Artificial Intelligence and Judging Books by Their Cover
June 18, 2020
How many times have you heard, “Don’t judge a book by its cover?” The purpose of that euphemism is to teach people that appearances do not define a person’s character. Artificial intelligence has made that idea obsolete according to the Eurasia Review article: “Artificial Intelligence Can Make Personality Judgments Based On Our Photographs.”
Russian university researchers discovered that AI can predict people’s personality from their selfies. Conscientiousness was the easiest of four traits tested to predict and females appear to be more reliable than males. Physiognomy, the study of faces, is a pseudo science on par with inspecting head lumps and silhouettes. There are some strong theories that suggest the human face does contain personality characteristics essential to communication. The Russian university researchers conducted a test:
“Researchers from two Moscow universities, HSE University (Higher School of Economics) and Open University for the Humanities and Economics, have teamed up with a Russian-British business start-up BestFitMe to train a cascade of artificial neural networks to make reliable personality judgments based on photographs of human faces. The performance of the resulting model was above that discovered in previous studies which used machine learning or human raters. The artificial intelligence was able to make above-chance judgments about conscientiousness, neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, and openness based on ‘selfies’ the volunteers uploaded online. The resulting personality judgments were consistent across different photographs of the same individuals.”
The AI predicted personality characteristics better than humans. The AI personality predictor could be used for shopping, customer service, dating, and online tutoring. It could also be used to support locking innocent individuals up simply because they appear “suspicious.”
Whitney Grace, June 17, 2020
Australia: Facial Recognition Diffuses
June 17, 2020
Facial recognition is in the new in the US. High-profile outfits have waved brightly colored virtue signaling flags. The flags indicate, “We are not into this facial recognition thing.” Interesting if accurate. “Facial Surveillance Is Slowly Being Trialed around the Country” provides some information about using smart software to figure out who is who. (Keep in mind that Australia uses the Ripper device to keep humans from becoming a snack for a hungry shark.)
The write up reports:
Facial recognition technology uses artificial intelligence to identify individuals based on their unique facial features and match it with existing photos on a database, such as a police watch list. While it’s already part of our everyday lives, from tagging photos on Facebook to verifying identities at airport immigration, its use by law enforcement via live CCTV is an emerging issue.
That’s the spoiler. Facial recognition is useful and the technology is becoming a helpful tool, like a flashlight or hammer.
The article explains that “All states and territories [in Australia] are using facial recognition software.”
Police in all states and territories confirmed to 7.30 they do use facial recognition to compare images in their databases, however few details were given regarding the number of live CCTV cameras which use the technology, current trials and plans for its use in the future.
The interesting factoid in the write up is that real time facial recognition systems are now in use in Queensland and Western Australia and under consideration in in New South Wales.
The article points out:
Real-time facial recognition software can simply be added to existing cameras, so it is difficult to tell which CCTV cameras are using the technology and how many around the country might be in operation.
DarkCyber believes that this means real time facial recognition is going to be a feature update, not unlike getting a new swipe action with a mobile phone operating system upgrade.
The article does not identify vendors providing these features, nor are data about accuracy, costs, and supporting infrastructure required.
What’s intriguing is that the article raises the thought that Australia might be on the information highway leading to a virtual location where Chinese methods are part of the equipment for living.
Will Australia become like China?
Odd comparison that. There’s the issue of population, the approach to governance, and the coastline to law enforcement ratio.
The write up also sidesteps the point that facial recognition is a subset of pattern recognition, statistical cross correlation, and essential plumbing for Ripper.
Who provides the smart software for that shark spotting drone? Give up? Maybe Amazon, the company not selling facial recognition to law enforcement in the US.
Interesting, right?
Stephen E Arnold, June 17, 2020
Yahoo Japan: Fighting Online Bullies with Digital Kung Fu
June 17, 2020
Yahoo Japan promises AI tools to “Bruce Lee” cyber bullying
Hateful messages can turn social media into a truly toxic environment. Prompted by a high-profile suicide, Yahoo Japan vows to provide stronger AI tools to thwart online bullying. Kyodo News reports, “Yahoo to Offer Social Media Firms AI Tech that Detects Abusive Posts.” Wow—will it work? It is hard to tell just yet, for the article is short on details. We’re told:
“Yahoo Japan Corp. said … it will provide social media firms with artificial intelligence technology that can detect abusive and other inappropriate online posts following the death of a Japanese professional wrestler and reality TV star that is believed to be linked to cyber-bullying. The internet portal site operator announced the measure after Hana Kimura, 22, a cast member of the popular reality show ‘Terrace House,’ was found dead in a suspected suicide late last month after becoming a target of hateful messages on social media. Following her death, the Japanese government is also considering revising a law to simplify procedures for identifying individuals who make defamatory online posts, aiming to compile draft legislation by the end of the year.”
