Google, Its Googley Communication, and the Corporate Supported Universities: Time to Pay Up?

February 9, 2022

Have you been looking for an example of Silicon Valley thought processes? I would like to suggest that you look at three “content objects”.

The first  is an announcement in a Google blog (yes, there are many Google blogs and keeping track of them is difficult because the Google search function is not retrieving certain content in my experience. Google information is one subject that tough to locate.)

Here’s the link to an article posted one year ago in February 2021, deep in the heart of Covid: https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/education/google-workspace-for-education/

Here’s the link to the Twitter thread which provides one university professionals view of a Google policy change: https://twitter.com/bwjones/status/1490802506628145153

And, finally, here is the link to the Hacker News’ thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30264617

The main point of the Google post is to explain in Google speak the fact that universities will no longer be able to upload data to Google for free once the threshold of 100 terabytes has been crossed. Google is busy generating as much sustainable revenue as possible because the shadows of the legal eagles are interrupting the work-from-home routines of full time Googlers and the on premises Googlers who want to play volley ball without bird shadows flicking across the courts.

Here’s an example:

We remain committed to providing all institutions around the world with a best-in-class experience, including ample free storage to support quality educational experiences.

But… and the but is:

We will contact impacted institutions directly in the coming weeks to discuss a range of options for getting the storage they need. Large institutions will be provided supplemental storage later this year and all schools can gain additional storage through Education Plus and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade.

Google cares about selling storage. The shift to a for fee model is buried. Here’s the first paragraph of the Googley notice:

During the 15 years we’ve been building tools for educators, we’ve seen the needs of instructors, education leaders and students evolve. We’ve learned that a one-size-fits all approach isn’t what educators need from tools like G Suite for Education. Whether you’re in a rural elementary school, urban university or homeschool setting, our technology and tools should adapt so you can focus on what matters most: teaching and learning. That’s why we’re making a few changes to provide you greater choice and flexibility in selecting the best tools to empower your institution.

Tears come to my eyes when I read this. Google. Really. Does. Care. Chromebooks, free online search, and so much more.

The tweet stream reveals that at least one university information technology type person did not get the email, the phone call from a Googler, or a link in Google search results to a query about price hikes, the speed of data downloads, the possibility of research data loss, and the changes that would make life tough for a researcher relying on Googzilla to hold outputs from a radio telescope. Nope. Here’s one tweet from the interesting thread:

Dan Isbell posted:

“Storage is not being consumed equitably across – nor within – institutions, and school leaders often don’t have the tools they need to manage this.” Dan adds, “So Google will save us from ourselves by capping data. In the name of equity. Storage doesn’t grow on trees but c’mon.”

I think this means that Google, which may be a monopoly type operation, knows when to shift to a pay-to-play model and knows what’s best for education.

The third link points to different takes on this shift. Examples range from alleging that Google is using an MBA acceptable method labeled “bait and switch,” a phrase used by d3nj4l.

Blagie on Hacker News stated:

.. I think I’ve been screwed over enough times by Google now that I would never, ever, ever, ever, ever rely on them for anything where I expect business continuity. I’ve done too much business with Google to ever do business with Google.

A Xoogler, allegedly named, Tuckereman, offered this comment:

I don’t think Google is always the most thoughtful with things like this…

This Xoogler is obviously not Googley; otherwise, he would understand that the systems and methods are specifically designed to produce results after a public announcement is made. As long as sufficient time elapses between the semi cheerful announcement of the policy change and the actual change being implemented, Google is in the clear. I can hear one of the Big Dog Googlers saying: “Senator, thank you for the question. We did announce the policy change one year before implementing that change. And we implemented the change incrementally. We are supportive of education at all levels, and we want to offer programs that improve the quality of education by offering options.”

I don’t have a dog in the fight. After two decades of ignoring the influence of technology centric firms, legislators and regulators are, like Rip Van Winkle, waking up.

For the affected universities, just calculate how many graduates work at Google. Go to Google and explain that more Google support is needed. What if an institution is not one from which Google hires numerous individuals? Well, too bad for the school. For professors, get a job at Stanford, MIT, Harvard, and others at the top of the leader board. Time to add lock in to the administrative vocabulary and delete free lunch?

