Object Detection AI Offers Deal
August 13, 2020
Object detection AI are currently big projects in the technology community. AI developers are teaching computers using large datasets how to learn and reason like a human infant. It his hard to imagine that AI object detection software is available for consumers, but Product Hunt recently ranked Priceless AI as a number one product of the day.
Priceless AI describes itself as an, “‘all-you-can-eat’ image object detection at a fixed monthly price.” What is astonishing is how cheap Priceless AI is compared to its counterparts AWS Rekognition and Google Cloud Vision. AWS Rekognition starts at $5/month for 10,000 monthly predictions heading all the way to $8,200 for 10,000,000 images predictions. Google Cloud Vision, on the other hand, starts at $20 then goes up to $18,700. These prices are outrageous when Priceless AI stays at a simple $99 for any amount of image predictions a month.
How can they do this?
“How do you offer such a cheaper alternative to AWS Rekognition and Google Cloud Vision?
We do clever low-level optimization allowing us to make a more efficient use of the hardware.”
Priceless AI allows its customers to have more than one concurrent request and they can be used on as many clients/devices as wanted. The devices/clients need to be synchronized, because only the number of concurrent purchases are allowed.
Priceless AI wants to be as transparent as possible with customers, but they do keep some things secret:
“What model are you using to run object detection?
We can’t disclose the exact model, but we can tell you it’s a state-of-the-art deep convolutional neural network.”
Companies do need to try to keep the their secrets.
Whitney Grace, August 13, 2020
DarkCyber for August 11, 2020, Now Available
August 11, 2020
DarkCyber is a video news program about the Dark Web, cyber crime, and lesser known Internet services. The program for August 11, 2020, covers four stories. This week’s program is available on YouTube at this link. [Note below]
Stephen E Arnold, the producer of DarkCyber, illustrates how to jam Alexa’s surveillance components. When a white noise is not enough, Arnold points to a Web site which sells a wide array of jamming equipment. The video features a diagram of how a jamming device can disrupt mobile signals, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth from a vehicle. If a basic mobile jammer is not suitable, Arnold provides information about a military-grade detection and jamming device with a comprehensive kill chain subsystem. Arnold reminds the viewer that use of some jamming devices can have unexpected consequences.
The second story addresses the TikTok dust up between the US and China. Arnold focuses on the trivializing of the TikTok threat by pundits. These individuals, in Arnold’s opinion, are not assessing the social engineering risks posed by a TikTok-type service. Data from a consumer app can pinpoint an individual who may be susceptible to cash inducements or threats to compromise the security of a workplace. TikTok videos may be silly, but the operators of the services are unlikely to be blind to the value of the data and its utility.
The third story considers iPhone hacking. Software, available via the regular Web, promises to hack an iPhone. If that approach does not work, there are hackers advertising iPhone hacking on the regular Internet. But what if the hack requires more aggressiveness? Arnold provides a link to a Dark Web site which makes clear that its operator will do anything for money. Can the iPhone be hacked? That depends on one’s willingness to believe information published on the Internet.
The final story focuses on the August 2020 Interpol report about cyber crime in the time of Covid. The report is available without charge, and its findings echo those of speakers at the 2020 National Cyber Crime Conference, held in July 2020. Arnold provides the url from which the new report can be downloaded without charge.
I wanted to point out that we will no longer post a copy of the video on Vimeo. That company sent an email demanding that Stephen E Arnold upgrade to a Pro account. Instead of saying, “We are raising prices,” Vimeo threatened Arnold with termination of his account because the free DarkCyber video is a commercial enterprise. Arnold wrote Vimeo twice pointing out that he retired in 2013, produces the video without financial support or sponsorship, and makes the content available to anyone interested in the Dark Web, cybercrime, and lesser known Internet services. Arnold told me,
“Millennial marketers at Vimeo thinks it is doing its job by making false accusations and then ignoring respectful questions about the fee change. Cancel culture to Vimeo, ‘You are history. This is your termination notice.’
We will give Facebook a whirl and include that url if the service allows easy access with a minimum of invasive surveillance, pop ups, and targeted advertising for WhatsApp.
Kenny Toth, August 11, 2020
TikTok: Our Way or the Huawei
August 4, 2020
Excitement ahead. There’s nothing like the Rona and a financial crisis to catch attention. But these may be also ran topics if the trade tension between China and the US is cranked up.
“China Accuses US of Outright Bullying over TikTok” reports that Wang Wenbin (Chinese official) allegedly said:
“The US, without providing any evidence, has been using an abused concept of national security… unjustifiably suppressing certain non-US companies.”
To add some zest, President Trump wants Microsoft to know that its okay to buy TikTok comes with a price tag? The figures are not available. Whatever the amount, a piece of the action goes to the US government.