The site already deletes about 20,000 out of 290,000 comments posted to its news portal each day, but that number includes both abusive posts and those that have low correlation with the source article. The company promises to step up its vetting, but it must first explore the legal issues around deleting posts. It plans to do so soon, we’re told. The one-inch punch of death will be delivered. Will it really kill? Nope.
Cynthia Murrell, June 17, 2020
Linux Developer Is Unhappy with Amazon
June 17, 2020
Who doesn’t love Amazon? Maybe the person credited with developing Linux? That would be Linus Torvalds, developer of note.
No one pays attention to insults on the Internet unless someone with clout says them. The IT community definitely paid attention to the head of the Linux kernelLinus Torvalds when he said, “Linus Torvalds Rejects ‘Beyond Stupid’ AWS-Made Linux Patch For Intel CPU Snoop Attack” reports ZDNet.
In early 2020, Snoop launched attacks on Intel andCore CPUs and AWS discovered it. The attack causes CPUs to leak data from its L1D cache via bus snooping—a cache-updating operation that happens when the L1D modifies data. AWS developed a patch for the Linux kernel that would allow applications to opt in to flush the L1D cache when a task is switched out. Torvalds thinks the patch would degrade performance in other applications. Torvalds said:
“ ‘Because it looks to me like this basically exports cache flushing instructions to user space, and gives processes a way to just say ‘slow down anybody else I schedule with too’…‘In other words, from what I can tell, this takes the crazy ‘Intel ships buggy CPU’s and it causes problems for virtualization’ code (which I didn’t much care about), and turns it into ‘anybody can opt in to this disease, and now it affects even people and CPU’s that don’t need it and configurations where it’s completely pointless’.
‘I don’t want some application to go ‘Oh, I’m _soo_ special and pretty and such a delicate flower, that I want to flush the L1D on every task switch, regardless of what CPU I am on, and regardless of whether there are errata or not. Because that app isn’t just slowing down itself, it’s slowing down others too.’’
Torvalds also think the patch is crazy because a hack could inhabit another core within the CPU and attack the L1 cache before its flushed. Another fun word he used was pseudo-security.
Usually “pseudo” is reserved for science, but this works too.
Whitney Grace, June 17, 2020
Facebook and Law Enforcement
June 17, 2020
Does Facebook cooperate with law enforcement. Viewed one way, Facebook can be a foot dragger. Viewed another, Facebook lends a helping hand to enforcement authorities.
It does not surprise us that Facebook has come under fire from those protesting police misconduct. However, this controversy is not about handing over private data or security information to law enforcement. OneZero reports, “BLM Protesters Demand Facebook Stop Funding Local Police.” In this case, “local” refers to Menlo Park, where Facebook is based. Journalist Sarah Emerson explains:
“In 2017, Facebook struck a deal with its hometown of Menlo Park to fund a new police force, dubbed the ‘Facebook Unit,’ which patrols the area surrounding the company’s billion-dollar headquarters. As I reported last year, both Facebook and Menlo Park claim this partnership is meant to account for a growing population stemming from Facebook’s expansion in the area. Since Menlo Park maintains a certain policing ratio, more residents necessitate more cops. But according to private emails between the city and Facebook, which I obtained through a public records request, the company aggressively pushed for Menlo Park to expand its police force, despite strong opposition from communities of color. … After several years of planning, in September 2017, Facebook agreed to donate $11.2 million into the City of Menlo Park’s general fund. The police department has hired several new officers thanks to Facebook’s millions — covering their salaries, pensions, training, and equipment — but because the city does not earmark these funds, there’s little transparency or accountability around law enforcement spending.”
The funds go into the city’s general fund and are allocated by the city council. The mayor actually told Emerson it would be inappropriate to track the funds.
Now community organizers demand Facebook cease supporting police activities, meanwhile asking local residents to boycott events like festivals and farmers’ markets hosted by the company. They also call for the Menlo Park Police Department to fire a sergeant accused of racial profiling and harassment in 2015. The community has struggled for a decade with gentrification associated with the rise of its technology sector and with the outsized influence those companies have in the area. See the article for more discussion of those points.
Mr. Zuckerberg’s shape shifting continues to keep Facebook in a mystical zone of fuzziness. Confusing? Not to a marketing oriented, politically astute social media mogul.
Cynthia Murrell, June 17, 2020
Intel Secure CPUs: From the Outfit That Delivered Unfixable Security Issues?
June 17, 2020
I read “Intel Brings Novel CET Technology to Tiger Lake Mobile CPUs.” Sounds good. Sounds like Google and quantum supremacy. Sounds like IBM cheerleading for Watson’s Covid drug discovery service. Sounds like… marketing.
Intel, as DarkCyber recalls, has been shipping CPUs with some interesting characteristics: [a] Older and very warm technology and [b] CPUs with security issues that have been metaphorically characterized as unfixable.
True? DarkCyber believes everything available via the Internet.
