Old People, Vaccine Registration, and Online: What Could Be Overlooked by Thumbtypers? The Obvious
March 2, 2021
I heard over talkers on the Pivot podcast explain that old people struggled to use the Internet to register to get a Rona jab. Fascinating. I think I heard one of the stars of the wildly thrilling program express that despite computer expertise, the darned sign up site was difficult to use. Insightful. Then I read “Seniors Seeking Vaccines Have a Problem: They Can’t Use the Internet” in the online superstar New York Times. (Yep, I was able to locate the story online. Get your credit card ready, gentle reader. There is no free lunch provided by the Gray Lady.)
The estimable New York Times stated what the over talkers said; namely:
The chaotic vaccine rollout has come with a maze of confusing registration pages and clunky health care websites. And the technological savvy required to navigate the text alerts, push notifications and email reminders that are second nature to the digital generation has put older adults like Ms. Carlin, who need the vaccine the most, at a disadvantage. As a result, seniors who lack tech skills are missing out on potentially lifesaving shots.
Ms. Carlin is 84, and she is probably not hanging out on Zoom with thumbtypers, but that’s just a guess.
I learned:
By the end of last week, just 12.3 million Americans ages 75 and older, or 28 percent, had received at least one coronavirus vaccine dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Senator Tina Smith, Democrat of Minnesota, who has reintroduced a bill from last year that would allocate money to help get older Americans online, said the government had failed to get out ahead of a preventable crisis by not funding senior agencies sooner.
How many have thumbtyping techno-masters killed in the 70 plus cohort? The estimable New York Times did not provide a number. Come to think of it, I don’t think the Pivot over talkers did either.
Who would have imagined there were individuals unable to use the outstanding Rona registration systems? It’s obvious to know that some functions are hidden behind dots and hamburgers, pages have to be scrolled down to see data, and enjoy the experience of disabled back buttons.
Oh, well, since I am 77, I suppose some in my cohort will be killed by the thumbtyping techno masters. Big deal. When’s the Zoom happy hour start? Where’s the secret party this weekend? Multi-tasking? No Internet connection? No 5G mobile device.
Bummer.
Stephen E Arnold, March 2, 2021
Google: The Curse of Search
March 2, 2021
Remember when Eric Schmidt objected to information about his illustrious career being made available? I sure do. As I recall, the journalist used Google search to locate interesting information. MarketWatch quoted the brilliant Mr. Schmidt as saying:
If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place, but if you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines including Google do retain this information for some time, and it’s important, for example that we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act. It is possible that that information could be made available to the authorities.
Nifty idea.
Forbes, the capitalist tool I believe, published “Google Issues Quality Warning For Millions Of Google Photos Users.” That write up pivots on using information retrieval to illustrate that Google overlooked its own “right to be forgotten” capability.
The capitalist tool states:
At its 2015 launch, Google Photos creator Anil Sabharwal promised that High Quality uploads offered “near-identical visual quality” when compared to your original photos. But now Google wants us to see a seemingly huge difference in quality between the two settings and to be willing to pay extra for it. It seems “Original Quality” is now suddenly something for which we should all be willing to pay extra.
So what?
Google, which is struggling to control its costs, wants to generate money. One way is to take away a free photo service and get “users” to pay for storage. And store what, you ask.
Google is saying that its 2015 high quality image format is no good. Time to use “original quality”; that is, larger file sizes and more storage requirements.
The only hitch in the git along is that in 2015 Google emitted hoo-hah about its brilliant image method. Now the Google is rewriting history.
The problem: Google’s search engine with some coaxing makes it easy to spot inconsistencies in the marketing spin. Nothing to hide. Words of wisdom.
Stephen E Arnold, March 2, 2021
SolarWinds: What Are the Characteristics of a Buttoned Up Outfit? One Guess Only, Please
March 2, 2021
I read an allegedly accurate “real” news story called “SolarWinds Told Congress That an Intern Was Responsible for the SolarWinds123 Password Security Breach, but Experts and Documents Suggest a Bigger Issue” asserts:
Two SolarWinds CEOs told the US Congress on Friday that the now-infamous exposure of the password solarwinds123 was the result of an intern’s mistake in 2017.
Those darned interns, and they are paid well, treated with respect, and are the anchors of high technology outfits.
