Facebook: Information Governance?
July 9, 2018
Anyone else annoyed by the large amount of privacy disclosures filling your index and slowing down your favorite Web site? User data privacy and how companies are collecting and/or selling that information is a big issue.
Facebook is one of the more notorious data management case studies. Despite the hand waving, it may be easy for Facebook data to be appropriated.
Josip Franjkovi? writes how user data can be stolen in the post, “Getting Any Facebook User’s Friend List And Partial Payment Card Details.”
There are black hat and white hat hackers, the latter being the “good guys.” It is important for social media Web sites to hack themselves, so they can discover any weaknesses in their structures. Franjkovi? points out that Facebook uses a GraphQL endpoint that is only accessible their first part applications. He kept trying to break into the endpoint, even sending persisted queries on a loop. The same error message kept returning, but it did return information already available to the public and the privately held friends list.
The scarier hack was about credit card information:
“A bug existed in Facebook’s Graph API that allowed querying for any user’s payment cards details using a field named payment_modules_options. I found out about this field by intercepting all the requests made by Facebook’s Android application during registration and login flow.”
Thankfully Franjkovi? discovered this error and within four hours and thirteen minutes the issue was resolved. Credit card information was stolen this time around, but how much longer until it is again? We await Franjkovi?’s analysis of Google email being available to certain third parties.
Whitney Grace, July 9, 2018
Google Cloud: Dissipating with a Chance for Unsettled Weather
July 4, 2018
I love Google. It’s relevant. I am not sure the folks at CNBC share my enthusiasm. Navigate to “Google Cloud’s COO Has Left after Less Than a Year.” To be exact, I think Diane Bryant, Google Cloud Chief Operating Officer, was a Googler for about 13 months. In Internet dog years, that a long time, is it not? Maybe not? Here’s a different employment number: Seven months.
I highlighted this passage:
Bryant’s hire was a win for the search giant’s cloud business, which is widely seen as No. 3 in the public cloud market, behind Amazon and Microsoft. As the relative newcomer in the space, Google Cloud’s challenge has been to prove its capabilities to large businesses, though Greene has said that there are no more “deal blockers” in the way of new contracts.
Fact, snark, digital corn beef hash?
I don’t know. I continue to wonder if Alphabet Google’s approach to management is going to allow the company to keep pace with and then surpass the Bezos buck machine.
I will be reviewing my Amazon research at the September Telestrategies ISS LE and intelligence conference in Washington, DC. I will focus on both management and technical tactics.
I am not sure there will be a reference to Google until I have a sense that it is managed for sustainable innovation, in the cloud and on the ground as it were.
Stephen E Arnold, July 4, 2018
GitHub Rides Donkeys, Elephants, and Undecideds Too
July 3, 2018
We don’t often see many overtly political stories in the world of search, AI, and machine learning. Bias, yes. Politics, not so much. When a political theme surfaces, we think it is worth a look. Recently, an interesting dustup involving Microsoft and the border deportation issue came up in an Inquirer article, “GitHub Devs Warn Microsoft ‘Ditch That Contract with ICE or Lose Us’”.
For GitHub, the company’s deal with ICE (The US customs branch responsible for deportation) was a potential deal breaker:
“The signatories join several hundred employees of Microsoft who are now joining calls for the company to ditch its ICE contract over the matter.
“The GitHub petition talks openly of how many developers chose to leave GitHub specifically over the Microsoft takeover of its company for $7.5bn. It goes on to point out that those who remain had decided to give Microsoft a chance to prove itself, and this is that time.”
We have a hunch this battle isn’t over. As The Verge reported recently, Microsoft’s own employees also worked up a petition protesting the company’s relationship with ICE. Amazon wants employees to have a voice in what projects the digital WalMart pursues.
Has management become a reflection of political agendas? Is social justice a new management concept?
Patrick Roland, July 3, 2018
Google Exam Fail
June 26, 2018
On one of my jaunts to the world’s largest “search” engine, I picked up a copy of the GLAT. The Google Labs’ Aptitude Test is an interesting document. In fact, I have emailed selected questions to individuals who told me they were really good at problem solving. Here’s a representative question:
Question 10: On an infinite, two-dimensional, rectangular lattice of 1-ohm resistors, what is the resistance between two nodes that are a knight’s move away?
When I reviewed these “questions,” I realized that a computer science major with a desire to work as a comedy writer was at work. Now a “real” online news service has gathered information about Google’s “test” and “interview” questions.