Stephen E Arnold, February 9, 2022

Cloud Computing: Is There a Free Lunch Paid for by Amazon, Google, and Microsoft?

February 3, 2022

What have those cloud computing giants done for organizations lately? Here are some thought starters:

  1. Argued that it is better, faster, and cheaper to outsource anything involving computing to the fluffy clouds?
  2. Pushed for low code and no code solutions so that anyone can create applications and not get involved with expensive, unreliable, and uncooperative technical employees who don’t understand what an MBA or art history major needs now?
  3. Offered free or low cost entry fees which bedazzle the customer who is unable to see the telecommunications-style pricing methods like “cross a threshold and pay twice the cost stated on Schedule C, subparagraph 4”?
  4. A false narrative about ease of use, the reliability of pre-packaged data sets, and off-the-shelf components anyone can configure while waiting for a latte at a Starbuck’s in Normal, Illinois?

Enough questions. Read “More Than a Third of Firms Hit by Unexpected Cloud Costs.” Here’s a sentence from the write up which I found interesting:

Lack of transparency among providers is consistently cited as a problem.

Is this a nice way of saying, “These cloud people are doing the Theranos thing?”

Do you answer yes or no? Companies have difficulty hiring, retaining, and managing technology people. Costs for technology are often uncontrollable by traditional mechanisms crafted in less-illuminated times. Sales are easy because some organizations are believing what the cloud vendors say.

I am in the yes camp.

Stephen E Arnold, February 2, 2022

Expert Surprised That Health Club Billing Methods Are Used by SaaS and Cloud Companies

November 19, 2021

I enjoy write ups which reveal the obvious. Consider health clubs or gym memberships. One gym located in the whiskey and fried chicken capital of the flyover states is about 3,000 square feet. How many members does the facility have? The answer is 3,000. How many use the gym on a regular basis? About 100. How does the outfit make money? Billing the “members” who never use the equipment. Plus, the billings each month are facilitated by the smart software at Visa, MasterCard, and banks with auto-withdrawal capability. Is this a scam? Nope, it’s the business model of health clubs. Just sign up and never come. Works like a champ by the way.

I Analyzed SaaS Billing Dark Patterns” and learned that the author was surprised, shocked, horrified, and troubled that cloud providers use the health club approach to revenue. The write up reveals:

SaaS providers are more than willing to use dark billing patterns to increase their growth metrics and revenue. They exploit positive user acquisition loops in recurring subscriptions to get money from users as surreptitiously as possible.

Yep, shocker.

I loved this rhetorical question? Why do SaaS providers deploy the dark patterns?

The answer is, “The method generates money.”

But, but, but…. That’s bad.

Well, it depends on what point of view one adopts, doesn’t it.

Hollowing out is dumbing down in my book. The surprise in the write up illustrates the failure of basic management oversight.

What’s this mean? Higher costs, people who cannot figure out why something doesn’t work, and a lack of awareness about the obvious. Yep, the thumbtyper world is a fascinating construct.

Stephen E Arnold, November 19, 2021

AWS and CloudFlare: Doing Some Math, Eating Some Pizza

October 4, 2021

I read “Unroll Thread” and noted an interesting point of information; to wit:

If 1 million people download that 1GB this month, my cost with @cloudflare R2 this way rounds up to 13¢. With @awscloud S3 it’s $59,247.52. THAT is why people are losing their minds over this. Slight correction: $53,891.16. Apologies, the @awscloud pricing calculator LOVES to slip “developer support” onto the tab. 

I am not too sharp at the math thing, but at first glance it sure looks to me that Cloudflare is less costly for this type of data transfer. What’s the multiplier? Sure looks to be more that twice. On second glance, that difference is a tiny bit closer to a lot more.

Several questions:

  • Will the author seek a business analysis role at AWS?
  • Will either AWS or Cloudflare clarify the analysis?
  • Has no other person or certified cloud professional noticed the minor discrepancy?

Interesting indeed.

