Fixing the American Internet: Got the Plague? Burn Aromatic Herbs. Works Great, Right?
December 17, 2020
The underfed and poorly compensated research team upon whom I rely is beavering away on a pamphlet about my Arnold’s Laws of Online. Don’t worry. The pamphlet will be a freebie because as I approach 78 not too many people are into people like me who think thumb typing is genuinely stupid.
Here’s a preview:
Online presents the humans and systems using its functionality.
Those who know the difference between a high jumper and Heidegger are likely to want to argue. Spare me. I want to point out that online is not a cause; it is a part of the people and systems which use the technologies required to perform certain tasks. Yep, for those out of work due to disintermediation, you probably get the idea of “efficiency” intuitively.
In this context of this Arnold Law, I want to reference “In 2021, We Need to Fix America’s Internet.” The write up makes some remarkable statements in my opinion. As an old timer better suited to drooling in a long term care facility, I had to muster up the energy to identify this passage as interesting:
As FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel wrote for The Verge last March, as many as one in three US households doesn’t have broadband internet access, currently defined as just 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up — which feels like the bare minimum for a remote learning family these days. Even before the pandemic, that statistic might have been shocking; now, it’s the difference between whether millions of schoolchildren can attend classes and do their homework or not. Nearly 12 million children don’t have a broadband connection at home, the Senate Joint Economic Committee reported in 2017. And the “homework gap” hits harder if you’re poor, of course: only 56 percent of households with incomes under $30,000 had broadband as of last February, according to the Pew Research Center.
Let’s assume this paragraph is chock full of semi-real facts. What do we learn about the American Internet? How about these assertions:
- This is one more example of unethical behavior by a large outfit
- The Internet has become a way to split the population of the US into haves and have nots in a way which can limit learning, access to jobs, etc.
- This marketing approach to technology spawns a perception of one thing whilst the reality is quite another; for instance, the SolarWinds’ misstep which makes clear that security theater may be forced to shut down just like local Comedy Clubs.
Fix the American Internet? Why not consider that the “Internet” is a cultural manifestation, not a cause of the culture itself.
Stephen E Arnold, December 17, 2020
Technology and Sociology: Excitement Ahead
December 11, 2020
I read “Falling Out of Love with Apple, Part 3.” I also read “Tech Research Becomes Hazardous Ground.” As it turned out, I checked both these articles back to back. No plan, just part of the newsfeed output.
I am fascinated with the shift from technology writing in the late 1980s to today. In the late 1980s, I worked for Ziff Communications, a publisher of computer and software related magazines as well as operating a flotilla of other businesses. The content, as I recall, was product centric, how-tos, and opinion pieces about the speed of processors or the quirks of software. A big picture story about the cost or complexity of managing an enterprise system or network would add spice to the flood of innovations. Today, the focus of technology writing is more varied. One of the techniques in use by “real” journalists is what I call “turkey basting.” The idea is that the “bird” (in this case a technology hook) is daubed or immersed in socio-politico broth.
Crank up the heat and let that recipe loose.
The Apple story focuses on an interesting point. Here’s a passage I noted:
This is a massively slippery slope, and especially worries me as Apple operates in so many countries across the world. If oppressive governments are able to work with Apple to censor anti-government speech, Apple could end up playing a key role in suppressing democracy across the world. I believe Apple should simply refuse to cooperate with oppressive governments – but this is an unlikely scenario, as they have extremely close ties and dependence to China, a current perpetrator of genocide against the Uyghurs.
Here’s a passage from the Google Gebru article:
The bottom line: Cynthia Yeung, an industry veteran who spent five years at Google, put it bluntly: “Maybe the trade-off should be more clearly spelled out so researchers can make informed decisions before they accept a job offer: You get paid academic salaries in exchange for intellectual freedom, and you get paid Silicon Valley salaries in exchange for allowing your name/likeness to be used for brand/PR purposes and your research to be censored arbitrarily.”
What’s happened between the late 1980s and the quite remarkable 2020s is that technology has become more than how to connect a printer to a personal computer or ways to reduce the cost of adding a new user to the corporate network.
More than half a century after the digital shift began, individuals are looking at the world and finding it is a datasphere. Better late than never or a convenient way to criticize what social structures exist. A hippie movement on bits and bytes?
Stephen E Arnold, December 11, 2020
Intel Whips Its Quantum PR to Horse Ridge II
December 9, 2020
I noted that China has out-Googled Google in the quantum supremacy horse race. The “real” news outfit South China Morning Post published “China Claims Quantum Computing Lead with Jiuzhang photon Test, Creating Machine One Trillion Times Faster Than Next Best Supercomputer.” I spotted this emission from Intel, the fabrication super company: Intel Debuts 2nd-Gen Horse Ridge Cryogenic Quantum Control Chip.
The question that came to me was:
Do the Jiuzhang engineers use Intel’s Horse Ridge?
I don’t know.
