Google and VW: How the Quantum World Turns
November 9, 2017
I read “Google and VW Team Up on Quantum Computers.” The main idea is that two of the companies on EU litigators’ radar have become BFFs. Self driving cars? Clever advertising featuring the Pixel phone and VW campers driven by Woodstock types?
Neither.
The article informed me:
The two corporate heavyweights will work together using quantum computing as they try to solve complex puzzles related to the future of traffic.
I noted this statement:
“Volkswagen has enormous expertise in solving important, real-world engineering problems, and it is an honor for us to collaborate on how quantum computing may be able to make a difference in the automotive industry,” added Hartmut Neven, director of the Google Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
Google is pretty good at cracking the problem of fake news and solving death. VW has the diesel emission technology nailed.
The fruits of this collaboration will improve the quality of life for those who have to commute in one of those autonomous autos on streets designed for medieval carts in the Italian town of Sienna. Here in Harrod’s Creek, deep in rural Kentucky I just walk. No almost unusable Google Maps. No cute VW bus with happy hippies. No worries.
Stephen E Arnold,
Mobile Technology Dad Still Waiting for Dream to Become Reality
November 2, 2017
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are the poster children for modern technology, but more people helped bring about the revolution. One such person is Alan Kay, often referred to as the father of mobile computing. He directed a research team at Xerox PARC, developed the SmallTalk programming language, and also worked the Xerox Alto personal computer. He also advocated that computers could be used as tools for creativity and learning. Kay sat down for an interview with Fast Company, printed in the article, “The Father Of Mobile Computing Is Not Impressed.”
Kay began the interview that Jobs was not the kind of person to befriend and animation studio Pixar was the most honest money Jobs made. He mentioned that Jobs was also trying to talk the government into giving tax breaks for companies that put computers in schools. Back in the twentieth century, Kay designed a mobile device that was the predecessor to a tablet. Called the Dynabook, it had physical buttons implanted in it and was never released for the consumer market. However, the Dynabook exists in some form today as the iPad. Kay complained that there is not a place to put a pen on the iPad, however.
After a brief explanation about human society and the desire to learn, he begins to talk about his idea of mobile computing. One of the things he liked about the earliest Mac computers was that they allowed people to undo their learning and explore how to use a computer, but the iPhone is stupid:
So, this is like less than what people got with Mac in 1984. Mac had a really good undo. It allowed you to explore things. Mac had multitasking. The iPhone is basically giving one little keyhole and if you do something wrong, you actually go back out and start the app over again.
Think about this. How stupid is this? It’s about as stupid as you can get. But how successful is the iPhone? It’s about as successful as you can get, so that matches you up with something that is the logical equivalent of television in our time.
Kay spends most of the interview speaking about how people learn, how education has changed, and some philosophical stuff. It is more about how to improve ourselves than an interview about mobile computing.
Whitney Grace, November 2, 2017
Silicon Valley Hubris
November 1, 2017
Are today’s big tech companies leading our culture down foolish paths? Writer Scott Hartley at Quartz declares, “Silicon Valley Is Suffering from an Icarus Complex.” After briefly summarizing the story of Daedalus and Icarus, Hartley extrapolates that, today, the same examples of hubris would be cast as a pair of tech entrepreneurs, lauded for their bold wing-building initiative and attracting eager investors. He observes:
The Greeks distinguished between craftsmanship, known as technae, and knowledge, known as espisteme. But today we conflate doing with knowing: We believe that doers are wise, when perhaps they are only clever. Silicon Valley is so obsessed with crafting new wings—to harness the power of the Gods and tame the heavens—that it has overlooked the notion that cleverness is not necessarily wisdom. The ability to harness technology alone may be clever, but it isn’t wise unless it is contextualized within a greater human need. For example, someone might design the cleverest new system to optimize ad delivery—but few of us would call such an entrepreneur sagacious or wise. We might justly lionize them for their capitalistic prowess or for their ability to abstract value from the ever-tightening mechanics of how pixels are dangled before us like candy—but we wouldn’t call them a ‘genius.’ We require great technologists and clever doers, but we require those who question, probe, and seek to contextualize our advances in equal measure.
Yes. Just because we can “reinvent every human process with something mechanistic,” as he puts it, does not mean we should. We need more wise minds to consider what technology goals are worthy, and fewer who would pursue anything they can devise to make a buck, regardless of the consequences to society as a whole.
