Opinion Shaping Shifts into High Gear
January 25, 2022
Two interesting opinion shaping initiatives caught my attention. Both are based on digital constructions but will make use of fuddy duddy print and television as warranted. Let’s look at each quickly and then step back and figure out what’s the context of the two activities.
The first is explained in two write ups. The first is “The UK Government Is Reportedly Preparing a PR Blitz against End-to-End Encryption.” The idea is that making it more difficult to access a British citizen’s messages is not a good idea. There are nuances, of course. Certain government agencies want ASCII, easy access, and real time content pipes. A related story is “UK Government Readies Anti-Encryption Publicity Campaign to ‘Keep Children Safe’ Online.” One cannot argue with the keep children safe angle. Who doesn’t want that? In order to achieve “safe,” it is necessary to have access to user content; for example, actors messages sent via Threema, the Swiss messaging system.
The second initiative is explained in “Big Tech Foes Launch Campaign Style Initiative to Push for Antitrust Legislation.” The idea here is that some wealthy people are concerned about big tech. Did big tech make these concerned individuals wealthy? Well, that’s another issue. The push is designed to build support for clipping the wings of outfits which are not doing what the big tech foes find acceptable. The idea is to use the Fancy Dan methods of political campaigns, ad agencies, and big tech to get this antitrust breakup thing done.
Here’s my take on these two initiatives:
- Both are very upfront propaganda initiatives. Each is designed to result in changes to technology. Technology has been the lead dog for too long. Now the humans are going to use technology to put the lead dogs in the kennel.
- The pivot for each is the elimination of negative capabilities like social media or encryption. Tech is bad; change is needed.
- The initiatives are likely to further fractionalize discussions of the issues sucked into these quite visible programs. There’s nothing like starting a discussion with one side asking, “Are you in favor of child abuse?”
Net net: These are externalizing activities and make clear that methods once kept under wraps are now on public display. Good or bad? It depends on how one answers those tough questions?
Stephen E Arnold, January 25, 2022
With Time and Money You May Be Able to Scrub That Web Content about You
January 25, 2022
What is posted on he Internet stays in the digital ether forever, but occasionally content can be deleted but only with a lot of work. AIM explains how your Internet breadcrumbs can be deleted in the article, “Online Tools That Help You Remove Your Digital Footprint.” A person’s contact information and interests is the lifeblood of growing businesses. According to the Mine privacy start-up after they surveyed 30,000 of its users, it was discovered that a user’s email was in 350 companies databases.
That sounds like a startling statistic, but emails are shared like people used to share cigarettes. Also mailing houses and phonebooks used to list and sell the same information. Back in analog paper days, people did not have GPSs strapped to their bodies at all times so it is alarming that we can be tracked at all times and everything we do is recorded. There are ways to combat data collection, such as using privacy browsers like Brace, Firefox, and Duck Duck Go:
“Firefox is a great alternative for web browsing for privacy with its ‘Enhanced Tracking Protection’ that automatically blocks online trackers. Similarly, Duck Duck Go does not track user activity and open tabs and your browsing history can be deleted with a tap. These also include a signal ‘Global Privacy Control’ that sends your “do not sell” preference directly to websites you visit.”
There are also data deletion services. Users can backtrack and ask companies to delete all of their personal data, but it is a tedious task. Instead there are companies users can hire to delete all their personal information. It is like those services that you can hire to remove you from physical junk mail lists.
It makes sense that startups would spring up that specialize in deleting personal information. The idea is genius for niche market in cyber security and some of the companies are: Delete Me, Mine, Data Privacy Manager, Ontrack, Rightly, and Privacy bot.
The bigger question is do these companies actually provide decent services or are they a bait and switch? Our take? Parts of Internet indexes are like lice in a college dorm.
Whitney Grace, January 25, 2022
European Parliament Embraces the Regulatory PEZ Dispenser Model for Fines on Big Tech
January 24, 2022
I read about the Digital Services Act. “European Parliament Passes Huge Clampdown on Tracking Ads” states:
The European Parliament, the legislative body for the European Union (EU), has voted in favor of its Digital Services Act (DSA), which seeks to limit the power of American internet giants such as Facebook, Amazon and Google.