One former CEO and one current CEO pinned the blame on the intern. The write up says:
The username solarwinds.net and password solarwinds123 were viewable in a project on the code-sharing site GitHub, according to the researcher who found the issue and screenshots reviewed by
Insider. The researcher said those credentials would give access to a SolarWinds server handling updates to the company’s software, the process at the heart of the SolarWinds supply chain attacks.
How many bad actors did it take to locate the useful data? Probably one or two people. How did the high value information get passed around? Probably on discussion groups, via email, and on Dark Web hacker forums. How many people would it take to turn the credentials into an intelligence operation? According to a Microsoftie, around a 1,000 people. Sure enough. That sounds like a typical Microsoft team, doesn’t it?
Okay, what are the characteristics of a buttoned up outfit?
How about MBAism combined with indifference to security? This is just one possible answer to my question but a pretty good one I think.
Stephen E Arnold, March 2, 2021
Another Brilliant Maneuver from the Zuckbook: What Looks Like a Setback Is a Strategic Win
March 1, 2021
I read “Facebook Just Admitted It Has Lost the Battle with Apple over Privacy.” The subtitle suggests that the scintillating managerial acumen is using its custom shibboleth to fool its adversaries at the fruit outfit. Here’s the subtitle illustrating how the Zuckbook is feinting:
The company launched an ad campaign that shows just how worried it is about Apple’s upcoming privacy changes.
Yes, the “real” news outfit Inc. has been fooled. The write up continues:
The company [Facebook] released a pair of ads in three of the most widely-circulated newspapers in the country, accusing Apple of attacking small businesses and the open internet. Mark Zuckerberg also attacked Apple’s motivations during the company’s quarterly earnings report last month, and there are reports that he has been considering filing an antitrust lawsuit against the iPhone maker.
Red herrings have done their job. The dogs of privacy are going in circles. The write up reports:
Now, the company [Facebook] has launched a new campaign, including an ad titled “Good Ideas Deserve to be Found.” The new ad is a little hard to follow but is meant to show the value of personalized ads to small businesses. Facebook wants to make it very clear that personalized ads make for a better experience on Facebook and Instagram, which it also owns.
Confused. Don’t be.
The company [Apple] won’t stop Facebook from tracking you, but it will have to ask you for permission first. Why, then, is Facebook so worried? Because it knows what everyone else already knows–that when given a choice, most people will choose to not allow Facebook to track them.
Such a slick maneuver. Facebook’s moves make Julius Caesar’s tactics at the Battle of Alesia look like the Brazilian president’s Covid fighting campaign. MBAs will study this brilliant Facebook conflict. I am assuming that the MBA programs at certification institutions do more than collect money from the eager students.
Stephen E Arnold, March 1, 2021
Judge in Google Trial Not Googley
March 1, 2021
I read an inadvertently amusing story called “Judge in Google Case Disturbed That Incognito Users Are Tracked.” Google is engaged in one of its many legal battles. This case concerns Brown v. Google, 20-cv-03664, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose). The presiding judge is U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh. The write up reports:
In this case, Google is accused of relying on pieces of its code within websites that use its analytics and advertising services to scrape users’ supposedly private browsing history and send copies of it to Google’s servers.Google makes it seem like private browsing mode gives users more control of their data, Amanda Bonn, a lawyer representing users, told Koh. In reality, “Google is saying there’s basically very little you can do to prevent us from collecting your data, and that’s what you should assume we’re doing,” Bonn said.
Just as “unlimited” means “you have to be kidding”, the word “incognito” does not mean hidden. Judge Koh apparently was not aware of the GOOG’s native language. Google’s lawyer alleged suggested that Google “expressly discloses” its practices.
I laughed so hard that my eyes watered. No, I was not emulating happy crying.
The judge did not find Google’s argument as funny as I did. The write up reports:
The judge demanded an explanation “about what exactly Google does,” while voicing concern that visitors to the court’s website are unwittingly disclosing information to the company.“I want a declaration from Google on what information they’re collecting on users to the court’s website, and what that’s used for.
My hunch is that Google’s legal eagle Stephen Broome may be swept clean. The door is now open in Judge Koh’s courtroom for more amusing Google speak and the resultant misunderstandings.
“Expressly disclosing.” That is a good one. Where’s Jack Benny when we need him to work the phrase into a skit with Phil Harris?
Stephen E Arnold, March 1, 2021
Gebru-Gibberish: A Promise, Consultants, and Surgical Management Action
March 1, 2021
I read “Google Reportedly Promises Change to Research Team after High Profile Firings.” The article explains that after female artificial intelligence researchers found their futures elsewhere, Google (the mom and pop neighborhood online ad agency) will:
will change its research review procedures this year.