“Google Admits Those Infamous Brainteasers Were Completely Useless for Hiring” states:
Google has admitted that the head scratching questions it once used to quiz job applicants (How many piano tuners are there in the entire world? Why are manhole covers round?) were utterly useless as a predictor of who will be a good employee.
Instead of a sense of humor, an expert in hiring allegedly says:
They [the questions] don’t predict anything. They serve primarily to make the interviewer feel smart.”
My observations about Google’s hiring process are uninformed. I live in rural Kentucky, which explains quite a bit about my intellectual capabilities.
I look at what’s going on in what seems to be my real world. Right now, Google’s hiring has created factions within the company. Employees who are paid to work on tasks Google gives them are demanding that the company abandon government contracts. Others are protesting social issues.
I have been out of my office since June 3, venturing into the wilds of Central Europe and the backwoods of North Carolina. I have noticed that Google has decided that some MIT videos are not suitable for distribution by YouTube. There are statements from the Google SEO expert that Google delivers great search experiences. And there are the dust ups between Google and the EU as well as a back door play to make Google a player in the Chinese market.
Judging from Google’s singular dependence on a business model artfully inspired by GoTo.com, Overture.com, and Yahoo advertising, Google’s hiring has been interesting and consistent.
Google management manifests itself via its hiring, its employees, and their actions. Tests and questions are, it seems, not particularly useful when it comes to assembling a bright, hard working, dedicated workforce.
Stephen E Arnold, June 26, 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
Google: Arm Wrestling with Oneself
June 13, 2018
A typical fiction trope is human vs. creation. The most famous work with this concept is Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, followed closely by an endless science-fiction list that deals with humans vs. robots. While most humanity vs. creation stories focus on a dystopic future, the real life drama focus h job replacement and human skill obsolescence. The New York Times reports that “Early Facebook And Google Employees Form Coalition To Fight What They Built.”
Former Google and Facebook employees banded together to form the Center for Humane Technology. Partnering with Common Sense Media, the Center for Humane Technology’s purpose is to educate parents, students, and teachers about the social media’s dangers. The Center for Humane Technology’s founders built the social media technologies and companies, so they know what Facebook and Google are made of and the their potential health dangers.
“The effect of technology, especially on younger minds, has become hotly debated in recent months. In January, two big Wall Street investors asked Apple to study the health effects of its products and to make it easier to limit children’s use of iPhones and iPads. Pediatric and mental health experts called on Facebook last week to abandon a messaging service the company had introduced for children as young as 6. Parenting groups have also sounded the alarm about YouTube Kids, a product aimed at children that sometimes features disturbing content.”
Among the members are Dave Morin, Justin Rosenstein, Lynn Foxx, Jim Steyer, and Tristan Harris. Inspired by anti-drug campaigns, the Center for Humane Technology aims to understand the affect technology has on children’s brains. They also plan to lobby Congress to curtail tech companies’ power.
Now there’s a subplot. “Inventor Says Google Is Patenting Work He Put in the Public Domain” asserts that Google took another’s work and seeks to obtain a patent for a compression system and method. Both Facebook and Google appear to have adopted some of the open source technology.
Is Google arm wrestling itself? What happens if it loses the contest?
Whitney Grace, June 13, 2018
Short Honk: Contracting Newbies
June 4, 2018
I read “As Google Quits Controversial Project Maven, Mystery Deepens over Role of Other Tech Firms.”
Google has employees who do not want Google to do certain types of work.
I find this darned interesting. I circled this statement from the write up:
Google has also reportedly pledged to unveil new principles guiding its ethical use of artificial intelligence technology. That promise has already been met with skepticism by the Tech Workers Coalition, a group calling for Silicon Valley companies “to stay out of the business of war” and develop ethics standards for AI.
There are companies doing work from the US government and other countries’ governments as well. How does one handle work which is tagged “secret”?
The management approach which Google is using is almost as interesting as having employees create a situation which, in effect, is quite different from those within which I worked before I retired.
I noted a reference to a company for which I happily labored. That firm? Booz, Allen. The write up points out that Booz, Allen declined to comment for the write up.
Partitions, need to know, separate facilities, and other mechanisms exist to provide technology, engineering services, support, and products to governments.
This is a surprise or somehow improper now?
