Data is like stats.  Lies and more lies.

Except when its cookies.   You go to sites and you’re watched.  Every move you make.  Every click,  the data is stored in a repository for future sale.

No lies.

I enjoy cookie free internet surfing.   Except for the data-stealing sites and hackers and so on.  As soon as a session-based machine discovers it can’t tag you with anything,  the device prefers not to receive your SMTP request through whatever internet server you’re using.  Particularly Social Networking sites.

The big secret is that you can browse virtually ALL internet sites with Cookies switched off.  On Internet Explorer,  go to TOOLS,  then INTERNET OPTIONS,  then PRIVACY,  and set the slider at the highest level.   That means your privacy is now ensured.

Or does it?

All that does is makes it difficult for Facebook to steal your clicks,  or Google.  And you won’t be able to save your passwords.   So you’re going to have to remember to type them in each time.

While I happily entered Businessday.co.za,  and Fm.co.za, and a host of news sites,  my social networking sites went off the boil.

That’s how Facebook is going to make money.  Steal your activity then sell that data and your email to someone you don’t know.

I suggest you think very carefully about what that means.

As the US begins investigating the protection of privacy and invasiveness of some of these Social Networking sites,  I wouldn’t be too quick to invest in the theft of data which is blatantly supported by investment banks at the moment.

What happens if the state enters Facebook’s servers and gets all your clicks, all your cookies,  your confidential movements online?  Will you face a Syrian-type firing squad?

What’s this?  FirstRand results leaked on line before the results were formally announced?

That’s very naughty.

After the ABSA debacle previously (which was leaked by Bloombergs after some hack there bought an FM that had somehow been sent to a local news agent early)  we now have another wire leak.

Firstrand shares have been suspended on the JSE – like ABSA  earlier.

By the way,  the FM DID NOT run that ABSA material online early – it was printed on olde fashioned paper and the Bloomberg hack spotted it because that’s what wire service journalists do.   Fight like information trolls for information first – and if they miss a story too often they’re fired.

But let’s sit back on our comfy chairs for a second and take a gander at this insider trading phenomenon.

Why, in this world of instant news and data,  are we still running company reports like the old days?

Why can’t we view the company data as shareholders,  in realtime?

Have some kind of company application that only shareholders can see which allows those who’re gambling on the stock exchange to view the actual performance of the company as it performs?  That will expunge leaks forever.    Accessing Management Accounts in real time is actually a mad idea.

“Well they would just crook them,”  a man who would know about these things has just said to me.

Competitors would buy shares just to spy on company X.   So what?  They’re spying on them now.

Wild idea?  Not at all.    As you purchase a share,  you receive the tool for daily updates on actual performance.

“And while we’re at it,  maybe hold a CEO to account for a forecast,” says the same informed trader.

“Link their bonuses and hiring and firing directly to promises made in public…”

I think I need to start a company that builds real-time applications for shareholders to communicate with their listed vehicles and to inform on profit and loss as the milliseconds tick past.

Not its share price – its daily accounts and CEO forecasts and then reconcile the two.

I’ve just downloaded Stephen Wolfram’s Mathematica modeling software which is available as a demo for nothing.  Now its not like asking for free mail,  this is a hugely successful new software concept from the man that brought you the original computer code in the 80′s .

Its not for the faint hearted.   But if you want to model Hedge Fund futures and such like,  give it a shot.  It costs  $279 which is a measly amount of money considering the profits made by hedge funds.   Start your own fund.   Invest wisely,  grow value,  see ramifications,  ensure profits.

Wolfram was one of the youngest PhD students in Cambridge history,  receiving his award in 1978 at the age of 20.   So what.  That was years ago I hear you say.

Image courtesy of Wolfram image

Since then,  the bloke has been busy.   He’s built one of the core modeling principles for the new world.   It involves patterns and is called Mathematica,  which shows the world is an entity that is three things in one.    The principles of his new science are pretty evocative.   Take chaos theory,  and mathematic algorithms,  find distinct outcomes that can be mapped.   And ..

VOILA !

An entire new science is born that has stymied the old school.   So much so that he is now rated as :

• 1 of the 100 most influential people on the web
• Mathematica is regarded as one of the of  best products of 2009
• His application for iPhones has shot up the lists and is rated on the front page of iTunes as one of the most downloaded apps

So if you’re sitting at the Gautrain or waiting for a taxi to Newlands,  check out Wolfram’s Demonstrations Project online,  a resource for “interactive visualizations from elementary education to frontiers of research…”

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