Patience: In Short Supply in an Age of Digital Surplus
April 7, 2020
Humans are impatient, here-and-now creatures. CFOTech explains that patience is now a lost virtue in the article, “How Impatience Drives Our Digital Behaviour.” According to the article, Google research shows that 53% of mobile users leave a page if it doesn’t load in three-seconds or less. There is also research that dates back to 2012 from Microsoft that states if one Web site loads slower than another, people will avoid returning. Speed means revenue.
Want some facts about online shopping? Once consumers place something in their online shopping carts, they usually have second thoughts in twenty-two seconds. Even more interesting is that if the digital checkout process takes longer than half a minute, consumers are likely to cancel the transaction. Consumers want a speedy checkout and if their credit cards are not verified in ten-seconds, the sale disappears.
What is the impact of this? There are two reasons:
“First, it is a tangible illustration of how revenue is tied to the speed of your services. This is only going to become more critical as digital channels account for a larger portion of an organisation’s sales. According to Gartner, 37% of enterprise sales will be conducted through digital sales and digital channels by 2020. Similarly, a recent survey by McKinsey shows that on average, 35% of a company’s revenues worldwide are digitised.
Second, it shows a challenge that many of us are becoming more familiar with or exposed to.
It is now common for a single app to call upon a range of third-party services in order to complete a transaction. These microservices add slowness to many Web pages. Want to see microservices in action? Check out the British tabloids online. How do you ensure elements that you do not own or host are performing as expected and not introducing delays that have material flow-on impacts to your own app’s user experience (and the revenue you draw from that)?”
The operational idea is that you own your customer’s digital experience, but not the services that the experience runs on. The reality is that people with jobs in online want to stay employed, not deliver a service that works. Check out the latest version of Newsnow.co.uk on your mobile device. The ads make scanning headlines a chore, not a learning experience. I take that back. I have learned to go to Newslookup.com.
The thirst for ad dollars frustrates many who want a Web site that works smoothly. I know I do.
Whitney Grace, April 7, 2020
The US Newspaper Industry: Extinction Event
April 7, 2020
I am in rural Kentucky because of a newspaper. I left the wonderful world of suburban Washington, DC, to live near a mine drainage system. Oh, sure, I worked at a diversified newspaper committed to electronic publishing, but a mine run off is a mine run off.
I read “Local Newspapers Are Facing Their Own Coronavirus Crisis.”
I spotted an interesting statement about the newspaper industry in the US:
Researchers have long worried that the next recession – which economists say is already upon us — “could be an extinction-level event for newspapers,” said Penelope Abernathy, a University of North Carolina professor who studies the news industry.
Extinction event. Interesting phrase. The write up offered some factoids:
- More than 2,100 cities and tows have lost a newspaper (mostly weeklies) in the last 15 years
- Newsroom employment has shrunk by 50 percent since 2004
- Twenty global news publishers expect a median 23% decline in 2020 ad sales
- Lee Enterprises announced salary reductions and furloughs
- The Tampa Bay Times, owned by the nonprofit Poynter Institute, cut five days of its print edition and announced furloughs
- C&G Newspapers, which publishes 19 weekly newspapers near Detroit, suspended print publication
What snagged my attention was the last paragraph in the article:
Editor, publisher and owner Louis Fortis is keeping the website operating and promises to resume printing at some point, in some form. Yet he’s feeling the same uncertainty as millions of other Americans. “I’m very disappointed,” he said. “On the other hand, you have to look at the big picture. People are dying.”
Interesting. On one hand the person is disappointed. On the other hand, people are dying.
What’s this mean? Gnostic puzzles must be eyeball magnets.
Historical fact: The Courier Journal’s Barry Bingham Jr. understood the change electronic publishing would have in the late 1970s. How did that work out?
Gannett, announced 15-day furloughs and pay cuts for many employees.
Gannett purchased the Courier Journal in the late 1980s.
How did that work out? Electronic information is not a solution. Flowing digits work like a high pressure water stream in the ill fated FlowTex system; that is, high pressure water directed at an object erodes that object, blasting it into tiny particles in some cases. Where once an edifice stood, only fragments remain.
Print newspapers are going to fall over. Money bandages won’t work.
Stephen E Arnold, March 7, 2020
DeepDyve Offers Viable Alternative To Academic Paywalls
March 30, 2020
Academic paywalls are the bane of researchers even in the midst of the current health crisis. Why? Unless you are affiliated with a university or learning institution, you do not have immediate access to credible academic databases. Sure, there are there public libraries, but their database resources are limited . There might be an alternative solution that is actually viable and affordable: DeepDyve.