That angle is likely to put some on edge. Yep, it seems that the US wants one way or its the Huawei for the only app in several years which may have a chance to generate traction in the wonderlands of Facebook and YouTube.
Stephen E Arnold, August 4, 2020
Twitch: Semantic Search Stream to Lure Gamers, Trolls, and Gals?
July 31, 2020
Amazon Twitch may be more versatile than providing the young at heart with hours of sophisticated content. There are electronic games, trolls (lots of trolls armed with weird icons), and what appear to be females.
Now Twitch will be moving along the content spectrum with the addition of a stream about semgrep. If you are not on a first name basis, semgrep is a semantic search thing. You can join in for free, no waiting rooms, and no big technical hurdles. I suppose one could create a lecture about semantic methods in TikTok 30-second videos which might be a first for the non-invasive, controversial app. Nah, go for Twitch. Skip YouTube and Facebook. Go Bezos bulldozer.
Navigate to https://twitch.tv and go to the jeanqasaur stream. The time on July 31, 2020? The show begins at 4 pm US Eastern time.
The program is definitely perceived by some as super important. A motivated semantic wizard posted a message on the TweetedTimes.com semantic page. Here’s what the message looks like:
DarkCyber’s suggestions:
- Do not become distracted by Raj recruiting, Bad Bunny, or Celestial Fitness. Keep your eye on the grep as it were.
- Sign up because Amazon wants you to be part of the family. Prime members may receive extra Bezos bucks somewhere down the line
- Exercise good grammar, be respectful, and keep your clothes on. Twitch banned SweetSaltyPeach who reinvented herself as RachelKay, Web developer, fashion model, and gamer icon. You may have to reincarnate yourself too.
- Avoid the lure of Animal Crossing Arabia II.
Stephen E Arnold, July 31, 2020
DarkCyber for July 28, 2020, Now Available
July 28, 2020
The July 28, 2020, DarkCyber is now available. You can view the program on YouTube or on Vimeo.
DarkCyber reports about online, cyber crime, and lesser known Internet services. The July 28, 2020, program includes six stories. First, DarkCyber explains how the miniaturized surveillance device suitable for mounting on an insect moves its camera. With further miniaturization, a new type of drone swarm becomes practical. Second, DarkCyber explains that the value of a stolen personal financial instrument costs little. The vendors guarantee 80 percent success rate on their stolen personally identifiable information or fullz. Third, SIM card limits are in place in South Africa. Will such restrictions on the number of mobile SIM cards spread to other countries or are the limits already in place, just not understood. Fourth, Coinbase bought a bitcoin deanonymization company. Then Coinbase licensed the technology to the US Secret Service. Twitter denizens were not amused. Fifth, Microsoft released a road map to a specific type of malware. Then two years later the story was picked up, further disseminating what amounts to a how to. DarkCyber explains where to download the original document. The final story presents DarkCyber’s view of the management lapses which made the Twitter hack a reality. Adult management is now imperative at the social media company doing its best to create challenges for those who value civil discourse and an intact social fabric.
The delay between our June 9, 2020, video about artificial intelligence composing “real” music and today’s program is easy to explain. Stephen E Arnold, the 76 year old wobbling through life, had the DarkCyber and Beyond Search team working on his three presentations at the US National Cyber Crime Conference. These programs are available via the NCC contact point in the Massachusetts’ Attorney General Office.
The three lectures were:
- Amazon policeware, which we pre-recorded in the DarkCyber format
- A live lecture about investigative software
- A live lecture about Dark Web trends in 2020.
Based on data available to the DarkCyber team, the septuagenarian reached about 500 of the 2000 attendees. Go figure.
Kenny Toth, July 28, 2020
Zoom, Zoom, Meet, Meet, and Trust, Well?
July 24, 2020
We evolved to be social creatures—long, long before Zoom or MS Teams existed. That is why, as Canada’s CBC declares, “Video Chats Short Circuit a Brain Function Essential for Trust—and That’s Bad for Business.” Journalist Don Pittis writes:
“Canadian research on ‘computer-mediated communication,’ begun long before the current lockdown, shows video chat is an inadequate substitute for real-life interaction. The real thing, dependent on non-verbal cues, is extraordinarily more effective in creating rapport and getting ideas across. Not only that, but the familiarity and trust we currently feel with coworkers during the lockdown’s remote calls rests on connections remembered from back when we sat at a nearby desk or met for lunch. As the lockdown stretches out and the mix of colleagues changes, it may be almost impossible to establish healthy trusting working relationships using remote video chat tools alone. That’s bad for business, said organizational behavior specialist Mahdi Roghanizad from Ryerson University’s Ted Rogers School of Business. The reason: getting a good reading on your fellow workers has been repeatedly shown to be essential for business efficiency, reaching common goals and establishing trust. It is why teams that worked remotely even before the pandemic lockdown always met periodically in person. The latest research shows human-to-human bonding is like a kind of intuitive magic.”
