The world is getting less intelligent! I have had the impression for quite a long time, but now it is official: according to data published by the OECD in December, adults are less literate now than they were a decade ago. Interesting about this assessment is, that it looks at literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem […]
Author: Grumpy Old Man
The Hassles of 2FA and MFA
Sure, cybercrime is all pervasive nowadays and with ever more of us increasingly interacting with the world digitally security is paramount. So we all are used to Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) as far as for example and probably most importantly our online banking is concerned. And don’t get me wrong: Of course […]
Swiss Youth Earnings: Expectations vs. Reality
A recent (non representative) street survey in Switzerland by a Swiss media group showed that kids expect to earn CHF 20’000 (that’s nearly $24‘000) or more a month in a country where the average monthly salary stands at roughly CHF 7‘000. Clearly there is a wide gap between expectations and what these young adults ultimately […]
Influencers
When I was young, which admittedly is a very long time ago, boys wanted to be policemen, train drivers or pilots, and girls wanted to be nurses and hairdressers. How things have changed! Nowadays young folk want to be social media creators, YouTubers or influencers. According to a U.S. survey, 53% of Gen Zs (that’s […]
Deepfake Deception: AI’s Dark Side in Fraud
Artificial Intelligence is all the rage these days, not only to increase productivity at work and find answers to questions and solutions to problems, but also increasingly to create fake photos (remember the picture of the pope wearing a Balenciaga puffer jacket) and videos, and even recreate the voice of celebrities and even long deceased […]
The world’s most expensive substances
A German business magazine this summer published a list of the worlds most expensive materials. If you thought gold, rhino horns and Rhodium cost a bundle, there are substances which are much, much more expensive (and we are talking truly staggering numbers here). Ranks 8 to 10 are held by drugs (the illegal kind that […]
Can money buy happiness?
In my previous post I looked at the distribution of wealth, which then obviously leads to the question of whether money can buy happiness. And according to recent research more seems indeed to be better. This is according to new research by Matthew Killingsworth, a senior fellow at the Wharton School of the University of […]
Global Wealth: The great divide!
According to the ‘Global Wealth Report‘ by UBS, a Swiss bank, 1.5% of the world’s population own 47.5% of assets, while 39.5% of the global adult population only own 0.5%. The wealth pyramid in the report clearly shows what I suppose we all already knew: That a large proportion of global wealth is concentrated in […]
Time to Track Hate
Since the riots in a number of cities across the U.K. this summer, scores of people, mostly men, have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms – and quite rightly so: only immediate and severe punishment can act as a deterrent. What I found particularly shocking is the age of some of those hoodlums: the youngest […]
Striking Gold: Navigating Olympic Spirit vs. Commercial Interests
The modern Olympic Games were founded to celebrate amateur sporting ideals. But times change. As France is gearing up for the 2024 summer Olympics, it’s time to take a peek behind the scenes. Nowadays it’s all about money. Teams and athletes compete for medals, proud to be representing their nation at such a prestigious event. […]
The grumpy older man 