That’s mostly on the money. What’s not spelled out is that the procedure of identifying a tracking instance, building a case, adjudicating, appealing, and levying a fine is now official. It’s a procedure. Perhaps a bright French artificial intelligence professional will use Facebook or Google AI components to make the entire process automatic, efficient, and – obviously – without bias. No discrimination! But the DSA is aimed at outfits like Amazon, Facebook, and Google. Nope. Not discriminatory and also not yet a really official thing…yet.
I found this paragraph memorable:
According to the EU, the DSA covers several key areas, including introducing mechanisms by which companies have to remove “illegal” content in a timely manner in a bid to reduce misinformation, increasing requirements on so-called very large online platforms (VLOPs), regulating online ad targeting, and clamping down on dark patterns. The scope and scale of the DSA (and associated DMA) are huge, perhaps the biggest effort yet by a substantial world power (outside of China) to regulate what happens in cyberspace.
How does one redistribute “wealth”? Easy. Create a legal PEZ dispenser, push the plastic likeness of Mr. Bezos, Mr. Zuckerberg, or Mr. Pichai (who is the only one of the PEZ dispensers with AI in his name).
Stephen E Arnold, January 24, 2022
How about That Subscription Web Search Model?
January 24, 2022
Former Googlers Sridhar Ramaswamy and Vivek Raghunathan are refining their paid, privacy-centric search platform Neeva. We have followed this development from the 2020 beta through the 2021 official launch. Now we learn Neeva has added a free tier from The Next Web’s piece, “How a Couple of Ex-Googlers Are Trying to Fix What’s Wrong with Search Engines.” It appears not enough users are (yet) willing to pay the low, low price of $4.95 per month for search and the team is looking to upsell about 5% of those who sign on for free. It might be a good bet—Ramaswamy reports that a third of folks who sampled the free trial have subscribed. Even he was surprised users cited the peaceful, ad-free screen as their favorite feature. Reporter Ivan Mehta writes:
“[Neeva] will offer ad-free search with customizations, and integration to accounts such as Gmail, Microsoft Office, and Dropbox. People who’re paying for Neeva’s services will get all of this, a leading third-party VPN and a password manager service, and advanced features, like a monthly Q&A. As far as search engine features go, Neeva offers customizations, such as being able to see particular sites in results more or less. You can also ‘skip’ an ecommerce site in results, or get the whole recipe for a dish without having to visit a site. What’s more, the new search engine lets your look through your email right from the search bar. And if you install Neeva’s extension, it also blocks ad trackers that are collecting your browsing data. Last October, Neeva also launched a 1-click Fasttap search geared towards mobile where users just need to type a phrase to get accurate search results. It’s like Google auto-complete on steroids.”
The write-up includes a few screenshots of Neeva features in action. Regarding the how-to behind it all, Mehta tells us:
“On the technological side, while Neeva is aggregating some search results from Bing, the company is building its own crawler and looking at billions of pages every day. But as Raghunathan pointed out in his FastCompany interview earlier this month, crawling the web to create a new index while maintaining privacy standards is hard.”
Perhaps if anyone is up to the task, it is these two Xooglers. As of yet, Neeva is only available in the US, but the company hopes to become global. The plan is to expand into India and Western Europe “soon.” One tactic it is using to compete against the likes of privacy-focused DuckDuckGo and Brave is its partnership with news rating agency NewsGuard, which is helping it assess the accuracy of information. We wonder whether such features plus the free-tier offering will help Neeva reach its stated goal: to become the primary search engine for millions of privacy-centered users in the next two years.
Are there monetization options? The Point team is available to offer some ideas. Just write benkent2020 at yahoo dot com. We’ve been there and know the subscription method was a loser decades ago.
Cynthia Murrell, January 24, 2021
American Airlines Scores Points on the Guy
January 24, 2022
I read “American Airlines Suing the Points Guy Over App That Synchs Frequent Flyer Data.” I have tried to avoid flying. Too many hassles for my assorted Real ID cards, my US government super ID, and passengers who won’t follow rules as wonky as some may be.
The write up focuses on a travel tips sites which “lets users track airline miles from multiple airlines in one place.” The article is interesting and includes some interesting information; for example, consider this statement in the write up:
“Consumers are always in control of their own data on The Points Guy App — they decide which loyalty programs and credit cards are accessible for the purpose of making their points-and-miles journey easier,” The Points Guy founder Brian Kelly said in a statement emailed to The Verge. The site is “choosing to fight back against American Airlines on behalf of travelers to protect their rights to access their points and miles so they can travel smarter,” he added.