Cynthia Murrell, November 1, 2017
Google Home: A Content Vacuum?
October 12, 2017
i read “Google Is Nerfing All Home Minis Because Mine Spied on Everything I Said.” The write up is interesting because it documents a Google product which has a flaw; that is, the Google Home device in question acts like a content vacuum cleaner. The device allegedly copies what it hears without the user’s permission. Google continues to assume me that it wants to do “better”. I think that doing better is a great idea, particularly when a smart assistant functions as a listening and recording device in a way that surprises a user. The original post cited above contains some nice words for Google, screenshots, and a gentle presentation of the alleged spy function. The European Union may find this device an interesting one to evaluate for privacy regulation compliance. I think “nerf” as a verb means “kill” or more colloquially “brick”; that is, the digital equivalent of shooting a horse. Alexa, what does nerfing mean? I think it means that Google is killing this “great idea”.
Stephen E Arnold, October 12, 2017
Hewlett Packard and Code Reviews: Micro Focus Policy Shift
October 12, 2017
I noted that Hewlett Packard Enterprise allowed Russia to perform a code review. The software under “review” performs some security related functions. HPE is no longer in the software business after its sale of Autonomy to Micro Focus earlier this year and the somewhat interesting hiving of the HPE Micro Focus stake to the creatively named Seattle SpinCo in August 2017.
Micro Focus, according to Reuters, announced on October 9, 2017, that it would no longer permit code reviews by what Reuters called “high risk” governments. Prompt action for a giant roll up of different companies and their technologies. Somebody at Micro Focus mashed the pedal to metal for this policy change. Maybe Micro Focus’ UK customers were less than enthusiastic about the code review than US officials?
I am not sure what to make of HPE’s action, but on the surface, it seems that Micro Focus appears to be scrambling to contain the issue.
I did a quick look at Micro Focus and turned up a number of pointers to a company called Entit Software. This is a company with which I am not familiar. Entit has a number of offices, including one which looks pretty close to Hewlett Packard in Silicon Valley.
What’s amusing about this story is that HPE seems to be executing a complex combination of the paso double combined with a down home square dance. CNBC reported that “a White House cyber official called Russian review of Pentagon software problematic.” That seems like a criticism of HPE from my vantage point in Harrod’s Creek.
Interesting executive decision making plus footprints from corporate intermediaries. Perhaps Autonomy was not the challenge for Hewlett Packard. HP may be its own storm system? Seattle SpinCo? Really? MBAs and lawyers should be more creative in my opinion.
Stephen E Arnold, October 12, 2017
Online Real Time Tracking
October 11, 2017
Online is indeed an interesting business “space.” I noted a portable GPRS GPS real time tracking locator for about $10. The features of the item include a magnet for attaching the device to a vehicle, built in microphone, and Li polymer battery. The size of the tracker is about 1.5 inches square and a half inch thick. You can find the device listed at this link. I am not sure how long this listing will be online, however. Just two years ago, this type of device was not widely available in this form factor. What are the use cases for this gizmo? Use your imagination.
Stephen E Arnold, October 11, 2017
Addicted Teens! Facebook Help Them!
October 6, 2017
I read “Teens Rebelling Against Social Media’, Say Headteachers.” Poor social media giants, one might say. Yeah, right. Real news, real facts, real phase change.
Decide for yourself.
The main point of the write up is that teens need “detox” and are embracing a cold turkey to help with withdrawl symptoms.
I noted this passage:
Chris King, chair of the HMC and Headmaster of Leicester Grammar School, said the findings were among “the first indications of a rebellion against social media”. He said they remind us that teenagers “may need help to take breaks from [social media’s] constant demands”. Some 56% of those surveyed said they were on the edge of addiction.
Hmm. Edge of addiction.
I circled this statement which was obviously based on “facts”:
Almost two-thirds of schoolchildren would not mind if social media had never been invented, research suggests.
I wonder if BBC professionals have ripped mobile devices from the addicted clutches of their own children?
Doubtful. Who wants a teen sulking and amping up the annoyance in a modern household?
Not me. Log on. Be happy. See I am not asking questions about methodology, analysis, and statistical validity. Gotta run. I have to check my social media feeds.