I suppose a company could allow its employees to vote on which tender offers to bid. I am not sure how that approach would match up with requirements for secure facilities, employees with clearances, and expertise in the specific task with which a government seeks assistance.
This management by squeaky wheel will be interesting to track as the management wagon is pulled by workers who agree to providing motive force. Contracting newbies at work methinks.
Stephen E Arnold, June 4, 2018
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Alphabet Google: Rumblings Centered in Mountain View
May 31, 2018
I noted an interesting article suggesting that Google wanted or hoped to hire the brains behind Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin. Ethereum, as you may know, is now supported by Amazon. Why not use open source Ethereum?
Answer: Google likes to have the smartest people in the world. Merely using is just not the same as having the brain itself.
I thought about Google’s “hire the guy already” approach to company and new product management. From my vantage point which one wild and crazy entrepreneur described as clueless, Amazon appears to be heading a different direction. Google, it seems, is hunting for a direction in which to go.
As a reference point, Amazon, in my opinion, knows where it is heading. Google, it seems to me, is not sure which compass point is calling to them. Therefore, the management approach seems to be hire smart people and let those individuals figure it out.
The consequences of that approach formed the guts of the story “AI Deal with Pentagon Crates Schism at Google.” To read the printer version you will need the dead tree version of the newspaper. The story appears on the first page of the paper and jumps to page A 15 in the version of the paper which sometimes gets delivered to me in rural Kentucky. There is also an online version of the story which has a different headline. Helpful, right? That version of the story is at this link.
For starters, let me say that I do not believe there is one Alphabet Google. There’s the YouTube thing. There are the low cost death ray services purpose built to kill off Microsoft Office. There are venture firms galore. There are the whiz kids at Google X who are in charge of moon shots.
From here in Harrod’s Creek, the many and duplicative products and services create a grey haze which is a “gaze” as harmful as the Hawaii “laze”.
Glowing in the middle of this digital universe is pay to play advertising centric search. That’s the money machine spewing lava like a Puna vent. After two decades in business and trying really hard to diversify is Google with its advertising revenue.
The NYT story makes a point about Googlers who want smart software to be used for “good.” News flash, Googlers: technology available to the US government is applied to specific problems given priority by a federal agency, department, unit, or inter agency working group. When those projects are classified, it is possible the companies providing the technology have zero idea about certain government activities related to a technology.
Here’s another old chestnut from the cobbled streets of Georgetown: If a company does not do business directly with the US government, intermediary firms provide a conduit for the needed technology. Obviously chatter about what firms provide these services is not usually circulated widely.
The value of the NYT article is that it provides insight into the management methods at Google. I noted three points in the write up. Let me highlight these, and simultaneously urge you to read one of the versions of the NYT article. Even though the title dates of the versions change, the basic points are the same.
Here are my highlights:
- Google chased a Department of Defense contract but developed no game plan for dealing with its employees or the individuals who write articles. Net: No tactical planning.
- Google has factions within the company who are publicly opposed to the use of smart software for warfighting. Net: No management mechanism for its employees. Some of these employees may embrace the now irrelevant “Don’t be evil” catchphrase.
- Google has been involved in US government projects for many years. Many of these are meaningless like licensing the Google Search Appliance to a clueless US government agency unit. As it turned out, Google demanded the return of the GSA because the government client wanted special customer support. No joke. Other projects are more meaningful and lack the “name in lights” visibility Maven has been receiving. Net: Nothing new with this Maven deal except that it gets the Google a seat at a table which very well could be dominated by Amazon, not just IBM and a handful of other established vendors.
Net net: The issue is not Maven. The issue strikes at what is the central weakness of Alphabet Google: Its approach to managing its employees and by extension, its business.
From jumping in and out of business sectors (remember Orkut?) to buying companies and then marginalizing them (Motorola, remember?) to starting products and then orphaning them (remember Google Answers?)—Alphabet Google has manifested situational decision making, sort of like a Delta force operator on a mission alone.
For many of the under 25 year olds with whom I talk know anything about the legal dust up about Google’s online advertising business. None know about the Yahoo, Overture, GoTo settlement with Google prior to its IPO. That was an operation which yielded revenue success. But the management method used to complete that mission is now under considerable stress. Alphabet Google is in need of more than “operators,” no matter how intelligent.
