Dark Purpose Apps: Are These a Big New Thing?
June 23, 2018
Very few apps are made with the intent to cause harm to others, but that doesn’t stop criminals from using good apps for bad purposes. What seemed to have started with stories of people having their homes robbed after posting vacation photos on Facebook has taken a darker turn, as we discovered in a recent New York Times piece, “Hundreds of Apps Can Empower Stalkers to Track Their Victims.”
According to the story:
“More than 200 apps and services offer would-be stalkers a variety of capabilities, from basic location tracking to harvesting texts and even secretly recording video, according to a new academic study. More than two dozen services were promoted as surveillance tools for spying on romantic partners, according to the researchers and reporting by The New York Times.”
Oddly, these apps are also being used by many dark web deviants who are suffering under increased government and law enforcement crackdowns of their domains. Several dark web criminals have switched to very public apps to evade police, much like a bank robber escaping into a crowd to lose the cops. Look for more stories like this in the future as criminals find more ways to exploit the tools and apps we all use everyday.
Patrick Roland, June 23, 2018
Go Strong, Go Tough, Cloud Marketers
June 23, 2018
Tough Tactics Not Benefiting Cloud Giants
There is a tendency for tech companies to go a little overboard in the hubris department. Take, for example, Facebook’s recent reckoning with playing fast and loose with users’ information. Some suspect a too-big-for-your-britches moment is stirring in the cloud services world with Oracle, who has made some odd choices recently in an effort to catch up to Amazon’s cloud services, according to a Light Reading story, “Oracle’s Aggressive Sales Tactics Backfiring?”
Oracle has been threatening customers with expensive usage audits if they do not move to the cloud and according to the story:
“[T]he tactic is backfiring.
“Several big Oracle customers, including oil and gas exploration company Halliburton, toy maker Mattel and electricity provider Edison Southern California, have recently rejected big cloud services deals proposed by Oracle, according to an Oracle employee with knowledge of the situation.”
Before we start building a pyre with Oracle’s name on it, it’s good to realize that they are far from the only tech giant trying to gain an angle on customers. Consider the flipside of the coin, Amazon is reportedly sitting on $12 billion in future revenues thanks to it’s aggressive discounting tactics. There’s a big difference between approaches to customer service here. Love or hate Amazon, you have to admire their customer-oriented style.
Patrick Roland, June 23, 2018
AI Bias Can Be Fixed. And There Is a Tooth Fairy
June 22, 2018
AI algorithms were supposed to remove the bias and human error from many decisions, from loan applications to criminal sentencing. As with most techno-fixes, experts soon discovered that algorithms have unforeseen flaws, like how some AI can accidentally create more bias. We learned one way this is being corrected from a recent Fast Company story, “This Tool Lets You See—And Correct—The Bias in an Algorithm.”
According to the article:
“The tool uses statistical methods to identify when groups of people are treated unfairly by an algorithm–defining unfairness as predictive parity, meaning that the algorithm is equally likely to be correct or incorrect for each group. ‘In the past, we have found models that are highly accurate overall, but when you look at how that error breaks down over subgroups, you’ll see a huge difference…’”
This is an interesting tool. We need to be able to correct these biases since most experts agree that we are also the cause of many of them. Finding a solution to this ever-growing problem provides hope not only for future use of AI technology, but also for financial investment in these technologies.
Has anyone seen the tooth fairy today?
Patrick Roland, June 22, 2018
Visual Social Media Gaining Traction Outside US
June 22, 2018
Text-based social media tools, such as Twitter and Facebook remain the kings of social media in English-speaking countries like the United States and Great Britain. However, this is not the case around the world, where visual social media tools are overtaking them. We learned more from a recent ZD Net story, “What’s Driving Middle East’s Rush to Social Media?”
According to the story, Facebook is very popular in Saudi Arabia and UAE, but Snapchat, Instagram and the like are absolutely exploding.
“However, in some Middle East countries, Facebook use has dropped substantially, by up to -20 percent, since 2013. Reasons for this decline aren’t clear but may include privacy concerns and preferences to use newer and more visually orientated social networks.”
The Middle East is not the only place where visual social media is really gaining traction. The marketing world is already hip to this trend. Many wise ad agencies and brand-centric marketers are touting the power of visual social media to construct a company’s narrative and brand. This is not just a blip on a radar, but a global phenomenon that is poised to leave text-based social media in the dust. Keep your eyes peeled as this trend catches on across other nations and businesses.
Patrick Roland, June 22, 2018
SoundHound Is Ready to Compete
June 22, 2018
What began as a music-identification tool is now a platform for building one’s own voice assistant application. Business Insider reports, “This 13-Year-Old Startup Just Got $100 Million and Is Valued at Over $1 Billion—Now It’s Taking on Amazon, Google, and Apple.” Writer Kif Leswing notes this recent funding round is led by Chinese firm Tencent, with other notable contributors like Hyundai, Daimler, and Europe’s Orange. We learn:
“SoundHound did not disclose its valuation following this round, but a person familiar with the company says it’s worth over $1 billion, making it a unicorn. It’s going to use those funds to go up against some of the biggest names in technology, including Apple, Amazon, and Google. SoundHound CEO Keyvan Mohajer tells us that he’s not afraid of those 800-pound gorillas, though. ‘We said, don’t be afraid,’ said Mohajer. ‘I always tell my team members, think of your competitors are variables in a complex set of equations.’”
That’s one way to look at it. Mohajer figures his company has one important advantage over those huge players—a less obtrusive integration into clients’ businesses. By creating, and branding, their own voice assistants, companies retain more control over their image and keep customers focused on them throughout the user experience.
