures for the upcoming Winter Olympics , including the deployment of drone-catching-drones and a tactical plane with facial recognition . The drones they're using to patrol the event won't chase away rogue drones that get too close to the venues: they'll cast nets to catch any UAV that shows up on the the security team's radar. More than being worried about photographers taking unauthorized photos of the games, the Pyeongchang Olympics anti-Terrorism and Safety team are apparently concerned about the possibility of terrorists using drones to drop or plant bombs. In fact, team members have also been training to shoot drones out of the sky, in case their own drones aren't enough. North Korea's participation in the games make it less likely for the country t...

The most important parts of Intel’s new Vaunt smart glasses are the pieces that were left out. There is no camera to creep people out, no button to push, no gesture area to swipe, no glowing LCD screen, no weird arm floating in front of the lens, no speaker, and no microphone (for now). From the outside, the Vaunt glasses look just like eyeglasses. When you’re wearing them, you see a stream of information on what looks like a screen — but it’s actually being projected onto your retina. The prototypes I wore in December also felt virtually indistinguishable from regular glasses. They come in several styles, work with prescriptions, and can be worn comfortably all day. Apart from a tiny red glimmer that’s occasionally visible on the right lens, people around you might not even know you’re wearing smart glasses. Like Google Glass did five years ago, Vaunt will launch an “early access program” for developers later this year. But Intel’s goals are different than Google’s. In...