Stephen E Arnold, October 6, 2017
Quantum Computing: MSFT Versus Tokyo U
October 4, 2017
Quantum computing is not quite as thrilling to marketers as smart software. I noted two articles, each reporting advances in quantum computing. The first is from the folks who brought us the Windows Nokia phone. In “With New Microsoft Breakthroughs, General Purpose Quantum Computing Moves Closer to Reality,” I learned:
[Microsoft] showcased the progress it has made toward developing both a topological qubit and the ecosystem of hardware and software that will eventually allow a wide range of developers to take advantage of quantum computing’s power. That progress includes a new programming language, which is deeply integrated with Visual Studio and designed to work on both a quantum simulator and a quantum computer.
The method involves a topological method which I think means qubits are organized in a lattice. The idea is to make qubits more stable. Decoherence does not compute.
In Japan, Tokyo University professors asserted that a combination of light pulses and loop circuits would allow task switching and manipulation of the pulses. The article “University of Tokyo Pair Invent Loop-based Quantum Computing Technique” states:
Furusawa’s new approach will allow a single circuit to process more than 1 million qubits theoretically, his team said in a press release, calling it an “ultimate” quantum computing method.
Has Microsoft solved the problem? Has the Tokyo U pair prevailed? I want to wait for more tech rah rah from the Google and the myriad of other research teams trying to find a better way than Von Neumann’s.
Stephen E Arnold, October 4, 2017
Combine Humans with AI for Chatbot Success (for Now)
September 25, 2017
For once, humans are taking work from bots. The Register reports, “Dismayed by Woeful AI Chatbots, Boffins Hired Real People—And Went Back to Square One.” Today’s AI-empowered devices can seem pretty smart—as long as one sticks to the script. Until we have chatbots that can hold their own with humans in conversation, though, Chorus may give users the best of both worlds. The app taps into a human workforce through Amazon Mechanical Turk, and was developed by researchers from Carnegie Mellon, the University of Michigan, and Ariel University. A PDF of their paper can be found here. Writer Thomas Claburn reports:
It was hoped by businesses the world over that conversational software could replace face-to-face reps and people in call centers, as the machines should be far cheaper and easier to run. The problem is simply that natural language processing in software is not very good at the moment.
‘Due to the lack of fully automated methods for handling the complexity of natural language and user intent, these services are largely limited to answering a small set of common queries involving topics like weather forecasts, driving directions, finding restaurants, and similar requests,’ the paper explains. … [Researchers] devised a system that connects Google Hangouts, through a third-party framework called Hangoutsbot, with the Chorus web server, which routes queries to on-demand workers participating in Amazon Mechanical Turk.
The team acknowledges they are not the first to combine a chatbot with real people, citing the crowd-sourced app for blind iPhone users, VizWiz. Of course, employing humans brings its own set of problems. For example, they do not come equipped with an auto-timeout, and they sometimes let their emotions get the better of them. It can also be difficult to find enough workers to answer all queries quickly. Researchers see Chorus as an interim solution that, they hope, will also suggest ways to improve automated chat going forward.
Cynthia Murrell, September 25, 2017
Instagram Algorithm to Recognize Cruelty and Kindness
September 14, 2017
Instagram is using machine learning to make its platform a kinder place, we learn from the CBS News article, “How Instagram is Filtering Out Hate.” Contributor (and Wired Editor-In-Chief) Nick Thompson interviewed Instagram’s CEO Kevin Systrom, and learned the company is using about 20 humans to teach its algorithm to distinguish naughty from nice. The article relates:
Systrom has made it his mission to make kindness itself the theme of Instagram through two new phases: first, eliminating toxic comments, a feature that launched this summer; and second, elevating nice comments, which will roll out later this year. ‘Our unique situation in the world is that we have this giant community that wants to express themselves,’ Systrom said. ‘Can we have an environment where they feel comfortable to do that?’ Thompson told ‘CBS This Morning’ that the process of ‘machine learning’ involves teaching the program how to decide what comments are mean or ‘toxic’ by feeding in thousands of comments and then rating them.
It is smarter censorship if you will. Systrom seems comfortable embracing a little censorship in favor of kindness, and we sympathize; “trolls” are a real problem, after all. Still, the technology could, theoretically, be used to delete or elevate certain ideological or political content. To censor or not to censor is a fine and important line, and those who manage social media sites will be the ones who must walk it. No pressure.
Cynthia Murrell, September 14, 2017
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