Business Unusual

The internet was funded by the US military and developed by the academic community to provide a place to openly and easily share information. It was supposed to be a place to test ideas, to contest theories and to challenge views. Now that you can, it does not work quite as intended. Image credit: Bill Ward - Flickr   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For what much have seemed like forever on Wednesday 15 July neither Twitter nor 130 verified accounts were being controlled by their owners. The accounts had been taken over by hackers that posted a slightly tweaked crypto scam and after about four hours once the accounts had been secured, millions had seen the hacked tweets, with hundreds having sent bitcoin resulting in over R1,5 million paid to the scammers...

A business and its staff might have an ambition to take over the world and most would think that it was a fair ambition. For a country or political party to adopt a similar ambition, it is a very different story. What should companies and the people that work in them do when faced with political changes that don’t align with their values? The short answer for most of history has probably been - too little too late. Image credit: Hong Kong See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...

Using profit to solve health issues does not work in a pandemic, perhaps at all. This is a really complex issue. How should we fund the research for more effective drugs to treat conditions that may affect millions, knowing that many will not work and then determine how to price those that do work to cover the costs not just of the drug that did work, but the research for those that did not...

A powerful tool that everyone can access that has the ability to change the world or make it worse. Business Unusual looks at how social media has created significant movements but also spread conspiracies. Image credit: Pexels See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To quote one of the richest men in the world about inheritance, Warren Buffet thinks passing on a fortune is not the right way to go.  His advice is “You should leave your children enough so they can do anything, but not enough so they can do nothing.” In South Africa the challenge to addressing inequality is not a lack of willingness to address the issue, but rather an inability to overcome the gap if the status quo is not challenged. Image credit: 123rf.com See omnystudio...

By 2050 there might be more plastic than fish in the sea Humanity’s progress is marked by chance findings and lucky discoveries and this one might be one of the best. In the 1950s the discovery of plastics seemed to be the solution to all our packaging and storage needs. Glass was great but heavy, expensive and fragile...

In 2004, 54% of South Africans had no bank account, that thankfully changed significantly with the introduction of the national payment system which used a bank card which was loaded with the grant and could be used to make payments or used to withdraw cash when needed at pay points like supermarkets. That saw the percentage unbanked fall to 33% in 2012 and could be used by 75% of the recipients. image credit:123rf.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio...

One of six women chosen earlier this year may be the first to walk on the moon. America is planning to return to the Moon, it did not intend to stop after the original seven but global conditions made it hard for the US to continue to pay for the missions that in one respect were meant to beat the Russians to the Moon because they beat the Americans into space...

Guest: Cliff de Wit/ CTO and Co-founder at Dexterity Digital  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.