There were two thoughts which surfaced as I read these articles:
- Google has been either equaled or surpassed by China
- Intel’s quantum computing announcements seem out of step; for example:“With Horse Ridge II, Intel continues to lead innovation in the field of quantum cryogenic controls, drawing from our deep interdisciplinary expertise bench across the Integrated Circuit design, Labs and Technology Development teams. We believe that increasing the number of qubits without addressing the resulting wiring complexities is akin to owning a sports car, but constantly being stuck in traffic. Horse Ridge II further streamlines quantum circuit controls, and we expect this progress to deliver increased fidelity and decreased power output, bringing us one step closer toward the development of a ‘traffic-free’ integrated quantum circuit.” –Jim Clarke, Intel director of Quantum Hardware, Components Research Group, Intel
Quantum computing is a lightning rod for claims about supremacy and a convenient band wagon for companies take for a ride. (I really want to say “horse ride” but I will not. I shall trot peacefully along.)
Stephen E Arnold, December 9, 2020
Something to Remember: DNA Engine
December 7, 2020
Navigate to “Pallada-92/DNA 3D Engine.” The post and code explains how DNA can be used to perform computations. If you are a fan of Silicon Valley-type “solve death” and “human augmentation”, this GitHub post seems to be a small marker on what is going to be a long trip. But as one person remarked, “The longest journey begins with a single step.” Get those walking shoes on.
Stephen E Arnold, December 7, 2020
Shocker: Online Learning Teaches Little
December 1, 2020
I may be misunderstanding “Failing Grades Spike in Virginia’s Largest School System as Online Learning Gap Emerges Nationwide,” but I think the main idea is that online learning does not teach the way students-teachers in an old-fashioned class do. You will have to pay to read this most recent report from a Captain Obvious “real news” outfit.
Back to the “news” flash.
The write up states:
But one Fairfax high school teacher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from the school system, said he is doing all of these things — and still, 50 to 70 percent of his 150 students are achieving D’s and F’s, whereas before they had earned B’s and C’s.
There you go. We’re teaching students something, just not what the school hopes will be learned. What subject do students learn? Inattention perhaps.
Another factoid. Sit down and take a deep meditative breath before reading:
Younger Fairfax students are struggling more than older ones: The percentage of middle-schoolers receiving at least two F’s quadrupled, while the percentage of high-schoolers scoring at least two F’s increased by 50 percent. The percentage of students with disabilities earning at least two F’s, meanwhile, more than doubled, while the percentage of children for whom English is a second language receiving at least two F’s rose by 106 percent to account for 35 percent of all children in this group. Among racial groups, Hispanic students were most affected: The percentage of these students with at least two F’s jumped from 13 to 25 percent. Comparing grades achieved in past years with grades this year showed that the drop in passing grades is significant and unprecedented.
Had enough? I haven’t. Several observations:
- Traditional educational methods evolved toward a human “teacher” presenting information.
- Students were monitored and tested.
- Peer pressure operated in a social setting like an old-fashioned school room.
- Peer mediated instruction took place in non-class settings; for example, at a lunch table or talking with a friend at a school locker.
- Old-fashioned family structures often reinforced “learning.” Example: Consequences if lessons were not completed.
Thumb typers now have to face up to a reality in which their expertise at inattention creates a false sense of knowledge.
The problem is that moving learning to Zoom or some other online platform has a shallow experiential pool. Traditional education benefits from a long history. Maybe online will catch up, but if the students are ill prepared, inattentive, and unable to draw upon a knowledge framework — not likely.
Anyone ready for the new Dark Ages? Whoops. News flash. We are in them. Plague, social unrest, and students who are not acquiring equipment for reading.
Hey, everyone has a smartphone. What could go wrong? TikTok and YouTube autosuggest are just super.
Stephen E Arnold, December 1, 2020
The Internet of Infomercials: Datasphere Thumbtypers Fret
November 30, 2020
I found “The Ad-Based Internet Is About to Collapse. What Comes Next?” interesting because of two points. The first was this passage:
For example, even as the value of the digital ad industry was continuing to rise, the average clickthrough rate on Google’s display ads fell to 0.46% in 2018, ad fraud was expected to jump 21% to $42 billion in 2019, and a Google study found 56% of its display ads may not even be seen by a human. These stats suggest the product being sold is not nearly as effective or valuable as many purchasers of digital ads believe it to be.
Massive hucksterism. Got it.
And how about a fix to the Internet of Infomercials? Try this:
Logic editor Ben Tarnoff suggests that the proper organizational structure would depend on the scale of the service. In some cases, cooperatives would be ideal.
Several observations:
- The author is describing external characteristics of online information, not the dynamics of the datasphere
- Cooperation is an interesting idea; however, in a datasphere, cooperation is not the “it takes a village” fairy tale
The nature of online is now being considered by thumbtypers. News flash: It’s too late to pull disconnect. Goldfish in a fish bowl accept their environment as the norm. Replace the glass container with zeros and ones and what do you get? Fish in one environment trying to figure out another environment without the means to figure out what’s TikTok-ing, Parler-ing, and Facebook-ing.
