Showing posts with label Black Market. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black Market. Show all posts

June 29, 2015

Beautiful Currency For A Thriving Modern Nation

So why is our dollar bill so darn green, grimmy, germy, and generally ugly-looking?

I took this photo of a painting of a pretty nicely designed (mock) $2 bill. 

Red, white, and blue--that's cool. 

Distinct, bold, shiny, and clean--now we're talking. 

We could have other bills in other color combinations, like Canada does--and it would be befitting to have a nice gold/silver combination for the really big bills.

And how about some modern representation of our republic--our technology, space exploration, medical achievements, advanced manufacturing, military prowess, world philanthropy, etc. 

Also, please-please weave in some antimicrobial agents to protect the people from all the sick germs being spread around on these things. 

If we already need physical currency and won't accept the transition to credit/debit cards, Apple Pay, and bitcoins, then at least make the dollar bill something to be proud of. 

We're so worried about whose picture (and gender--okay, it really is time for a women to be honored) is on or off the bill that we forget what the rest of it actually looks like. 

Obsviously with physical money, you need to build in security every which way to Sunday, but it's still a counterfeiting and money laundering nightmare, and we should be focused on cybersecurity where literally our whole financial system (and democracy) is in peril. 

Who really needs the physical greenback anymore unless your a bad person doing black market, under the table, shady deals anyway--for the rest of us, it's time to get with digital currency.

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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December 28, 2014

Kidneys By The Pound

So this gallery in Santa Fe had a warped sense of what art is...

They had packages of styrofoam wrapped in cellophane with what looked like meat from the supermarket.

However in the packages, they had these disturbing plastic molds of human organs priced by the pound.

Pictured here is one labeled with a human kidney selling for $1,100.

They also had others hanging from the wall for human lungs and liver.

Considering there are a lot of sick people out there in needs of transplants, I did not think this "art" was in the best of taste. 

Also, with many who traffic in human organs and take advantage of those in poverty or otherwise at risk for selling on the black market, these pieces were more than a little troubling.

Perhaps, there are some who just think of human as just another type of planetary animal whose body parts are another form of meat that can be put up for sale or taken by force to make a profit.

The only thing is they are forgetting that humans have a soul and that can't be sold in the supermarket or black market except to the devil and there is no art in that. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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July 21, 2013

Like Buying A Nuke On The Black Market

Buying a serious computer vulnerability is now like acquiring a nuke on the black market. 

Nations and terrorists will pay to find the fatal flaw in computer programs that will enable them to perpetrate everything from subversive cyber spying to potentially massively destructive cyber attacks. 

As the world is focused on nuclear non-proliferation, computer weapons are the new nukes--able to do everything from a targeted strike on an organization or agency to taking out vast swaths of our nation's critical infrastructure.

According to the New York Times (13 July 2013), there is a great interest in buying "zero-day exploits"--one where governments or hackers can strike using a computer vulnerability before anyone even knows about it and can correct it. 

The average zero-day exploit persists for "312 days--before it is detected"--giving amble time for attackers to cash-in!

Brokers are now working to market the computer flaws for a 15% cut, with some even "collecting royalty fees for every month their flaw is not discovered."

The average flaw "now sells for around $35,000 to $160,000" and some companies that are selling these are even charging an annual $100,000 subscription fee to shop their catalog of computer vulnerabilities in addition to the cost for each one that varies with it's sophistication and the pervasiveness of the operating system behind the exploit. 

While governments and terrorists are on the prowl to buy the exploits for offensive purposes, technology companies are competing to purchase them and are offering "bug bounties" in order to identify the flaws and fix them before they are exploited. 

We've come a long way from people and organizations buying software with their regular upgrades and patches to nations and hackers buying the knowledge of the flaws--not to patch--but to spy or harm their adversaries. 

You can buy the bomb shelter or software patch, but someone else is buying the next more lethal bomb or vulnerability--the question is who will pay more to get the next exploit and when and how will they use it. 

(Graphic by Andy Blumenthal adapted from here with attribution for the mushroom cloud photo to Andy Z.)
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