What Type of Content Is Plentiful? Ever Been to a Cow Barn?
June 9, 2020
DarkCyber enjoyed “Most Tech Content Is Bullshit.” The write up explains:
I saw developers taking other people’s solutions for granted. Not thinking twice about the approach, not bothering about analyzing it.
When asked about the behavior, the article highlights four common behaviors:
- It was in some article.
- I copy-pasted it from X.
- I was doing it in my previous project.
- Someone told me so.
Unfortunately, these four points cover the bases for odd, wrong, and off base information.
The logical error is “appeal to authority.” Information issued from someone perceived as authoritative may be accepted readily. Today some people believe just about anything available online.
Why is this human failing taking place? The write up provides four reasons:
- We are lazy.
- We don’t have time.
- It’s comfortable.
- We don’t believe in ourselves.
The problem is unlikely to be resolved. There are some minor concerns: Money, the pandemic, civil disturbances, and international tensions. Plus, I want to make clear that search engine optimization and a desire to be perceived as an expert are darned significant factors.
Net net: There’s little likelihood of rapid change. Social distance, wait for a bailout check, and be confident in your children’s future. No big deal. And that online fix for sluggish DNS look ups. Not to worry.
Stephen E Arnold, June 9, 2020
The Presumed JEDI Contract Winner Knows How to Catch Attention
June 3, 2020
Yep, Microsoft. If “Microsoft Puts Windows 10 May 2020 Update on Hold for Most Devices” is accurate, the creators of Bob and Vista are matching their previous technical achievements. DarkCyber highlighted this passage:
Microsoft’s latest May 2020 update is on hold for most devices as the company works to resolve a raft of issues… The company even added a prominent warning in Windows Update over the weekend. If you’re on the previous version looking to get the May 2020 Update (Build 2004), Windows Update will remind you that your device “isn’t quite ready for it.”
What happens if Department of Defense personnel require a stable version of Windows. Sometimes, not always, it is life and death for the user of a computing device, a laptop, or a cloud service.
Updating that kills a user’s system may have other — wait for it — consequences. Ah, Microsoft. Good enough even when it isn’t.
Stephen E Arnold, June 3, 2020
Facial Recognition: A Partial List
June 3, 2020
DarkCyber noted “From RealPlayer to Toshiba, Tech Companies Cash in on the Facial Recognition Gold Rush.” The write up provides two interesting things and one idea which is like a truck tire retread.
First, the write up points out that facial recognition or FR is a “gold rush.” That’s a comparison which eluded the DarkCyber research team. There’s no land. No seller of heavy duty pants. No beautiful scenery. No wading in cold water. No hydro mining. Come to think of it, FR is not like a gold rush.
Second, the write up provides a partial list of outfits engaged in facial recognition. The word partial is important. There are some notable omissions, but 45 is an impressive number. That’s the point. Just 45?
The aspect of the write the DarkCyber team ignored is this “from the MBA classroom” observation:
Despite hundreds of vendors currently selling facial recognition technology across the United States, there is no single government body registering the technology’s rollout, nor is there a public-facing list of such companies working with law enforcement. To document which companies are selling such technology today, the best resource the public has is a governmental agency called the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Governments are doing a wonderful job it seems. Perhaps the European Union should step forward? What about Brazil? China? Russia? The United Nations? With Covid threats apparently declining, maybe the World Health Organization? Yep, governments.
Then, after wanting a central listing of FR vendors, this passage snagged one of my researcher’s attention:
NIST is a government organization responsible for setting scientific measurement standards and testing novel technology. As a public service, NIST also provides a rolling analysis of facial recognition algorithms, which evaluates the accuracy and speed of a vendor’s algorithms. Recently, that analysis has also included aspects of facial recognition field like algorithmic bias based on race, age, and sex. NIST has previously found evidence of bias in a majority of algorithms studied.
Yep, NIST. The group has done an outstanding job for enterprise search. Plus the bias in algorithms has been documented and run through the math grinding wheel for many years. Put in snaps of bad actors and the FR system does indeed learn to match one digital watermark with a similar digital watermark. Run kindergarten snaps through the system and FR matches are essentially useless. Bias? Sure enough.