Stephen E Arnold, November 30, 2020
New York Times Divulges Core Trade Secret by Recycling Old News
November 27, 2020
The New York Times published a detailed explanation of one of its crown jewels, an honest to goodness trade secret. The news appears on page A2 of the November 26, 2020, newspaper of record. Some may quibble with today’s dump of secret information, but apparently the Gray Lady was not will to let old news rot from indifference. A version of today’s announcement appeared in May 2020 here.
What was this Eureka moment? Here’s the clue:
A Wirecutter Obsession: Spreadsheets
Yes, a digital page with rows and columns. Yep, there was a crude precursor in the distant past by an alleged Babylonian scribe. There there was LANPAR just 50 years ago. But the technology remained undiscovered but for a few trivial products like VisiCalc, 1-2-3, and every MBA’s touchstone, Excel.
Crowing like a coq galois, I noted this statement:
Wirecutter journalists have to be data nerds.
With such a momentous revelation appearing on a day when many fierce but technologically challenged competitors doing the faire le pont, the NYT may be able to recover from this inadvertent recycling of trade secrets.
Button up, people. This is not the slow moving era of Yellow Journalism. This is thumb typing time for those too busy to do “real news.”
But a spreadsheet? Brilliant. Who said invention was dead in the US of A?
But the NYT should be worried. The Norwegian chicken producer Norsk Kylling is shifting from Excel to Info Cloud Suite. Catch up with those chickens so another rooster crow can grace the Gray Lady’s barnyard. But wait! Maybe the NYT uses Oracle, Google, or possibly green ledger paper?
Stephen E Arnold, November 27, 2020
The Middle Kingdom Aims for Chip Design Dominance
November 27, 2020
No big deal. Just one more example of technological diffusion. Well, that’s a positive way to explain what’s going on. “China Aims to Shake US Grip on Chip Design Tools” reports:
Shanghai Hejian Industrial Software, founded in May, hired a high-ranking, China-based R&D executive from Synopsys in late October, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The executive worked for the U.S. company for nearly two decades, they said. Shanghai Hejian Industrial Software is backed by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission Of Shanghai Municipal Government and renowned Chinese venture capital firm Summitview Capital, according to online disclosures by the company. The third startup, Amedac, was founded in September 2019 by Chieh Ni, a former vice president of Synopsys China who worked with the U.S. company for 10 years. Synopsys, moreover, holds a more than 20% stake in the startup and Ge Qun, global senior vice president at Synopsys and chairman of its China operations, serves as one of the board directors at Amedac. Other key investors of Amedac include Summitview Capital, and the state-owned Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
What’s up? The Middle Kingdom crowd wants to become the chow chow of chip design. Not familiar with these fun beasts? Why not get acquainted?
The former employees of US chip design companies are likely to rely on these fine animals to protect their labs, meeting rooms, and manufacturing facilities? One never knows when the Chihuahuas from the US Department of Commerce will want to romp.
Stephen E Arnold, November 26, 2020
Supercomputer League Tables Shift
November 19, 2020
I noted “Japan’s Fugaku Keeps Position As Fastest Supercomputer.” There were two items of interest in the write up.
First, the machine:
performed over 442 quadrillion computations per second, around three times faster than the Summit system developed by the U.S. Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Second, the chips in the Fugaku were Fujitsu’s. These may be the the Fujitsu A64FX microprocessor based on the ARM technology.
Intel and IBM are arm wrestling maybe?
Stephen E Arnold, November 19, 2020
Infodemic: Another Facet of Good Old 2020
November 12, 2020
It is difficult to locate non political, non Covid, and non frightening information. I read “Misinformation in the New Normal in a technology publication.” The essay is descriptive; that is, one does not solve a problem or spell out a fix. It’s like a florid passage in James Fennimore Cooper’s novels. There were some factoids in the essay; for example:
According to one piece of research, websites spreading misinformation about the pandemic received nearly half a billion views via Facebook in April alone…
Source? Not stated.
I also noted this statement in the write up:
As defensive measures evolve, so do the attacks, and the further development of deep fake technology is a worrying growth area for misinformation campaigns. Like fake domains, these altered recordings aim to create a veneer of trust in order to seed bad or dangerous information – but deep fakes are now around five years ahead, in technological development terms, of our ability to defend against them.
Five years? That’s another interesting number: 2025. And the lingo like infodemic? Snappy.
I have added the word “infodemic” to my list of interesting neologisms which contain gems like these: neurosymbolic AI, perception hacks, digital detox, and dissonance score.
But the article “Can the Law Stop Internet Bots from Undressing You?” raises another viewpoint about online data; specifically:
For women and men over the age of 18, the production of a sexual pseudo-image of a person is not in itself illegal under international law or in the UK, even if it is produced and distributed without the consent of the person portrayed in the image.
Have government regulators failed? Have educators been unable to impart ethical values to students? Have clever people embraced the methods of some Silicon Valley-type wizards?
Problem solved in 2025?
Stephen E Arnold, November 12, 2020
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