ZDNet asserts in what seems like marketing department speak:
Intel has announced today that its experimental CET security feature will be first made available in the company’s upcoming Tiger Lake mobile CPUs.
Okay, experimental.
Like the quantum computer Horse collar innovation, DarkCyber will take a wait-and-see stance. The article contains a diagram, helpfully provided by Intel.
The innovation is definitely going to put a dent in AMD mobile CPU sales. Oh, right. Intel has a new line of mobile CPUs built on old fabrication technology.
The message seems to be:
“When we need to maintain a technical lead, let’s issue a news release.”
Does this echo like the quantum supremacy and Covid approach to technical leadership. Is Intel following a marketing and PR playbook, not technical realities?
Stephen E Arnold, June 16, 2020
Online Books
June 16, 2020
The Internet Archive has pulled in its digital tentacles. Are there collections of online books that will not attract law suits from increasingly stressed “real” publishers?
The answer is, “Sort of.”
For a listing of “over three million free books on the Web”, point your Mother Hen browser at “The Online Books Page.” Some exploration is needed. The categories are not exactly easy to use, but what online index is these days.
The “Search Our Listings” lets a user search by author’s last name and title. The problem is, as many grade school students know, is that an author’s name can return many listings. To see what I mean, plug in “Plato”. There you go. A list of books that will dissuade some from locating the old guy who argued with Socrates (not the football playing medical doctor from Brazil).
You can also access a feature called “Exclude extended shelves.” Despite the name, the NOT function delivers the goods. Why make Boolean into something that makes little sense?
The new listings option delivers an earthworm result. Like to browse, this is your Disneyland. Want magazines? Just click “Serials.” This page leads to more pages listing magazines. Some of the journals in the link to the Electronic Journals Library are not free. Well, free is relative, I suppose.
The effort to gather the information is admirable. Polishing, editorial control, and consistent presentation may arrive in the future.
Worth checking into an author with whom one is familiar. Browsing can be interesting. Years ago I told a former client that no firm had a comprehensive index of electronic books. That company’s young and confident managers did not believe me. Flash forward to 2020, the problem still exists. There you go.
Stephen E Arnold, June 16, 2020
Google and Pirate Sites
June 16, 2020
DarkCyber is preparing for the National Cyber Crime Conference lectures: Two live and one on pre-recorded video. We noted in our feed this article: “Popular Pirate Sites Slowly ‘Disappear’ From Google’s Top Search Results.” The write up states:
Over the past few months, it has become harder and harder to find the homepages of some popular pirate sites. Instead, Google points people to Wikipedia pages or entirely different – sometimes scammy – sites that use the same name. We’ll address a few examples here, contrasting our findings with Bing and DuckDuckGo.
Interesting.
Some DarkCyber readers may want to note that pointers to stolen software are findable in Google’s YouTube service. Here’s a results page for illegal and cracks of Photoshop CC6:
Why are these results appearing? There are other examples of content protected by copyright and other regulations. Try queries for other popular software.
The videos are either tutorials with links in comments, download locations within the videos as static text, or often amusing videos of the steps one must follow to get the software up and running, often with malware along for the ride.
How does one find this information? Just type the name of the software and the secret word “crack” or a synonym.
If the information in the cited article is correct, whatever Google is doing to filter search results, the story may be incomplete.
Doesn’t Google have a list of stops words which allow certain content to be blocked? Doesn’t Google have supreme domination of smart software? Doesn’t Google have its eye on the legal ball?
DarkCyber sure doesn’t know the answer. Now what about partners who recycle Google search results for their metasearch systems? There is another story there, but DarkCyber is not a “real news” outfit like Fox News which altered via Photoshop some images. Who owns Fox News? Isn’t it Mr. Murdoch, who also owns the Wall Street Journal?
Are there any similarities in corporate gyroscopes between some of these large, globe spanning companies? Nah.
Stephen E Arnold, June 16, 2020
Free Logo Search
June 16, 2020
Years ago I profiled a company called Trademark Scan. The firm gathered logos, indexed them, and created a commercial database. The idea was that trademark attorneys could sign up and receive alerts when some possibly infringed on a trademark. I lost track of the company, but the idea seemed interesting. As I recall, the service was expensive.
Now you can search for logos for free. No pattern matching, no alerts, and no fees. Navigate to Logosearch at the url https://logosear.ch. (Love that Swiss domain?)
There are some hitches in the git alongs. Some logos do not display and there are broken links. Here’s what a search for Google returned on June 15, 2020, at 0630 am US Eastern time:
Who knew that Google used a logo that looked like a tennis ball with flair? Certainly not DarkCyber.
Stephen E Arnold, June 16, 2020
Springer Free Computer Science Books
June 16, 2020
The list of free Springer computer science books is at this link. More than 40 books are available. Our faves include The Algorithm Design Manual and Introduction to Evolutionary Computing. DarkCyber did not ask, “Why?”
Stephen E Arnold, June 16, 2020
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