The write up includes a legal document in one of those helpful formats which make access on a mobile device pretty challenging for a 77 year old.
As wonderful as the write up is, I noticed one point (not the Guy’s) I would have surfaced; namely, “Why is it okay for big companies to federate and data mine user information but not okay for an individual consumer/customer?”
The reason? We are running the show. Get with it or get off and lose your points. Got that, Points Guy?
Stephen E Arnold, January 24, 2022
High School Science Club Perceptions: The Nobody Cares Posture
January 24, 2022
I try to note some of the management positions I prefer to classify as “high school science club management methods” or HSSCMM. The idea is that school boy ideas, beliefs, mental processes, and attitudes persist through the school boy’s ageing and developmental processes. The result is a series of breath-taking management decisions. But a Duzie caught my attention as it was expressed in “Insider,” a Silicon Valley “real” news outfit which presents content to a click-adept audience.
The trigger for this post is the write up “Warriors Co Owner Chamath Palihapitiya Says the Ugly Truth Is Nobody Cares about What’s Happening to Uyghur Muslims in China? That makes the point, doesn’t it?
Several observations relative to my tallying of HSSCMM:
- This is similar to a high school science club member saying, “I don’t care if I can’t get a date for the prom. I can assemble a Heathkit.”
- The idea that a comment from a science club member to a person who is engaged in high school athletics, “No wonder you got a D in algebra.”
- The notion that lesser entities are irrelevant; for example, a high school science club member once said to my female pal Linda Mae, “Why are you working at the Salvation Army this Thanksgiving? There are plenty of jobs for those people.”
Linda Mae, I wish to add, graduated in the Top 10 of our class and went on to work in Africa as a health care provider for 40 years. Yep, Linda Mae, the time wasting do gooder helping those people.
To sum up: HSSCMM can put one’s teeth on edge. But those people are wonderful managers. Just ask some of those doing the resignation thing or applying for work at Dr. Timnit Gebru’s new firm DAIR, which may not purchase season tickets to Warrior basketball games.
Stephen E Arnold, January 24, 2022
A Comparison: US Vs. European Government Methods
January 21, 2022
I know one thing about 5G. The T Mobile super high speed service delivers data more slowly than my 4G / LTE service. Thus, it is difficult for me to accept that the pig slow 5G in rural Kentucky is a threat to aircraft eager to land on the dirt road used by certain characters in the Commonwealth.
I noted “5G Is Grounding Planes and Freaking Out Airlines: We Found Out Why.” I want to sidestep the somewhat interesting discussion about who shot John, the 5G expert. The US government and the airlines are wrestling with US 5G carriers. The main idea is a minor one; that is, 5G signals in the C band emitted from vertically mounted towers could — note the word could — cause an aircraft to demonstrate one of Newton’s Laws in an expensive way.
But here’s the quote which caught my attention:
The issues haven’t affected other countries as badly because they don’t use the same 5G frequencies as the US. In Europe, for instance, the network operates on a wavelength that is less likely to cause interference. Both the EU’s Aviation Safety Authority and the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority say there’s no such problem with their networks. China and Australia have also rolled out 5G without any issues with aircraft…. Critics have also pointed the finger at the federal government. They’ve blamed the Trump administration for failing to create a national spectrum policy and the Biden administration for the chaotic rollout. Somehow, Europe’s collection of crappy governments has avoided such problems. [Emphasis added by the Beyond Search editor]
Interesting. Now European governments have a larger challenge to surmount. Vacationing in Kiyv perhaps?
Stephen E Arnold, January 21, 2022
How Not to Get Hired by Alphabet, Google, YouTube, Et Al
January 21, 2022
I have a sneaking suspicion that the author / entity / bot responsible for “Unreddacted Antitrust Complain Shows Google’s Ad Business Even Scummier than Many Imagined.” For the record, I want to point out this definition of scum, courtesy of none other than Google:
a layer of dirt or froth on the surface of a liquid. “green scum found on stagnant pools” Colorful, particularly the dirt combined with the adjective green and stagnant
It follows that the context and connotation of the article views Google as a less than pristine outfit. I ask, “How can that be true?”
