Australian Study: Not Likely to Be Popular at Apple
June 12, 2020
Australia’s News.com published “Study Casts Doubt on School iPad Benefits.” Although narrow, the information appears to confirm what DarkCyber has believed for a long time: A technology bandage does not fix underlying systemic failures. Example: Students without a home, a knowledge supporting peer group, and capable human instructors may not magically learn when equipped with a computing device. Bummer. Silver bullets, magic wands, and next big things are just supposed to solve problems. At least, that is how the logic appears to go when apparently educated people try to remediate the things schools do wrong.
The write up states:
New research has found using iPads and other technology in schools may not support brain development particularly in young children, according to James Cook University’s Professor Helen Boon.
Yikes. The write up continues:
The study found the technology did not enhance specific school learning areas such as mathematics, English, and science.
“Some studies have suggested that mobile technology promotes collaborative learning, communication and access to information,” Dr Boon said. “On the other hand, the potential for mobile technology to be a distraction in the classroom has also been frequently reported.” Dr Boon says another concern is the effect their physical use has on young brains.
Imagine. Books, paper, pencils, drills, and old-fashioned methods may deliver skills while computing devices teach distraction.
The fix? Order up more Chromebooks, iPads, and smartphones.
Stephen E Arnold, June 12, 2020
A Somewhat Grim Factoid: Internet Speed
June 10, 2020
Many in the US can check email and suck up online video. Internet life seems wonderful. However, if the data in “ANALYSIS: US Falls Out of Top 10 Average Internet Speeds Globally in 2020, but Global Speeds Faster Than Ever” are accurate, the US is not just falling in math rankings, America is the proud possessor of slowing Internet speeds.
The write up states:
The United States had been consistently ranking between 8th and 10th for top average internet speeds globally over the last 24 months, but has recently fallen out of the rolling average top 10 to the 11th position on the list. While broadband expansion and improvement has been a focus of US government agencies over the past decade, the roll out has lagged behind anticipated growth.
The zippiest Internet is in Singapore. The US, pegged at number 11, is behind Romania and Hungary.
Stephen E Arnold, June 10, 2020
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
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