Consider these ideas:
- An organization, maybe Medium, should build a database of FR companies
- An organization, maybe Medium, should test each of the FR systems using available datasets or better yet building a training set
- An organization, maybe Medium, should set up a separate public policy blog to track government organizations which are not doing the job to Medium’s standards.
There is an interest in facial recognition because there is a need to figure out who is who. There are some civil disturbances underway in a certain high profile country. FR systems may not be perfect, but they may offer a useful tool to some. On the other hand, why not abandon modern tools until they are perfect.
We live in an era of good enough, and that’s what is available.
Stephen E Arnold, June 3, 2020
Quantum Schmantum
May 25, 2020
What happens when the miasmatic hyperbole about artificial intelligence begins to wane? Another revolutionary, game changing, paradigm shifting technology will arise. Maybe the heiress to AI hoo-hah is waiting in the wings, ready to rush on stage?
One candidate is quantum computing. A couple of years ago, a conference organizer told me, “I’m all in on quantum computing. It’s the next technology revolution.”
My reaction was, “Yeah, okay.”
I noted Intel’s announcement of its horse collar or horse baloney breakthrough. I noted Google’s quantum supremacy PR push. I noted innovations like the value of photons in controlling a quantum interaction.
Got it. Careers are being made. Grants are being obtained. And venture firms are using other people’s money to make the quantum revolution arrive sooner rather than later. “Later” in hyperbole land is rarely defined.
I was interested in a paper by Gil Kalai, whose nominal professional relationship is with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The title? “The Argument against Quantum Computers, the Quantum Laws of Nature, and Google’s Supremacy Claim.”
The write up explains some caveats with the technology packing with anticipation to grab the spotlight from artificial intelligence. The paper is quite interesting. Sure, it includes equations, which are conversation killers at a newly reopened beach front bar on the Jersey Shore. There’s also postulates and reasonably easy-to-follow arguments. So read the paper already.
Here’s the conclusion:
I expect that the most important application will eventually be the understanding of the impossibility of quantum error-correction and quantum computation. Overall, the debate over quantum computing is a fascinating one, and I can see a clear silver lining: major advances in human ability to simulate quantum physics and quantum chemistry are expected to emerge if quantum computational supremacy can be demonstrated and quantum computers can be built, but also if quantum computational supremacy cannot be demonstrated and quantum computers cannot be built. Some of the insights and methods characteristic of the area of quantum computation might be useful for classical computation of realistic quantum systems – which is, apparently, what nature does.
This is a good news, bad news conclusion. The research is a journey. The destination may be surprising. So hype on.
Stephen E Arnold, May 25, 2020
Googler Departing: Dr. Eric Schmidt and His Visibility
May 10, 2020
DarkCyber commented on the New York Times’ story about Eric Schmidt, a former Sun Microsystems professional. No, we did not comment about Google and Java. No we did not remark about our longing for NetWare’s compsurf.
Yes, we did suggest that the purpose of the write up “I Could Solve Most of Your Problems: Eric Schmidt’s Pentagon Offensive” was a PR play by Google.
That may have been part of the motivation. But we learned in “Eric Schmidt, Who Led Google’s Transformation into a Tech Giant, Has Left the Company” that the former “adult” at Google and leader of NetWare departed from the Google in February 2020.
Who knew?
Not the New York Times it seems.
As a result, an alternative motivating factor for the revelations assembled by the NYT could have been publicity for Dr. Schmidt himself.
That NYT story is probably a better job hunting tool that a short item in Microsoft LinkedIn. Just a hunch, of course.
When will that compsurf process be completed? A week, maybe more. By then, Dr. Schmidt may have a new post pandemic job. Is Palantir hiring? Does the White House have a job opening? Is Oracle poking around for an expert to advise the Dolphin Way outfit about Java? What about the Department of Defense as it navigates the Amazon Microsoft worlds of technology?
Opportunities are out there.
