Sunday, March 30, 2014

60 Minutes on March 30, 2014

Michael Lewis, author of Flash Boys, tells Steve Kroft
the stock market is rigged.

High frequency traders and front running. In 2008, Kotsuyama noted
Problems in buying stock. Spread Networks. Ronan Ryan.
Beat speed by slowing it down. David Einhorn of a Green Light Capital.
IEX Exchange. Built in speed bumps. Magic shoebox.

Second, Scott Pelley on Elon Musk and Tesla. "Fast Cars and Rocket Ships."
Tesla Model S. He's building 600 Model S's per week. He's interested in
things that change the world. SpaceX and Tesla (first successful car company start up
in 90 years(?))

Tesla will go 250 miles without a charge. Musk's goal was to reveal the
possibilities. Musk grew up in South Africa. A guy with unlimited ambition.
Musk started PayPal, which was sold to eBay. Documentary: Revenge of the Electric
Car. Turning point around Christmas 2008.

Model S runs around $100,000. Picture of battery. Musk must re-invent battery
manufacture. Plans for a new battery plant for Li-ion batteries.

"60 Minutes" also discussed Musk's SpaceX company. Not mentioned, but relevant to
intellectual property, is the text from Elon Musk Refuses To File Patents At His High-Tech Private Space Company


However, the main reason for favouring secrecy over patents is security. Elon Musk, for example, refuses to patent technologies developed at his SpaceX rocket company for fear that foreign space agencies would simply pinch them.



Also in the story about secrets:


Most trade-secret thefts (and over 90% of EEA prosecutions) involve insiders. These are typically employees or contractors who are given access to sensitive information, which they snaffle via flash drive, mobile phone or e-mail. Respondents to the McAfee survey rated insider threats above those posed by software vulnerabilities or cyber-terrorism.

Solutions are far from straightforward. America's patent office is mulling whether to propose a new class of "economically sensitive" patents whose existence could be kept secret until a patent is granted (a process that typically takes over three years), to avoid giving thieves a head start.




Third story. Wynton Marsalis on assignment for "60 Minutes" presents the story of Marcus Roberts.

From the story: Marcus went blind when he was 5 years old. And soon began trying to make sense of life in the darkness. He was unusually curious, and even tore his toys apart just to find out how they worked.

Marsalis on Roberts: “He is completely innovative. He has invented another way to play the jazz piano. Marcus is like a movement.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home