Researchers suggest several reasons for this “magic,” including pheromones, body language, and in-person eye contact. Some have found it is harder to detect when someone is lying across video. One social scientist, the University of Waterloo’s Frances Westley, likens video chat to talking with someone wearing sunglasses—it is less satisfying, and can even sap our energy.
For all these reasons, Pittis suspects the supposed work-from-home “revolution” may not last, as many had predicted. Businesses may find it more productive to summon workers back to the office once the danger is gone. In the meantime, Westley suggests, we should reinforce connections with the occasional (socially distanced, mask-augmented) in-person conversation.
Cynthia Murrell, July 24, 2020
Untangling Streaming: Responses to a Huge Web Search Fail
July 22, 2020
More and more users rely on a patchwork of internet streaming services for their video entertainment. Anyone who subscribes to several of these knows the time-wasting tedium of combing through different menus, each with a different UI, just to find something to watch. With even more proprietary streaming services on the horizon, it seems that problem is poised to grow. However, there are at least two apps that provide viable solutions—Reelgood and JustWatch. “These Two Underdog Apps Have Solved Streaming TV’s Biggest Headache,” Fast Company observes. Writer Jared Newman reports:
“Instead of making you bounce between disparate apps, both services can tell you what’s available on practically any streaming service. You can then add movies and shows to a watch list, get more suggestions based on your viewing habits, and even load their apps on your television to use as a centralized streaming menu. Compared to the app overload of most streaming devices, the universal guides offered by JustWatch and Reelgood seem like the ideal way to watch TV in the streaming era.”
Sounds helpful. But why does it take “underdog” apps to do what common sense suggests devices like Roku and Amazon Fire TV should already offer? There are several business reasons, we’re told, like Netflix’s resistance to the aggregation of its content or the fact that streaming services pay for placement on those platforms. As for Reelgood and JustWatch, they each have their own business models. It comes as no surprise that each involves user data. Newman writes:
“JustWatch says that … about 70% of its revenue comes from targeting users with movie trailers based on their viewing habits. For every movie or TV show users click on, JustWatch builds up a taste profile, then separates users into anonymized groups based on what they might like. Movie studios such as Universal and Paramount then give JustWatch a budget to target users with relevant video trailers on sites like Facebook and YouTube. … Reelgood, meanwhile, started from more of a Silicon Valley mindset of building up the product first and finding ways to monetize it later. Sanderson, a former ad product manager at Facebook, initially thought that would take the shape of recommendation-style targeted ads within the service, but lately the company’s been leaning more into selling access to its data.”
See the write-up for more on the business considerations and plans for each of these entities, big and small. There are other notable players in this arena, including TV Time, Simkl, Watchworthy, Wander, and VUniverse. It will be interesting to see where the market, and the technology, go from here.
Cynthia Murrell, July 22, 2020
Google, TikTok, and Seriousness
July 15, 2020
Short form video is in the news. TikTok captivates millions of eyeballs. Many of these eyeballs belong to Americans. Most of these Americans choose not to understand several nuances of “free” 30 second videos created, transmitted, viewed, and forwarded via a mobile device; to wit:
- Software for mobile phones can covertly or overtly suck up data and send those data to a control node
- Those data can be cross correlated in order to yield useful insights about the activities, preferences, and information flowing into and out of a mobile device equipped with an application. Maybe TikTok does this too?
- Those digital data can be made available to third parties; for example, advertising analytics vendors and possibly, just maybe, a country’s intelligence services.
The Information published one of those “we can’t tell you where we got these data but by golly this stuff is rock solid” stories. This one is called “TikTok Agreed to Buy More Than $800 Million in Cloud Services From Google.” Let’s assume that this story about the Google TikTok deal is indeed accurate. We learn:
Last week, though, word surfaced of a buzzy new customer for Google Cloud—TikTok, the app for sharing short videos that is the year’s runaway social media hit. The deal is a lucrative one for Google Cloud, The Information has learned. In a three-year agreement signed in May 2019, TikTok committed to buying more than $800 million of cloud services from Google over that period…
What’s with the Google? Great or lousy business judgment? Does Google’s approach to a juicy deal include substantial discounts in order to get cash in the door? Is the deal another attempt by the Google to get at least some of the China market which it masterfully mishandled by advising the Chinese government to change its ways?
Nope. The new Google wants to grow by locking down multi year contracts. The belief is that these “big deals” will give the Google Cloud the protein shake muscles needed to deal with the Microsofties and the Bezos bulldozer.
New management, new thinking at the GOOG, and there will be more of the newness revealed with each tweak of a two decades old “system.”
At the same time as the Information “real” news story arrived in the DarkCyber news center, a pundit published MBA type write up popped into our “real news” folder. This write up is “The TikTok War.”