Stephen E Arnold, May 10, 2020
TechRepublic: Unintentionally Amusing Non Playing Videos about Videos
May 10, 2020
DarkCyber noted “How to Hold Video Meetings Like a Pro.” We clicked the link to learn what this interesting publication offered for those struggling with the video work from home activity. Here’s what we saw, and we left the page rendering for 10 minutes:
Yep, a video that would not play. But take heart, gentle reader. The write-up includes a link to an audio version of the podcast about video meetings. That worked even though the guest’s audio was subdued. And, if the rich media from the article leaves you with some disappointment thoughts, just read the article itself. It contains some amazing observations; for example:
- There’s a part of the brain that knows when you’re alone in the cave, when you’re a cave person in the dark that there’s someone in the room with you.
- Now, I didn’t pay retail for it. I bought it on Craigslist.
- I believe very strongly in nesting. This isn’t performative. [Interesting word]
- It’s also worth pointing out that I’m looking at a mirror image of myself as you are as well. That’s because people hate looking at themselves as they are seen.
For more insights and maybe the video if you are lucky, this interview is the cat’s pajamas with Lego toys in the background.
Video interviews probably should include video which actually renders. The spinning green thing is interesting for a short time, then it’s boring… just like… video like a pro? Amusing.
Stephen E Arnold, May 10, 2020
Quantum Computing: A Quite Useful Text
April 29, 2020
DarkCyber noted a useful textbook about quantum computing. Quantum Country by Andy Matuschak (former Apple engineer) and Michael Nielsen (a research fellow at Y Combinator) is a series of essay. The authors point out that you will need familiarity with linear algebra and complex numbers. A number of other topics may be useful to the reader. The authors point out that the book “makes it almost effortless to remember what you read.” Like quantum computing, the book in in a new “medium.”
Stephen E Arnold, April 29, 2020
In Cobol News: Cloudflare Gets Interested in Revealing That It Is a Time Sharing Company
April 21, 2020
Legacy systems exist. This is perhaps big news for the recently unemployed Silicon Valley types. Some states are struggling to find Cobol programmers. IBM has rolled out Cobol training.
“Cloudflare Workers Now Support Cobol” reports:
COBOL can now be used to write code for Cloudflare’s serverless platform Workers.
The write up provides a number of historical factoids, including sample code and a Game of Life example.
Quick thought: Has the mainframe returned to offer coding opportunities and a career path to the thumb typing millennials?
What’s next for Cloudflare? Lab coats, glass walls, and elevated floors, sign up sheets for keypunch machines, and greenbar paper?
Has cloud computing become a time shared mainframe?
PS. My first programming project relied on Cobol. That was in 1963. I also used Cobol for the Psychology Today / Intellectual Digest readability work I did in the 1970s. Am I relevant again? I miss JCL too.
Stephen E Arnold, April 18, 2020
A Revolution in Management: Efficiency Redefined?
April 14, 2020
I read “How COVID-19 Made Old-School Management Irrelevant: No More Pointless Micro-Management.” I think a more suitable subtitle would have been “A Millennial’s Howl for Me-Ness.”
The essay is interesting for three reasons.
First, it predicts the future. Predictions are easy, but as “now” yields to the future, most are sort of correct. Management changes may be a tough discipline to change. Why? The notion of organizing tasks and orchestrating the completion of those tasks requires responsibility. That’s an old fashioned concept, but remote control may lack some of the intangibles that traditional management principles rely upon.
Second, the notion of irrelevance is a mostly a point of view issue. Who determines relevance? Perhaps shifting from externally imposed obligations or expectations to an individual determining if those obligations or expectations are “relevant.” Reliability, particularly among many colleagues, is a slippery topics. Without reliability, tasks may be difficult to complete. Relevant or irrelevant issue? The answer depends on whom one asks.
Third, the idea of micro management annoys some people. On the other hand, there are individuals who do their best work within structures and expectations about behavior. One can make generalizations about direct interaction in person. The number of exceptions can undermine what one wants to be true. In fact, the generalization may be an attempt to impose what an individuals wants and needs upon others. Arrogance, stupidity, or a certain blindness?
Now the write up. The article asserts:
The need for a manager who “checks on you” has suddenly evaporated.
Interesting but the emergence of new methods for monitoring seem to be a growth industry: Mobile phone surveillance, Slack, and even Zoom meetings are monitoring, control, and directive devices in some ways.
