Google Joins Microsoft in the Management Judgment Circus Ring
April 2, 2016
First there was Microsoft and the Tay “learning” experiment. That worked out pretty well if you want a case example of what happens when smart software meets the average Twitter user. Microsoft beat a hasty retreat but expected me to fall for the intelligent API announcements at its home brew conferences.
Buy this management reminder poster at this link.
Then we had the alleged April 1 prank from the Alphabet Google thing. Gentle reader, the company eager to solve death created a self driving car which ran into a bus. A more interesting example, however, was the apparently “human” decision to pull a prank on Gmail users.
According to “Google Reverses Gmail April 1 Prank after Users Mistakenly Put GIFs into Important Emails”:
“Today, Gmail is making it easier to have the last word on any email with Mic Drop. Simply reply to any email using the new ‘Send + Mic Drop’ button. Everyone will get your message, but that’s the last you’ll ever hear about it. Yes, even if folks try to respond, you won’t see it,” Google explained when it launched the button on April 1.
Let’s step back from these interesting examples of large companies doing odd duck things and ask this question:
Does financial success and possibly unprecedented market impact improve human decision making?
I would suggest that the science and math club mentality may not scale in the judgment. Whether it is alleged malware techniques to force an old school programmer to write Never10 or creating a situation in which an employee to employee relationship gives new meaning to the joke word “glasshole”, the human judgment angle may need some scrutiny.
Tay was enough for me to consider creating a Tortured Tay segment for this blog to complement Weakly Watson. Alphabet Google’s prank, however, is in a class of its own.
Fiddling with Gmail’s buttons was an idea without merit. Users are on autopilot. Think how users wince when Apple fools with iTunes’ interface. Now shift from an entertainment app to a “real work” app.
Judgment is important. Concentration of user attention requires more than a math club management style. What worked in high school may not work in other situations.
Stephen E Arnold, April 2, 2016
Xoogler Management Lesson: Annoying Board Members Can Spell Trouble
April 2, 2016
I read “Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Downplayed the Biggest Threat Facing the Company — and It Could End Up Getting Her Fired.” Another Xoogler management lesson surfaces. According to the write up:
“She [Ms. Mayer, the Xoogler] viewed [Starboard] as a ‘bit player’ because they owned such a small percentage, that this was a standard ploy for them to garner PR and attention,” one person familiar with the matter recounted of Mayer’s attitude to Starboard’s initial criticisms in 2014. “She did not take them seriously, when it first arose.”
What’s with the ignoring of reality? The answer I believe is the concept that when one is smart, the reality the smart person perceives is the operative reality for others. Xooglers are an interesting group. Whether creating new search systems (SRCH2) or planning community journalism (AOL), focusing on Xoogler’s perception of reality can have interesting consequences.
The write up reported:
“She believed that Yahoo was competing with Google and Facebook,” this person said. “She was so passionate about the product, and it created a layer of disbelief she had that anyone would question her.”
How wide spread is this characteristic? I would suggest it is the new black.
Stephen E Arnold, April 2, 2016
Secure Email on the Dark Web
April 1, 2016
Venturing safely onto the Dark Web can require some planning. To that end, FreedomHacker shares a “List of Secure Dark Web Email Providers in 2016.” The danger with Tor-accessible email providers, explains reporter Brandon Stosh, lies in shady third parties. He writes:
“It’s not that finding secure communications on Tor is a struggle, but it’s hard to find private lines not run by a rogue entity. Below we have organized a list of secure dark web email providers. Please remember that no email provider should ever be deemed secure, meaning always use encryption and keep your opsec to its highest level….
“Below we have listed emails that are not only secure but utilize no type of third-party services, including any type of hidden Google scripts, fonts or trackers. In the list below we have gone ahead and pasted the full .onion domain for verification and added a link to any services who also offer a clearweb portal. However, all communications sent through clearweb domains should be presumed insecure unless properly encrypted, then still it’s questionable.”
The list of providers includes 10 entries, and Stosh supplies a description of each of the top five: Sigaint, Rugged Inbox, Torbox, Bitmessage, and Mail2Tor; see the article for these details, and to view the other five contenders. Stosh wraps up by emphasizing how important email security is, considering all the sensitive stuff most of us have in our inboxes. Good point.
Cynthia Murrell, April 1, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Short Honk: Alphabet Google and Health Investments
March 24, 2016
Short honk: This is an important article in my opinion. “Sergey Brin’s Search for a Parkinson’s Cure” reports that Mr. Brin exercises. He dives. I noted this passage:
With every dive, Brin gains a little bit of leverage—leverage against a risk, looming somewhere out there, that someday he may develop the neurodegenerative disorder Parkinson’s disease. Buried deep within each cell in Brin’s body—in a gene called LRRK2, which sits on the 12th chromosome—is a genetic mutation that has been associated with higher rates of Parkinson’s.