Stephen E Arnold, October 4, 2021

Taliban: Going Dark

September 3, 2021

I spotted a story from the ever reliable Associated Press called “Official Taliban Websites Go Offline, Though Reasons Unknown.” (Note: I am terrified of the AP because quoting is an invitation for this outfit to let loose its legal eagles. I don’t like this type of bird.)

I can, I think, suggest you read the original write up. I recall that the “real” news story revealed some factoids I found interesting; for example:

  • Taliban Web site “protected” by Cloudflare have been disappeared. (What’s that suggest about the Cloudflare Web performance and security capabilities?)
  • Facebook has disappeared some Taliban info and maybe accounts.
  • The estimable Twitter keeps PR maven Z. Mjuahid’s tweets flowing.

I had forgotten that the Taliban is not a terrorist organization. I try to learn something new each day.

Stephen E Arnold, September 3, 2021

Federated AI: A Garden of Eden. Will There Be a Snake or Two?

August 23, 2021

I read “Eden AI Launches Platform to Unify ML APIs.” I had two immediate reactions. The first was content marketing, and the second was that there was a dark side to the Garden of Eden, wasn’t there?

Eden is a company pulling a meta-play or leveling up. The idea is that one can pop up higher, pull disparate items together, and create a new product or service.

This works for outfits ranging from a plumbing supply company serving smaller towns to an outfit like the Bezos bulldozer. Why not apply this model to the rock solid world of machine learning application programming interfaces.

The write up states:

… using Eden AI, a company could feed a document in Chinese into Google Cloud Platform’s optical character recognition service to extract its contents. Then it could have an IBM Watson model translate the extracted Chinese characters into English words and queue up an Amazon Web Services API to analyze for keywords. Eden AI makes money by charging providers a commission on the revenues generated by its platform.

Latency? Apparently no problem. The costs of maintaining the meta-code as the APIs change. Apparently no problem. Competition from outfits like Microsoft who whether the technology works or not wants to maintain its role as the go-to place for advanced whatevers. No problem.

Someday.

Stephen E Arnold, August 23, 2021

Deteching: Not Possible, Muchachos

August 6, 2021

Don’t become an Enterprise/IT Architect…” contains a small truth and a Brobdingnagian baby.

The small truth is, according to the article:

there are two speeds in IT: change is slow, growth is fast(-ish). Even if upper management (and many others, but the focus of this post is directed at the gap between ‘top’ and ‘bottom’) thinks they understand the complexity and effects, in reality, most of the time they have no clue as to the actual scale of the problem…

The idea is that there is a permanent break in the cable linking the suits with the people who have desks littered with usb keys, scraps of paper, and technical flotsam and jetsam.

Now for the Big Boy truth:

The frustration is that it will become harder to explain the ‘top’ what is going on and it will be particularly difficult to convince. This is especially true if that top has no interest in actually paying attention, because then it will be even harder as the first difficult step is to get them to hear you out.

What’s this mean for little problems like the SolarWinds’ misstep? What’s this mean for making informed decisions about cloud versus on premises or hybrid versus cloud, etc.? What’s this mean for making deteriorating systems actually work; for example, monopoly provided services which experience continuous and apparently unfixable flaws?

Big and small appear to be forcing a shift to a detech world; that is, one in which users (people or entities) have no choice but to go back to the methods which can be understood and which work. A good example is a paper calendar, not a zippy do, automated kitchen sink solution which is useless when one of the niggling issues causes problems.

As I said, SolarWinds: A misstep. Cyber security solutions that don’t secure anything. Printing modules which don’t print.

Detech. No choice, muchachos.

Stephen E Arnold, August 6, 2021

NSO Group: The Rip in the Fabric of Intelware

July 22, 2021

A contentious relationship with the “real news” organizations can be risky. I have worked at a major newspaper and a major publisher. The tenacity of some of my former colleagues is comparable to the grit one associates with an Army Ranger or Navy Seal, just with a slightly more sensitive wrapper. Journalists favored semi with it clothes, not bushy beards. The editorial team was more comfortable with laptops than an F SCAR.

Communications associated with NSO Group — the headline magnet among the dozens of Israel-based specialized software companies (an very close in group by the way)— may have torn the fabric shrouding the relationship among former colleagues in the military, government agencies, their customers, and their targets.