What is DeepDyve?
“DeepDyve offers an affordable monthly subscription service that gives unlimited full-text access to an amazing collection of premium academic publications.”
Users have access to over eighteen million articles, including full text pieces from over 15,000 peer-reviewed journals. The great thing about DeepDyve is that it is free for freelancers to create accounts, save their searches, curate their content, and export their citations. The freelance version of DeepDyve is limited to articles from Google Scholar (a notoriously low quality database), PubMed, and abstracts from all other publications. DeepDyve has a Pro account option for $49/month or $360/year that gives users access to all content.
That is much cheaper than signing up for academic databases on an individual basis as well as allows users to research from their own home without an academic institution affiliation. However does the cheaper price offer decent research materials?
DeepDyve does not appear to be hiding anything, because it lists all the different resources users can access with a subscription fee. Users can explore resources by research topic and see what a Deepdyve subscription offers.
DeepDyve could be a newer model for academic database and journal access. The big academic publishers still hold tons of power, but companies like DeepDyve could turn the publishing tide.
Whitney Grace, March 30, 2020
JSTOR: Some Free Info
March 23, 2020
Navigate to this link. Enter a query like “Kolmogorov Arnold” and you will see:
No registration, no begging for dollars. Why? Building goodwill?
What’s JSTOR? Wikipedia says:
JSTOR originally was conceived as a solution to one of the problems faced by libraries, especially research and university libraries, due to the increasing number of academic journals in existence. Most libraries found it prohibitively expensive in terms of cost and space to maintain a comprehensive collection of journals. By digitizing many journal titles, JSTOR allowed libraries to outsource the storage of journals with the confidence that they would remain available long-term. Online access and full-text search ability improved access dramatically.
JSTOR has an interesting history. DarkCyber will leave that research up to you, gentle reader. You have JSTOR to use for the research. Tip: The good stuff about JSTOR is not available from JSTOR.
The article about my relative’s math is available to you. “Quantum analogue of the Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser Transition in Field Induced Barrier Penetration in a Quartic Potential” is much more interesting than battles with STM publishers, Aaron Swartz, and outflanking Ebsco.
Stephen E Arnold, March 23, 2020
Eliminalia: Reputation Management and Content Removal
March 12, 2020
One of our readers called our attention to a company called Eliminalia. This firm provides what DarkCyber considers reputation management services. The unique selling proposition for the firm is that it says that it can achieve results quickly. DarkCyber does not have a firm position on the value of reputation management firms. The organizations or individuals who want content removed may feel a compelling need to modify history or take content corrective actions. Because removing content rests in the hands of a third party, often a large indexing company, getting attention and action can be a challenging job. Europa Press asserts that 24 percent of people and businesses want to have data about them removed from “the Internet.” We took a quick look at our files and located some information. Here’s a summary of points we found interesting.
Plus, the firm asserts:
We are the first to guarantee the results or we will refund your money. We will give an answer to your doubts and needs. We will help you and advise you on a global level.
The firm adds:
We delete internet data and information and guarantee your right to be forgotten. Eliminalia is the leading company in the field which guarantees that the information that bothers and harms you is completely deleted from Internet search engines (Google, Bing, etc.), web portals, blogs..
The firm offers three videos on Vimeo. The most recent video is at https://vimeo.com/222670049 and includes this commentary:
Eliminalia is a renowned company with several world headquarters that protects online privacy and reputation of its customers, finding and removing negative contents from the Web.
There are several YouTube videos as well. These may be located at this link.
The company has offices in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Italy, Mexico, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Eliminalia offers a mobile app for iPhones and Android devices.
The firm’s Web site asserts:
- 99% happy satisfied clients
- 8260+ success stories
- 3540 business clients.
The company states:
We delete your name from:
- Mass media
- State gazettes
- Social media
The president of Eliminalia is Dídac Sánchez. The company was founded in 2013. Crunchbase lists the date of the company’s founding as 2011.
There is an interesting, but difficult to verify, article about the Eliminalia process in “Why Is William Hill a Corporate Partner of Alzheimer’s Society?” The assertions about Eliminalia appear toward the end of the WordPress post. These can be located by searching for the term “Eliminalia.” One interesting item in the write up is that the Eliminalia business allegedly shares an address with World Intelligence Ltd. It is also not clear if Eliminalia is headquartered in Manchester at 53 Fountain Street. Note: the William Hill article includes other names allegedly associated with the company.
DarkCyber believes the company focuses on selling its services in countries with data protection regulations. The firm has a strong Spanish flavor.