Also, I highlighted this passage:
It sounds so pragmatic, so obvious, that you can almost miss a striking fact: Many philanthropists have funded research into diseases they themselves have been diagnosed with. But Brin is likely the first who, based on a genetic test, began funding scientific research in the hope of escaping a disease in the first place.
A number of questions zipped through my mind. I won’t raise them. Perhaps the write up explains the “solving death” project and provides some insight into various Alphabet Google investments. In short, an article with information of some import to those who seek to understand the Alphabet Google thing.
Stephen E Arnold, March 24, 2016
Wikipedia Grants Users Better Search
March 24, 2016
Wikipedia is the defacto encyclopedia to confirm fact from fiction, although academic circles shun its use (however, scholars do use it but never cite it). Wikipedia does not usually make the news, unless it is tied to its fundraising campaign or Wikileaks releases sensitive information meant to remain confidential. The Register tells us that Wikipedia makes the news for another reason, “Reluctant Wikipedia Lifts Lid On $2.5m Internet Search Engine Project.” Wikipedia is better associated with the cataloging and dissemination of knowledge, but in order to use that knowledge it needs to be searched.
Perhaps that is why the Wikimedia Foundation is “doing a Google” and will be investing a Knight Foundation Grant into a search-related project. The Wikimedia Foundation finally released information about the Knight Foundation Grant, dedicated to provide funds for companies invested in innovative solutions related to information, community, media, and engagement.
“The grant provides seed money for stage one of the Knowledge Engine, described as “a system for discovering reliable and trustworthy information on the Internet”. It’s all about search and federation. The discovery stage includes an exploration of prototypes of future versions of Wikipedia.org which are “open channels” rather than an encyclopedia, analysing the query-to-content path, and embedding the Wikipedia Knowledge Engine ‘via carriers and Original Equipment Manufacturers’.”
The discovery stage will last twelve months, ending in August 2016. The biggest risk for the search project would be if Google or Yahoo decided to invest in something similar.
What is interesting is that former Wiki worker Jimmy Wales denied the Wikimedia Foundation was working on a search engine via the Knowledge Engine. Wales has since left and Andreas Kolbe reported in a Wikipedia Signpost article that they are building a search engine and led to believe it would be to find information spread cross the Wikipedia portals, rather it is something much more powerful.
Here is what the actual grant is funding:
“To advance new models for finding information by supporting stage one development of the Knowledge Engine by Wikipedia, a system for discovering reliable and trustworthy public information on the Internet.”
It sounds like a search engine that provides true and verifiable search results, which is what academic scholars have been after for years! Wow! Wikipedia might actually be worth a citation now.
Whitney Grace, March 24, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
For Sale: Your Bank Information
March 21, 2016
One of the common commodities for sale on the Dark Web is bank, credit card, social security numbers, and other personal information. This information can sell for a few bucks to hundreds of dollars depending on the quality and quantity of the information. In order to buy personal information, usually the interested parties must journey to the Dark Web, but the International Business Times tells us that “Confidential Bank Details Available For Sale On Easily Found Web Site” is for sale on the general Web and the information is being sold for as little as a couple pounds (or dollars for the US folks). The Web site had a pretty simple set up, interested parties register, and then they have access to the stolen information for sale.
Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs select committee, wants the National Crime Agency (NCA) to use its power and fulfill its purpose to shut the Web site down.
“A statement from the NCA said: “We do not routinely confirm or deny investigations nor comment on individual sites. The NCA, alongside UK and international law enforcement partners and the private sector, are working to identify and as appropriate disrupt websites selling compromised card data. We will work closely with partners of the newly established Home Office Joint Fraud Task Force to strengthen the response.”
Online scams are getting worse and more powerful in stealing people’s information. Overall, British citizens lost a total of 670 million pounds (or $972 million). The government, however, believes the total losses are more in the range of 27 billion pounds (or $39.17 billion).
Scams are getting worse, because the criminals behind them are getting smarter and know how to get around security defenses. Users need to wise up and learn about the Dark Web, take better steps to protect their information, and educate themselves on how to recognize scams.
Whitney Grace, March 21, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Google Decides to Be Nice to
March 18, 2016
Google is a renowned company for its technological endeavors, beautiful office campuses, smart employees, and how it is a company full of self-absorbed and competitive people. While Google might have a lot of perks, it also has its dark side. According to Quartz, Google wanted to build a more productive team so they launched Project Aristotle to analyze how and they found, “After Years Of Intensive Analysis, Google Discovers The Key To Good Teamwork Is being Nice.”
Project Aristotle studied hundreds of employees in different departments and analyzed their data. They wanted to find a “magic formula,” but it all beats down to one of the things taught in kindergarten: be nice.