Whose to blame? The media? Maybe. I don’t have a dog in this particular season’s of fights. The action promises to be interesting and potentially devastating to some comfortable business models. NSO Group is just one of many firms working to capture the money associated with cyber intelligence and cyber security. The spat between the likes of journalists at the Guardian and the Washington Post and NSO Group appears to be diffusing like spilled ink on a camouflage jacket.

I noted “Pegasus Spyware Seller: Blame Our Customers Not Us for Hacking.” The main point seems to be that NSO Group allegedly suggests that those entities licensing the NSO Group specialized software are responsible for their use of the software. The write up reports:

But a company spokesman told BBC News: “Firstly, we don’t have servers in Cyprus.

“And secondly, we don’t have any data of our customers in our possession.

“And more than that, the customers are not related to each other, as each customer is separate.

“So there should not be a list like this at all anywhere.”

And the number of potential targets did not reflect the way Pegasus worked.

“It’s an insane number,” the spokesman said.

“Our customers have an average of 100 targets a year.

“Since the beginning of the company, we didn’t have 50,000 targets total.”

For me, the question becomes, “What controls exist within the Pegasus system to manage the usage of the surveillance system?” If there are controls, why are these not monitored by an appropriate entity; for example, an oversight agency within Israel? If there are no controls, has Pegasus become an “on premises” install set up so that a licensee has a locked down, air tight version of the NSO Group tools?

The second item I noticed was “NSO Says ‘Enough Is Enough,’ Will No Longer Talk to the Press About Damning Reports.” At first glance, I assumed that an inquiry was made by the online news service and the call was not returned. That happens to me several times a day. I am an advocate of my version of cancel culture. I just never call the entity again and move on. I am too old to fiddle with the egos of a younger person who believes that a divine entity has given that individual special privileges. Nope, delete.

But not NSO Group. According to the write up:

“Enough is enough!” a company spokesperson wrote in a statement emailed to news organizations. “In light of the recent planned and well-orchestrated media campaign lead by Forbidden Stories and pushed by special interest groups, and due to the complete disregard of the facts, NSO is announcing it will no longer be responding to media inquiries on this matter and it will not play along with the vicious and slanderous campaign.” NSO has not responded to Motherboard’s repeated requests for comment and for an interview.

Okay, the enough is enough message is allegedly in “writing.” That’s better than a fake message disseminated via TikTok. However, the “real journalists” are likely to become more persistent. Despite a lack of familiarity with the specialized software sector, a large number of history majors and liberal arts grads can do what “real” intelligence analysts do. Believe me, there’s quite a bit of open source information about the cozy relationship within and among Israel’s specialized software sector, the interaction of these firms with certain government entities, and public messages parked in unlikely open source Web sites to keep the “real” journalists learning, writing, and probing.

In my opinion, allowing specialized software services to become public; that is, actually talk about the capabilities of surveillance and intercept systems was a very, very bad idea. But money is money and sales are sales. Incentive schemes for the owners of specialized software companies guarantee than I can spend eight hours a day watching free webinars that explain the ins and outs of specialized software systems. I won’t but some of the now ignited flames of “real” journalism will. They will learn almost exactly what is presented in classified settings. Why? Capabilities when explained in public and secret forums use almost the same slide decks, the same words, and the same case examples which vary in level of detail presented. This is how marketing works in my opinion.

Observations:

1. A PR disaster is, it appears, becoming a significant political issue. This may pose some interesting challenges within the Israel centric specialized software sector. NSO Group’s system ran on cloud services like Amazon’s until AWS allegedly pushed Pegasus out of the Bezos stable.

2. A breaker of the specialized software business model of selling to governments and companies. The cost of developing, enhancing, and operating most specialized software systems keeps companies on the knife edge of solvency. The push into commercial use of the tools by companies or consumerizing the reports means government contracts will become more important if the non-governmental work is cut off. Does the world need several dozen Dark Web indexing outfits and smart time line and entity tools? Nope.

3. A boost to bad actors. The reporting in the last week or so has provided a detailed road map to bad actors in some countries about [a] What can be done, [b] How systems like Pegasus operate, [c] the inherent lack of security in systems and devices charmingly labeled “insecure by design” by a certain big software company, and [d] specific pointers to the existence of zero day opportunities in blast door protected devices. That’s a hoot at ??????? ???? “Console”.