Leswing notes that much of SoundHound’s funding has come from strategic partners, as opposed to financial firms. This is because, he reports, Mohajer is gathering allies in his face-off against the likes of Amazon. Mohajer declares he had to turn investors away for this funding round, so there does seem to be abundant interest in Houndify. Should Alexa be worried?
Cynthia Murrell, June 22, 2018
Can Google Flex Like a Start Up?
June 21, 2018
Short honk: I read a “real news” item from a company. The title was “U.S. Lawmakers Want Google to Reconsider Links to China’s Huawei.” In my opinion, the Google reacted to employee pressure, killed off Maven (a US government project), and assumed that its Googley actions were okay. Good idea. Flex and move on. But, according to the write up:
A group of Republican and Democratic U.S. lawmakers asked Alphabet Inc’s (Google on Wednesday to reconsider its work with Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, which they described as a security threat.
A bump on the information highway? A tactical move with unintended consequences? I am not sure.
Dumping government contracts is somewhat unusual. When I was working in Washington, DC, I recall that one day word diffused through the green halls of bureaucracy that Mr. Brin, a Google founder, wore a T shirt and sneakers to meet with elected officials.
But Google is no longer a start up. China is a topic of interest it seems. Flex does may not translate to surprised government entities. Procurement teams are usually averse to surprises in my experience.
What’s the trajectory of this Googley flex? Interesting for sure.
Stephen E Arnold
Search Now Maps Physical Products
June 21, 2018
Search has slowly been creeping into the real world, but rarely have we seen it making a positive impact on our lives when it does. Until now! A new search engine we discovered bridges the gap between the digital world and the physical world with impressively helpful results. We learned more from a recent LifeHacker story, “See What’s Actually In You Skincare Products With this Search Engine.”
The site is called Incidecoder, and this is what the article had to say:
“You can search for individual ingredients and popular products by name on INCIDecoder, and it will list out all of the ingredients as well as descriptions of what they actually are and what they do. Because while I know what Aqua is, I’m less familiar with PPG-26-Buteth-26 and Ethylhexylglycerin.”
Another way search is sneaking into the real world is in the fashion industry, where AI and predictive analytics can tell designers what look is hot now, but also what trends will pop up in the future. Expect to see more of this trend beyond fashion and beauty aids. This seems like it will be a huge market for blending search and AI into our daily lives.
Patrick Roland, June 21, 2018
Microsoft Chasing Voice Search
June 21, 2018
Maybe it has to do with a need for innovation and maybe it has to do with a need for Bing market share, but no matter what the motivation for Microsoft to kick its voice search program in to high gear was, we like it. Big changes are coming for the company and we discovered exactly what from a recent ZdNet story, “Microsoft Moves Toward Consolidating Its Many Speech Services.”
According to the story:
“Microsoft has some ambitious goals for its coming unified Speech Service, which falls under its Microsoft Cognitive Services umbrella.
“The new unified Speech Service “unites several Azure speech services that were previously available separately: Bing Speech (comprising speech recognition and text to speech), Custom Speech, and Speech Translation. Like its precursors, the Speech service is powered by the technologies used in other Microsoft products.”
Still skeptical? Microsoft recently reported a 346 percent increase in voice search in regards to hotel searches using its products. Flight searches were nearly as high. That is obviously a big huge arrow pointing toward the future and its interesting to see Microsoft grabbing the bull by the horns so quickly. Time will tell if it pans out, but we know Microsoft continues to plug away despite Google, without a mobile phone success, and in Amazon’s backyard.
Patrick Roland, June 21, 2018
WhatsApp: Brazilians Like to Party via Text Messaging
June 21, 2018
WhatsApp, the social messaging wunderkind app, has been making major headway in the market, nearing usage rates of early Facebook and Twitter. Nowhere is WhatsApp making a greater impact than in Brazil, where the political landscape itself is being transformed via the app, as we discovered in a recent Washington Post story, “WhatsApp is Upending the of Unions in Brazil, Next it May Transform Politics.”
According to the story:
“Nearly two-thirds of Brazil’s 200 million people use WhatsApp to share memes, set up meetings and, increasingly, vent about politics. Now, the messaging app is helping Brazilians undermine established power structures, injecting a level of unpredictability and radicalization into a country beset by economic and political crises.”
It’s not just Brazil that is being impacted by WhatsApp and its ability to connect people. The South American nation is only one of a handfuls of examples, many of the life-and-death variety. For example, The Guardian claims that several political activists embedded in repressive regimes have been using WhatsApp to skirt punishment and organize groups aimed at upending the government. This is promising news and a great example of the disruption that many Silicon Valley startups envisioned when they created their social media platforms. Encrypted messaging apps may not be quite as popular with some government authorities either.
Patrick Roland, June 21, 2018
Management Expert Mines s Silicon Valley Digital Insight
June 20, 2018
I enjoy the insights of high flying authors, management experts, and academic superstars. Consider “Silicon Valley Has Become a Moral Cesspool.” I learned something surprising, no, shocking:
But Peters [management guru] is increasingly “pissed off” that people don’t seem to get the point: Businesses should enrich the lives of their customers, not just shareholders.
Subtle. Excellent choice of words. Tasty, in fact.
But there’s more to insight wordsmithing. I noted:
Peters [management guru] said that Silicon Valley, the former home of Bill Hewlett and David Packard, had become a “moral cesspool.”
Such elegance! Intellectual and olfactory associations delivered with a civilized linguistic payload.
Stephen E Arnold, June 20, 2018
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