If you are interested in having content removed from the Internet, consider speaking with Eliminalia. DarkCyber believes that some content can be difficult to remove. Requests for removal can be submitted. Some sites have a “removal request button” like www.accessify.com. However, there may be backlogs, bureaucracy, and indifference to requests which may be interpreted as trivial or nuisance. Some of our information revealed quite interesting information about the firm. DarkCyber can prepare a more robust summary of the company, including information about the methods used to remove content from the Internet.
Stephen E Arnold, March 12, 2020
Dropped Ball. Are Regulators in the Game?
March 10, 2020
Several stories appeared in the DarkCyber Overflight news feed this morning. None was directly related to the others, but they formed what some Yalies might call a leitmotif. Let’s look at each news item briefly and then try to figure out if there is a recurrent theme associated with a person, concept, or entity. Sounds fun on a Covid 19 infused day, right?
First, navigate to “Popular VPN And Ad-Blocking Apps Are Secretly Harvesting User Data.” The story published by the real news outfit Buzzfeed states:
Sensor Tower, a popular analytics platform for tech developers and investors, has been secretly collecting data from millions of people who have installed popular VPN and ad-blocking apps for Android and iOS, a BuzzFeed News investigation has found.
Let’s assume the information is accurate. The write up discloses what might be called covert data collection. Others might use different terminology. What’s interesting is the VPNs or virtual private networks are supposed to be secure. Maybe not then?
Next, take a look at “Ransomware: These Sophisticated Attacks Are Delivering Devastating Payloads, Warns Microsoft.” The main idea is that “Ransomware attackers are using common tools to take down big enterprise with human operated attacks.”
Let’s again take the statement at face value. The smart attacks of which some cyber defense firms speak are being supplemented by human attacks. Spoofs allow the humans to enter a system. Once inside, humans take advantage of “servers that have antivirus software and other security intentionally disabled which admins may have done to improve performance.” So humans attack, and humans create vulnerabilities. Interesting.
Finally, consider “How Smart Tech Masks an Emerging Era of Corporate Control.” This write up reports:
smart” means a thing is embedded with digital technology for data collection, network connectivity, and enhanced control.
What connects these separate stories? Here are some thought starters:
- Deception seems prevalent, based on these three stories
- Oversight or control seems non existent
- The digital environment cultivates behaviors which may be characterized as clever, deceptive, or dishonest.
I don’t know about leitmotifs, but I do know that the light of ethical behavior seems quite dim if these stories accurately reflect the “now” digital reality.
Stephen E Arnold, March 10, 2020
Adulting: Proof of Excellence or a Somewhat Grim Joke?
February 2, 2020
DarkCyber’s research team noted “Adulting Merit Badges,” an article in Boingboing.
The badges are self awarded. A person wanting to demonstrate accomplishment purchases a set of badges, sews them on an item, and basks in the warmth of accomplishment. What struck DarkCyber as interesting was the language on the badges; which are grouped into categories like You Go Girl, Corporate, and Responsibilities. The wording is interesting, possibly frightening in its psychological implications. Here’s a sampling:
- Only watched one episode
- Save some money
- Paid with cash
- Responded to email
- On time for work
- Packed my lunch
- Took my vitamins
- Flossed
- Drank some water
And DarkCyber’s fave?
- Reduced screen time.
Stephen E Arnold, February 2, 2020
Did You Know This Barn Burned 20 Years Ago?
December 30, 2019
Now let’s be positive. One can play games any time, any place. One can broadcast one’s thoughts any time, any place. One can find objective information any time, any place. What’s not to like?
Quite a bit, according to a newspaper which has tried for years to embrace zeros and ones. No, not embrace, love those zeros and ones. Navigate to “We’ve Spent the Decade Letting Our Tech Define Us. It’s Out of Control” and relive the old news: Barn burned. Horses killed or rustled. Amazon warehouse built on the site.
Yep, old news.
The write up states:
What this decade’s critiques miss is that over the past 10 years, our tech has grown from some devices and platforms we use to an entire environment in which we function. We don’t “go online” by turning on a computer and dialing up through a modem; we live online 24/7, creating data as we move through our lives, accessible to everyone and everything.
Obviously the newspaper continues to write about what happened quite a while ago. The history of online was set when online databases crushed traditional print indexes. Online outfits like Dialog, SDC, and even Dialcom for goodness sakes changed research and journal publishing. Did anyone notice? Sure, those disintermediated. But the nature of online information was evident by 1980. Let’s see, wasn’t that about 40 years ago.
But now we have a decade to consider.
The newspaper notes, almost with a little surprise:
We’ve spent the last 10 years as participants in a feedback loop between surveillance technology, predictive algorithms, behavioral manipulation and human activity. And it has spun out of anyone’s control.