Here’s another interesting mental construct:
In this new world of “work-from-home”, creatives feel free from antagonisms of the old, and the creators of new. Getting people to perform competitively in environments where remote work relies on individual resourcefulness, the in-your-face old school management has died.
The phrase “in your face” reminds me of a bright sprout deeply offended by a grade school teacher’s statement, “Pay attention to the assignment.” The reaction of some people to being told to deliver is rebellion. That’s not a reason to discard some management methods. In fact, I term this type of anti-management behavior as high school science club management methods or HSSCMM. The idea is that a few smart people gather and know what’s better, faster, and cheaper. Does this sound like some of the Silicon bro ethos? It should because this world view has created some interesting challenges; namely, employees who don’t do what’s expected. Employees who protest, leak, strike, and submarine work so it has more flaws than normal.
The write up identifies what has changed since the global pandemic modified some established patterns; for example:
- Work from home will become more common
- We are in a cultural tsunami
- Social distancing is “demolishing age old officer hierarchies”.
These sound ominous or life affirming depending upon one’s point of view. The flows of digital information undermine hierarchies. I addressed this subject in my Eagleton Lecture (sponsored by ASIS and Bell Labs) in the late 1980s. As digital information zips around, the “old” patterns are weakened and some collapse; for example, knowing about a company’s legal problems once easily concealed until ubiquitous “publishing.” The cultural tsunami picked up steam in developed countries as newer technologies and tools became widely available. Change does not speed along when certain capabilities are classified and available to a comparatively small number of individuals. Diffusion of tools accelerates diffusion of behaviors. New ideas flourish in such an environment. The datasphere is a hot house. The work from home or WFH is definitely becoming more common, just not for everyone. It is difficult to create certain products from home. It is difficult to reach some decisions from home when a golf outing, lunch, and one to one sizing up is necessary.
I grant that change is taking place, some good, some bad. I agree that in some sectors, the 19th century approach to business will not be successful. I support the idea that a 9 to 5 workplace of the “organization man” will be the only or best way to build an organization.
However, if one takes even a cursory look at different cultures at different points in the past, interesting commonalities emerge. Examples range from a group’s appointing a leader to provide guidance seem widespread. Specialists perform certain tasks, often working alone or in concert to deliver an artifact that cannot be crafted alone in a different location.
Several observations:
- WFH or work from home is not right for everyone. Multiple methods are needed. Picking the most suitable method to achieve the goal is the job of management. I think a manager from a Roman engineering brigade would agree in part. A stone cutter working in a quarry is of zero value to team in trans Alpine Gaul.
- Management evolves. Take a flip through Peter Drucker’s management books. The ideas seem both in tune and out of step. Why? Individuals organizing resources to achieve a goal have to adapt to the cultural environment. A failure to adapt is the ultimate failure of an enterprise.
- Some people need the structure of an organization and a routine which may involve a commute, annoyances like a cube in a bigger space, and people making noise, suggestions, and waves.
Net net: Generalizations which are focused on a narrow slice of those who need to work are interesting but self centered, not objective, and wishful thinking. Parts of life will be like grade school. Suck it up. Deliver something of value.
Stephen E Arnold, April 14, 2020
Not a Joke: More of a Commentary on Allegedly Smart PhDs
April 1, 2020
Trigger warning: This is not about search, cybercrime, intelware, or any of the other hobby horses I flog each day as I have since 2008.
Before I highlight the real news item from the “we beg for dollars” outfit the Guardian, try to answer these questions:
- Did the PhD get his degree online?
- Did the PhD understand the equation F = q2B1v2 sin theta?
- Did the PhD think that people would shove ceramic magnets up their nose?
Okay, now navigate to “Astrophysicist Gets Magnets Stuck Up Nose While Inventing Coronavirus Device.” The allegedly accurate write up states:
Australian Dr Daniel Reardon ended up in hospital after inserting magnets in his nostrils while building a necklace that warns you when you touch your face.
The newspaper provides a number of details. Here’s one:
Before attending the hospital, Reardon attempted to use pliers to pull them out, but they became magnetized by the magnets inside his nose.
You too can get a PhD online, impress your friends, and invent new things. Darwin award nominee?
Stephen E Arnold, April 1, 2020
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