“Google’s data-driven approach ended up highlighting what leaders in the business world have known for a while; the best teams respect one another’s emotions and are mindful that all members should contribute to the conversation equally. It has less to do with who is in a team, and more with how a team’s members interact with one another.”
Team members who understand, respect, and allow each other to contribute to conversation equally. It is a basic human tenant and even one of the better ways to manage a relationship, according to marriage therapists around the world. Another result of the project is dubbed “psychological safety,” where team members create an environment with the established belief they can take risks and share ideas without ridicule.
Will psychological safety be a new buzzword since Google has “discovered” that being nice works so well? The term has been around for a while, at least since 1999.
Google’s research yields a business practice that other companies have adopted: Costco, Trader Joes, Pixar, Sassie, and others to name a few. Yet why is it so hard to be nice?
Whitney Grace, March 18, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
A Dead Startup Tally Sheet
March 17, 2016
Startups are the buzzword for companies that are starting up in the tech industry, usually with an innovative idea that garners them several million in investments. Some startups are successful, others plodder along, and many simply fail. CBS Insights makes an interesting (and valid) comparison with tech startups and dot-com bust that fizzled out quicker than a faulty firecracker.
While most starts appear to be run by competent teams that, sometimes they fizzle out or are acquired by a larger company. Many of them are will not make it as a headlining company. As a result, CBS Insights invented, “The Downround Tracker: Which Companies Are Not Living Up To The Expectations?”
CBS Insights named this tech boom, the “unicorn era,” probably from the rare and mythical sightings of some of these companies. The Downround Tracker tracks unicorn era startups that have folded or were purchased. Since 2015, fifty-six total companies have made the Downround Tracker list, including LiveScribe, Fab.com, Yodle, Escrow.com, eMusic, Adesto Technologies, and others.
Browse through the list and some of the names will be familiar and others will make you wonder what some of these companies did in the first place. Companies come and go in a fashion that appears to be quicker than any other generation. At least in shows that human ingenuity is still working, cue Kanas’s “Dust in the Wind.”
Whitney Grace, March 17, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Tech Unicorns May Soon Disappear as Fast as They Appeared
March 15, 2016
Silicon Valley “unicorns”, private companies valued at one billion or more, may not see the magic last. The article Palantir co-founder Lonsdale calls LinkedIn plunge a bad sign for unicorns from Airline Industry Today questions the future for companies like LinkedIn whose true value has yet to result in ever-increasing profits. After disappointing Wall Street with lower earnings and revenue, investors devalued LinkedIn by about $10 billion. Joe Lonsdale, the Formation 8 venture investor who co-founded Palantir Technologies is quoted stating,
“A lot of LinkedIn’s value, according to how many of us think about it, is tied to what it will achieve in the next five to 10 years,” Lonsdale said in an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Alley” on Friday. “It is very similar to a unicorn in that way. Yes, it is making a few billion in revenue and it’s a public company but it has these really big long-term plans as well and is very similar to how you see these other companies.” He added a lot of people who have been willing to suspend disbelief aren’t doing that anymore. “At this point, people are asking, ‘Are you actually going to be able to keep growing?’ And they’re punishing the unicorns and punishing the public companies the same way.”
Lonsdale understands why many private companies postpone an IPO for as long as possible, given these circumstances. Regardless of the pros and cons of when a company should go public, the LinkedIn devaluation seems as if it will send a message. Whether that message is one that fearmongers similar companies into staying private for longer or one that changes profitability norms for younger tech companies remains to be seen.
Megan Feil, March 15, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Organized Cybercrime Continues to Evolves
March 10, 2016
In any kind of organized crime, operations take place on multiple levels and cybercrime is no different. A recent article from Security Intelligence, Dark Web Suppliers and Organized Cybercrime Gigs, describes the hierarchy and how the visibility of top-level Cybercrime-as-a-Service (CaaS) has evolved with heightened scrutiny from law enforcement. As recently as a decade ago, expert CaaS vendors were visible on forums and underground boards; however, now they only show up to forums and community sites typically closed to newcomers and their role encompasses more expertise and less information sharing and accomplice-gathering. The article describes their niche,
“Some of the most popular CaaS commodities in the exclusive parts of the Dark Web are the services of expert webinjection writers who supply their skills to banking Trojan operators.
Webinjections are code snippets that financial malware can force into otherwise legitimate Web pages by hooking the Internet browser. Once a browser has been compromised by the malware, attackers can use these injections to modify what infected users see on their bank’s pages or insert additional data input fields into legitimate login pages in order to steal information or mislead unsuspecting users.”
The cybercrime arena shows one set of organized crime professionals, preying on individuals and organizations while simultaneously being sought out by organized cyber security professionals and law enforcement. It will be most interesting to see how collisions and interactions between these two groups will play out — and how that shapes the organization of their rings.
Megan Feil, March 10, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
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