The bottom-line is that the NYT has explained the Google employee Maven issue. From my point of view, which I want you to know one wizard called me dumb, Google has struggled to diversify its revenue. Like its other efforts to generate significant, sustainable and profitable new products and services, Google has not been the sharpest knife in the kitchen drawer. Heck, I thought I was the dull implement.
When writing about Google, it’s time to leave the lore of Backrub behind. Forget the bits and bytes, Alphabet Google has reached an important way station in its new revenue journey. The question is, “What must be done to arrive at a destination?” Too bad Peter Drucker is no longer alive. Perhaps he and Vitalik Buterin (the Ethereum wizard) could share an office at Google?
Stephen E Arnold, May 31, 2018
Google Magnetism Weakening? High Profile Wizard Allegedly Sidesteps Job Offer
May 22, 2018
Who knows if this “real” news item from a crypto currency online service in India is accurate? I find it interesting because it adds another straw to the pile on Googzilla’s back.
The write up is called “Google Tries Hiring Ethereum Founder Vitalik Buterin and Fails.” Now Ethereum may not be a big deal in Harrod’s Creek and similar rust belt cities. Amazon sort of has a thing for Ethereum. And despite the chatter about deanonymizing some of the blockchain-centric services, Ethereum continues to generate interest in its “platform.”
The write up states:
Search Engine giant Google tried hiring Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin to work for them. Buterin posted a screenshot of the mail he received from Google on twitter, asking his followers if he should take their offer.
The “offer” was made via a Tweet. I love that type of approach. Very trendy.
The write up adds:
Like most Silicon Valley startups, Google has also been exploring Blockchain for the past few months. In March, Google revealed that they were working on two different Blockchain products; a tamper-proof auditing system and a cloud operations platform. The recruiter may have reached out to Buterin for these projects or any upcoming unannounced projects.
Google does not allow crypto currency ads. However, the Google may have been monitoring some of the actions of super successful company and realized that the train is leaving the station.
Several observations:
- Google appears to be going for a home run play if we assume the information in the write up is accurate
- Google may be in a position which it finds uncomfortable: Back in the pack when it comes to the platformization of blockchain centric innovation
- Google may be losing its magnetism which once pulled wizards to the land of pay to play search.
Fascinating piece of possibly semi accurate, possibly real Twitter delivered information. Communicating by tweet is the new thing I assume.
Stephen E Arnold, May 22, 2018
More about the Math Club Syndrome: Hey, Bro!
April 16, 2018
It was not that long ago that being a geek or nerd had negative connotations. Geeks and nerds were and continue to be targets for bullies, but the social stigma has changed. It is now okay to be smart, to be interested in science-fiction and fantasy, to watch cartoons in your adulthood, and to be good at something other than sports. Geeks and nerds always knew they would inherit the Earth…er…rule over society…er…find acceptance. Just as the underdogs thought they were gaining a foothold, Scientific American springs this on them: “Superior IQs Associated With Mental And Physical Disorders, Research Suggests.”
Being smart has many advantages, the article points out, including longer life, have healthier lives, and less likely to experience negative events. The journal Intelligence published a study that shows the downside of high IQs. Ruth Karpinsku from Pitzer College emailed a psychological and physiological disorder survey to Mensa members and the results found that smart people are more likely to have some serious disorders. The questions included ones about mood, anxiety, autism, and ADHD disorders and also asthma, allergies, and autoimmune problems. The respondents were asked if they were diagnosed or suspected they had the disorders and 75% of the Mensa said yes. Here are some more numbers:
“The biggest differences between the Mensa group and the general population were seen for mood disorders and anxiety disorders. More than a quarter (26.7%) of the sample reported that they had been formally diagnosed with a mood disorder, while 20% reported an anxiety disorder—far higher than the national averages of around 10% for each. The differences were smaller, but still statistically significant and practically meaningful, for most of the other disorders. The prevalence of environmental allergies was triple the national average (33% vs. 11%).”
Some of Karpinski’s findings and interpretations have been discussed in the scientific community before. Most of the findings that state more intelligent people spend more time analyzing and feeling anxiety over events like a boss’s comment is not new. The better question to ask is if Mensa people are more different from the average person, because they spend their time with intellectual pursuits instead of exercise or social interaction.
This is just another study about the difference between average and above average people. More research needs to be done before definitive conclusions can be drawn. Equality? Sure, anyone can join the Math Club. Will the real members tell you when the “real” meeting is? Duh.
Whitney Grace, April 16, 2018
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