Okay, 10 months.
The write up points out that the action is
an apparent bid to restore employee confidence in the wake of two high-profile firings of prominent women from the [AI ethics] division.
Yep, words. I found this passage redolent of Gebru-gibberish; that is, wordage which explains how smart software ethics became a bit of a problem for the estimable Google outfit:
By the end of the second quarter, the approvals process for research papers will be more smooth and consistent, division Chief Operating Officer Maggie Johnson reportedly told employees in the meeting. Research teams will have access to a questionnaire that allows them to assess their projects for risk and navigate review, and Johnson predicted that a majority of papers would not require additional vetting by Google. Johnson also said the division is bringing in a third-party firm to help it conduct a racial-equity impact assessment, Reuters reports, and she expects the assessment’s recommendations “to be pretty hard.”
Okay. A questionnaire. A third party firm. Pretty hard.
What’s this mean?
The Ars Technica write up does not translate. However, from my vantage point in rural Kentucky, I understand the Gebru-gibberish to mean:
- Talk about ethical smart software and the GOOG reacts in a manner informed by high school science club principles
- Female AI experts are perceived as soft targets but that may be a misunderstanding in the synapses of the Google
- The employee issues at Google are overshadowing other Google challenges; for example, the steady rise of Amazon product search, the legal storm clouds, and struggles with the relevance of ads displayed in response to user queries or viewed YouTube videos.
Do I expect more Gebru-gibberish?
Will Microsoft continue to insist that its SAML is the most wonderful business process in the whole wide world?
Stephen E Arnold, March 1, 2021
Cision: More Data from Online Monitoring
March 1, 2021
Cision calls online monitoring “listening.” That’s friendly. The objective: More particular data to cross correlate with the firm’s other data holdings. Toss in about one million journalists’ email addresses, and you have the ingredients for a nifty business. “Brandwatch Is Acquired by Cision for $450M, Creating a PR, Marketing and Social Listening Giant” says:
Abel Clark, CEO of Cision said: “The continued digital shift and widespread adoption of social media is rapidly and fundamentally changing how brands and organizations engage with their customers. This is driving the imperative that PR, marketing, social, and customer care teams fully incorporate the unique insights now available into consumer-led strategies. Together, Cision and Brandwatch will help our clients to more deeply understand, connect and engage with their customers at scale across every channel.”
Cision data may open some new markets for the PR outfit. Do you, gentle reader, law enforcement and intelligence professionals would be interested in these data? Do you think that Amazon might license the data to stir into its streaming data market place stew?
No answers yet. Worth “monitoring” or “listening.”
Stephen E Arnold, March 1, 2021
Remarkable Zoom Advice
March 1, 2021
I am either 76 or 77. Who knows? Who cares? I do participate in Zoom calls, and I found this “recommendation” absolutely life changing. The information appears in “You SHOULD Wave at the End of Video Calls — Here’s Why.” Straight-away I marvel at the parental “should.” There’s nothing like a mom admonishment when it comes to Zoom meetings.
The write up posits:
I already know that every call here ends with a lot of waving), and the group unanimously favors waving.
The idea is that a particular group is into waving appears to support the generalization that waving good bye at the end of Zoom calls is the proper method of exiting a digital experience.
I learned:
Here’s the definitive ruling for the entire internet, from now until the end of time: waving at the end of video calls is good, and no one should feel bad for doing it. Ever.
Okay, maybe feeling bad is not the issue.
Looking stupid, inappropriate, weird, or childish may be other reasons for doubting this incredibly odd advice. Look. People exiting my Zoom meetings are not waving good bye to friends climbing on the Titanic in April 1912.
Why wave? The explanation:
Humans aren’t machines — we’re social animals. We want to feel connected to each other, even in a work context. Suddenly hanging up feels inhuman (because it is). Waving and saying goodbye solves this problem.
Holy Cow! Humans are not machines. News flash: At least one Googler wants to become a machine, and there will be others. In fact, I know humans who are machine like, in fact.
I hope I never see a wave ending my next lecture for law enforcement and intelligence professionals waving at me. I say thank you and punch the end meeting for all.
I am confident that those testifying via video conference connections will not wave at lawyers, elected officials, or investigators. Will Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg wave to EU officials in the forthcoming probes into the company’s business methods?
Stephen E Arnold, March 1, 2021
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