Jim

@nelsondev@infosec.exchange
14 Followers
148 Following
483 Posts
Engineer based in the PacNW U.S. working in a cybersecurity org, tho’ I’m mostly a devops/utility player. Statements and opinions are mine and mine alone.
The extremely anomalous & in most cases record-breaking Nov-Dec warmth led to record-low snowpack in many areas. Heavy precipitation bolstered high elevation snowpack in some areas in late Dec despite warmth, but most basins remain far below average snow water equivalent.

Prediction markets sell themselves as truth engines. Put money on outcomes, strip away noise, and let prices reveal reality. The Venezuela strike exposes the cost of that logic. When someone can profit from a covert military operation before the public knows it happened, markets stop forecasting the future and start rewarding proximity to power. This isn’t information discovery. It’s monetized access.

The political problem is simple and corrosive: greed gets institutionalized. When insiders are encouraged to leak or act early because there’s money on the table, restraint becomes irrational. Journalism delays publication to protect lives. Markets pay you to move first and ask questions never.

The ethical problem runs deeper. Prediction platforms don’t just reflect reality; they reshape incentives inside governments, corporations, and security institutions. They quietly ask every insider: do your job, or place your bet?

And the security problem may be the most dangerous of all. Classified plans, military actions, and diplomatic moves become market signals. Prices move faster than accountability. Risk is no longer mitigated; it’s priced.

Efficient markets are not moral systems. When everything becomes tradable, even secrecy turns into a commodity. And when insiders win, the public doesn’t gain clarity. It absorbs the risk.

TL;DR
🧠 Prediction markets reward access to secrets
⚡ Greed displaces ethics and restraint
🎓 Security decisions become financial signals
🔍 Truth priced by markets is not the same as a public good

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/01/venezuela-maduro-polymarket-prediction-markets/685526/

#MarketEthics #Politics #Crypto #Power #security #privacy #cloud #infosec #cybersecurity

The Polymarket Bets on Maduro Are a Warning

Get ready for the golden age of insider trading.

The Atlantic
My product owner and my people leader were both working last week. I anticipate this being me and my Jira stories tomorrow. #jira #holidays #cybersecurity

Number of people who go bankrupt every year because of medical bills or illness-related work loss:

🇦🇺 0
🇨🇦 0
🇩🇰 0
🇫🇮 0
🇫🇷 0
🇩🇪 0
🇮🇸 0
🇮🇪 0
🇮🇹 0
🇯🇵 0
🇳🇱 0
🇳🇴 0
🇵🇹 0
🇪🇸 0
🇸🇪 0
🇬🇧 0
🇺🇸 530,000

There’s a lesson there.

If you are a resident of California, the state now has a portal where you can demand deletion of your personal data from 500+ registered data brokers with a single request form, for free.

https://consumer.drop.privacy.ca.gov/

Driving home for most of the day I started listening to To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini, narrated by Jennifer Hale.

My first experience with both the author and the actor. Absolutely engrossing. I may exhaust all my audiobook listening activities tomorrow - dog will be walked, laundry done, floors swept….

#scifi #audiobook

NORAD confirms Santa appears to have collided with an out of control Starlink Satellite