Unlike the Information’s story, the Stratechery essay is MBA consultant speak, which is different from “real news.” The point of the 3,900 word consultant report is:
I believe it is time to take China seriously and literally…
There you go: An MBA consulting revelation. One should take China seriously and literally.
Okay. Insight. Timely. Incisive.
From this conclusion, TikTok’s service is no longer appropriate in the US. Banning is probably a super duper idea if I understand the TikTok War. (How does one fight a war by banning digital information? Oh, well, irrelevant question. What’s that truism about ostriches putting their heads in the sand? Also irrelevant.)
Let’s step back and put these two different TikTok articles in a larger context.
The Information wants everyone to know that a mysterious “source” has said that Google has a three year deal with TikTok. This is a surprise? Nope. Google is on the hunt for cash because after Google’s own missteps, it is faced with hard to control costs and some real live “just like Google” competitors; namely, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Netflix. There’s also the mounting challenges of political and social annoyances to add some spice to the Googlers’ day.
The MBA consultant analysis points out that China has to be taken seriously. Prior to TikTok, China was not taken seriously? I suppose TikTok is the catalyst for seriousness. More likely, the TikTok thing evokes MBA consultant outputs to confirm what many people sort of intuit but have not been able to sum up with a “now is the time” utterance.
In my lecture yesterday for the National Cyber Crime Conference, I presented a diagram of how Chinese telecommunications and software systems can exfiltrate information with or without TikTok.
Banning an app is another one of those “Wow, the barn burned and Alibaba built a giant data center where the Milking Shorthorns once stood” moments.
Sourceless revelations about Google’s willingness to offer a deal to a China centric TikTok and MBA consultant revelations that one should take China seriously warrants one response: The ship sailed, returned, built a giant digital port, and has refueled for a return journey. Ban away.
Stephen E Arnold, July 15, 2020
How Many Ads Can a YouTube Video Hold? Answer: Never Enough
July 10, 2020
We spotted a HackerNews post wondering if the YouTube (free version) was getting more ad love from the merrie band of Googlers.
The answer is, “Absolutely.”
The Google bean counters are well aware of the cost of the “free” video service. Thus, the free video service has to generate cash and more cash so the system can produce infinite cash. That’s logical in a Googley way I think.
In the comments to the original question on HackerNews, an entity named Operyl wrote:
If I understand correctly from a friend, the problem is YouTubers (and YouTube/Google) are currently making _much less_ money per ad. It sounds like more are getting shoved per video to make up for it (iirc, it’s up to YouTube to determine this?).
I don’t know what iirc means, but the rest of the post is clear. More money is needed.
Observations:
- YouTube ads are more and more annoying. The fix obviously is to pay Google money. Most of the annoying ads go away. Google is discovering subscriptions. Undoubtedly Google will think subscription revenues for other services just like BMW and its heated steering wheel stroke of genius. German logic, of course. Ever read Kant? Congruent indeed.
- The YouTube ads are increasingly irrelevant when I check out some YouTube videos. I love the tours of the Incan ruins. Ads about all sorts of things unrelated to Peruvian stone work appear. Therefore, the famous smart algorithm is just spewing ads to burn up inventory is one thought which crossed my mind.
- The autoplay of post viewing content are interesting as well. How many of those ads are viewed BEFORE the YouTube user identifies which tab is playing the pitch to go Adobe? My hunch. Zero if these startled views are like me.
Net net: Those grousing about Google’s monetization quest have not seen anything yet. Why? The cost hole for the Google is probably close to infinite as long as there are former TikTok users looking for a home. Infinite costs can only be offset by infinite revenue. That too is logic worthy of a Google flashing logo pin.
Stephen E Arnold, July 9, 2020
YouTube Deletes Raw Videos of Aged Electronics Repair
July 9, 2020
A loyal fan of DarkCyber sent me a link to a video called “Youtube DELETED Jordan Pier’s Electronics Repair Channel!” For those hip to the zippity dippity world of Silicon Valley and Googley decisions, the decision makes perfect and logical sense.
Jordan Pier and his disgusting old electronics represent the past which must be removed. I think of vintage electronics in the same terms I frame statues of people whose names I don’t know.
Imagine. Rip open a wooden box. Expose disgusting and old fashioned capacitors. Wires have fabric on them some time. Bare wires should be sealed in epoxy so an independent repair person can just watch YouTube videos, not make them.
DarkCyber understands that digital and unrepairable electronics are the future. What if your beloved smart Pixel phone goes to the digital grave yard. Throw it out. Don’t even think about repairing that device or your MacBook Air or your friend’s father’s John Deere tractor.
Take those offensive repair videos down. Snuff out information about the past. Stalin would be proud. Naked electronics require revisionist action.
Stephen E Arnold, July 8, 2020
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