The datasphere surprises, it seems. The basic law of online is that a monopoly structure is the basic protein structure of the digital world. It’s a surprise that once data flow through a system, those data must be logged. Logged data have to be analyzed. More data begets additional data. And there are other “laws” of online.
The venerable newspaper, with its begging for dollars please rendered in #ffff00 is reporting the news.
One problem: The news is really old. The new year is almost upon us. Maybe old news is just safer, easier, and more clickworthy than what is actually scrolling and swiping to the future.
Keep in mind that that Amazon delivery will arrive today.
Stephen E Arnold, December 30, 2019
Online Consumption of Data: A Mental Architecture Built on Inherent Addictive Patterns??
December 27, 2019
Two items caught my attention. The first explains that more than 80 percent of a sample group use a “second screen” when watching television. Yep, the boob tube and the vast wasteland. Marshall McLuan, a controversial figure, explained that TV is a kick back and vegetate medium. Punching buttons and formulating a thought for a tweet is hot. The article “88% of Americans Use a Second Screen While Watching TV. Why?” references the factoid that humans are not very adept at multi tasking. Interesting because humans can walk and chew gum, breathe, and think about crossing the street at the same time. But whatever. Also, the write up ignores the McLuhanesque approach that each type of media has its own “construct” or “mental evocation.”
The answer to “Why?” may be as simple as, “Addiction. Just a TV and a computing device.” Can one get the monkey off one’s back? Not easily.
Who can assist another? Consider if this item of information is correct: “70% Parents Cannot Control Their Own Online Activity.” This write up reports:
Around 70 per cent of parents admit that they themselves spend too much time online and 72 per cent feel that internet and mobile device usage in general is impeding family life…
Net net: No wonder information has to be crunchy. Easy to use is becoming a strategy for control. Interesting implications for 2020 and beyond if these two reports are mostly accurate.
Stephen E Arnold, December 27, 2019
Amazon Rolls Out an Online Data Market
November 21, 2019
Here is some interesting news from Amazon Web Services. Inside Big Data reports, “Introducing AWS Data Exchange.” Third-party data has become integral to the processes of research, analytics, and machine-learning models for businesses and academic institutions, but the process of tapping into that data has been cumbersome and time-consuming. Organizations have had to establish and manage relationships with disparate data providers, and those providers have had to invest fortunes in marketing and technology to reach and serve customers. The AWS Data Exchange brings all these processes together on Amazon’s cloud platform. This will bring welcome simplicity to data providers and consumers alike while positioning AWS as an indispensable resource.
Oracle has a data marketplace too.
Through the AWS Marketplace, customers will be able to subscribe to popular data providers including Reuters (news data), Change Healthcare (healthcare transactions and claims), Dun & Bradstreet (global business records), Foursquare (location data), TruFactor (anonymized consumer data), and Pitney Bowes (demographics). Clearly, these data vendors represent a diverse assortment of data types to meet a wide range of needs. The API also integrates into certain third-party analytics platforms, like Databricks and Deloitte’s ConvergeHEALTH Miner. See the write-up for more on each of these resources. We also learn:
“Prior to subscribing to a data product, customers can review the price and terms of use that providers make publicly available. Once subscribed, customers can use the AWS Data Exchange API or console to ingest data they subscribe to directly into Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) to use across the broadest and deepest portfolio of cloud services in AWS. Each time a provider publishes a new revision of their data, AWS Data Exchange notifies all subscribers via an Amazon CloudWatch Event, allowing them to automatically consume new revisions in their data lakes, applications, analytics, and machine-learning models running on AWS. Data subscription costs are consolidated in customers’ existing AWS invoice. Additionally, customers can ask their data providers to deliver their existing subscriptions to them using AWS Data Exchange at no cost. This enables customers to use AWS Data Exchange to consume all their third-party data in the AWS cloud using a single API. AWS Data Exchange also makes it easy for qualified data providers to securely package, license, and deliver data products to millions of AWS customers worldwide. AWS knows that customers care deeply about privacy and data security. AWS Data Exchange prohibits sharing sensitive personal data (e.g. personal health information) as well as any personal data that is not already lawfully and publicly available.”
The exchange also lets data providers publish their data on their terms, including private offers and custom terms for certain customers. They have the ability to review use cases and manage compliance needs, and will receive daily, weekly, and monthly reports on subscription activity. Perhaps most welcome to some, AWS will manage billing, collection, and secure data delivery. This development will make a big difference for many organizations; Amazon must be pretty pleased with itself.
Cynthia Murrell, November 21, 2019
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