The write up states:
… the complaint paints a damning picture of how Google has monopolized all of the critical informational choke points in the online ad business between publishers and advertisers; as one employee put it, it’s as if Google owned a bank and the New York Stock Exchange, only more so. Google shamelessly engages in fraud…
These are words which an Alphabet, Google, YouTube, et al attorney might find sufficiently magnetic to pull the legal eagles to their nest to plot a legal maneuver to prevent the author / entity / bot responsible for the write up from having a day without a summons and a wearying visit to a courthouse for months, maybe years.
If you want to know how one of Silicon Valley’s finest does business, you will want to check out the cited article. Some of the comments are fascinating. I quite liked the one that suggested the matter would be a slam dunk for prosecutors. Ho ho ho.
Personally I find Alphabet / Google / YouTube et all the cat’s pajamas. However, I do not think the author / entity / bot creating the write up will get a chance to apply for a job at the online ad company and its affiliated firms.
Stephen E Arnold, January 21, 2022
Public Libraries: Who Wants Them? Not Amazon and Possibly Some Publishers
January 21, 2022
Publishers and libraries used to have an amicable relationship when books and other media were limited to print and physical mediums. Since the advent of the digital revolution, ebooks have ticked up in popularity. Ebooks have reached their highest consumption levels of all times with the global pandemic. Libraries love that people are reading more, but publishers are not happy with lower sales and libraries demanding more ebook licenses. MSN republished the The Boston Globe article that explains the dilemma in: “Libraries Demand A New Deal On Ebooks.”
Publishers are limiting the amount of digital copies libraries can purchase or charging them higher rates than individual consumers. Librarians and Massachusetts lawmakers have teamed up and drafted a bill that would require publishers to make digital products available to public libraries on reasonable terms. Currently publishers sell a limited licenses to libraries:
“According to the American Library Association, libraries currently pay three to five times as much as consumers for ebooks and audiobooks. Thus, an ebook selling for $10 at retail could cost a library $50. In addition, the library can only buy the right to lend the book for a limited time — usually just two years — or for a limited number of loans — usually no more than 26. James Lonergan, director of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, believes that publishers settled on 26 checkouts after calculating that this is the number of times a printed book can be checked out before it’s worn out and in need of replacement. And that’s what happens to a digital book after 26 checkouts. The library must “replace” it by paying full price for the right to lend it out 26 more times.”
Publishers are somewhat justified, because since books have gone digital, Amazon instituted its own publishing platform, and traditional bookstores have become endangered, their profit margins have tanked lower than approval ratings of millionaires. Publishers do have a right to recoup their losses, but it should not be at the expense of public libraries.
Public libraries allow people to access goods and services otherwise limited or unavailable to them. Publishers should be working with public libraries, who also happen to be their largest consumers.
There is a happy solution, but no one has found it yet. I am a professional librarian and try to be optimistic.
Whitney Grace January 21, 2022
New Search Platform Focuses on Protecting Intellectual Property
January 21, 2022
Here is a startup offering a new search engine, now in beta. Huski uses AI to help companies big and small reveal anyone infringing on their intellectual property, be it text or images. It also promises solutions for title optimization and even legal counsel. The platform was developed by a team of startup engineers and intellectual property litigation pros who say they want to support innovative businesses from the planning stage through protection and monitoring. The Technology page describes how the platform works:
“* Image Recognition: Our deep learning-based image recognition algorithm scans millions of product listings online to quickly and accurately find potentially infringing listings with images containing the protected product.
* Natural Language Processing: Our machine learning algorithm detects infringements based on listing information such as price, product description, and customer reviews, while simultaneously improving its accuracy based on patterns it finds among confirmed infringements.
* Largest Knowledge Graph in the Field: Our knowledge graph connects entities such as products, trademarks, and lawsuits in an expansive network. Our AI systems gather data across the web 24/7 so that you can easily base decisions on the most up-to-date information.
* AI-Powered Smart Insights: What does it mean to your brands and listings when a new trademark pops out? How about when a new infringement case pops out? We’ll help you discover the related insights that you may never know otherwise.
* Big Data: All of the above intelligence is being derived from the data universe of the eCommerce, intellectual property, and trademark litigation. Our data engine is the biggest ‘black hole’ in that universe.”
Founder Guan Wang and his team promise a lot here, but only time will tell if they can back it up. Launched in the challenging year of 2020, Huski.ai is based in Silicon Valley but it looks like it does much of its work online. The niche is not without competition, however. Perhaps a Huski will cause the competition to run away?
Cynthia Murrell, January 21, 2021
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