Net net: The NSO Group “matter” is a very significant milestone in the journey of specialized software companies. The reports from the front lines will be fascinating. I anticipate excitement in Belgium, France, Germany, Israel, the United Kingdom, and a number of other countries. Maybe a specialized software Covid Delta?

Stephen E Arnold, July 22, 2021

Databases: Old Wine, New Bottles, and Now Updated Labels with More Jargon and Buzzwords

June 29, 2021

I read “It’s the Golden Age of Databases. It Can’t Last.” The subtitle is fetching too:

Startups are reaping huge funding rounds. But money alone won’t be enough to top the current market leaders.

I think that it is important to keep in mind that databases once resided within an organization. In 1980, I had my employer’s customer database in a small closet in my office. I kept my office locked, and anyone who needed access had to find me, set up an appointing, and do a look up. Was I paranoid? Yep, and I suppose that’s why I never went to work for flexi-think outfits intellectually allied with Microsoft or SolarWinds, among others.

Today the cloud is the rage. Why? It’s better, faster, and cheaper. Just pick any two and note that I did not include “more secure.” If you want some color about the “cost” of the cloud pursuit fueled by cost cutting, check out this high flying financial outfit’s essay “Andreesen Horowitz Partner Martin Casado Says the Cost of Cloud Computing Is a $100 Billion Drag on the Biggest Software Companies, Sparking a Huge Debate across the Industry.” Some of the ideas are okay; others strike me as similar to those suggesting the Egyptian pyramids are big batteries. The point is that many companies embraced the cloud in search of reducing the cost and hassle of on premises systems and people.

One of the upsides of the cloud is the crazy marketing assertions that a bunch of disparate data can be dumped into a “cloud system” and become instantly available for Fancy Dan analytics. Yeah, and I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. I accept PayPal too.

The “Golden Age” write up works over time to make the new databases exciting for investors who want a big payout. I did note this statement in the write up which is chock-a-block with vendor names:

Ultimately, Databricks and Snowflake’s main competitors probably aren’t each other, but rather Microsoft, AWS and Google.

Do you think it would be helpful to mention IBM and Oracle? I do.

Here’s another important statement from the write up:

One thing is certain: The big data revolution isn’t slowing down. And that means the war over managing it and putting the information to use will only get more fierce.

Why the “fierce”? Perhaps it will be the investors in the whizzy new “we can federate and be better, faster, and cheaper” outfits who put the pedal to the metal. The reality is that big outfits license big brands. Change is time consuming and expensive. And the seamless data lakes with data lake houses on them? Probably still for sale after owners realize that data magic is expensive, time consuming, and fiddly.

But rah rah is solid info today.

Stephen E Arnold, June 29, 2021

High School Management Method: Blame a Customer

June 9, 2021

I noted another allegedly true anecdote. If the information is correct, gentle reader, we have another example of the high school science club management method. Think acne, no date for the prom, and a weird laugh type of science club. Before you get too excited, yes, I was a member of my high school’s science club and I think an officer as well as a proponent of the HSSC approach to social interaction. Proud am I.

Fastly Claims a Single Customer Responsible for Widespread Internet Outage” asserts:

The company is now claiming the issue stemmed from a bug and one customer’s configuration change. “We experienced a global outage due to an undiscovered software bug that surfaced on June 8 when it was triggered by a valid customer configuration change,” Nick Rockwell, the company’s SVP of engineering and infrastructure wrote in a blog post last night. “This outage was broad and severe, and we’re truly sorry for the impact to our customers and everyone who relies on them.”

Yep, a customer using the Fastly cloud service.

Two observations:

  1. Unnoticed flaws will be found and noticed, maybe exploited. Fragility and vulnerability are engineered in.
  2. Customer service is likely to subject the individual to an inbound call loop. Take that, you valued customer.

And what about Amazon’s bulletproof, super redundant, fail over whiz bang system. Oh, it failed for users.

Yep, high school science club thinking says, “We did not do it.” Yeah.

Stephen E Arnold, June 9, 2021

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