Beta-Stage Video Sharing Platform BitChute Tosses Gauntlet at YouTube
March 28, 2017
The article on ITWire titled BitChute: The First Serious YouTube Competitor? touts the new video sharing platform, BitChute. Never heard of it? Don’t feel bad, neither has anyone else, it is still in the beta stage. But the article argues that BitChute’s peer-to-peer technology may make it a serious threat to YouTube. YouTube has always had the upper hand when it came to centralized servers, especially since being acquired by Google, due to its enormous resources. The article explains how BitChute may challenge YouTube,
An example of the peer-to-peer model being used to scale up online is the creation of Skype in 2003. By 2012, Skype, the first Internet telephony application to use peer-to-peer technology, had carved out a market share of more than 30%. Not only does BitChute use different technology, its principles are clearly outlined in its FAQ, in which it is revealed that the website’s existence is in response to YouTube’s failure to cater to independent content creators.
BitChute broadcasts its disruptive intentions in the FAQs, setting up a David and Goliath archetype. YouTube’s strike system, which goes by the honor code more than anything else, alongside its history of demonetization of advertisements, plays directly into the hands of a company like BitChute. The startup calls for freedom of expression, decentralization, and customized pairings for monetization.
Chelsea Kerwin, March 28, 2017
HonkinNews Special Report for 28 March 2017
March 28, 2017
This week’s HonkinNews (https://youtu.be/N9-1LFnJW8A) provides information about Stephen E Arnold’s new report Dark Web Notebook: Investigative Tools and Tactics for Law Enforcement, Security and Intelligence Organizations. The video presents a six minute summary of the 10 sections of the Notebook, the appendices, and information about purchasing. The program contains several important announcements related to his Dark Web work:
- He is making a return to live, in person lectures at law enforcement and intelligence conferences. Information is at Techno Security & Digital Forensics Conference, June 4-7, 2017.
- He is announcing the his Dark Web Basics lecture and his Dark Web Vendor Systems lectures have been updated to include important techniques and law enforcement and intelligence software
- A live tutorial is available. Attendees may bring their own Windows laptop. Stephen provides each hands on tutorial attendee with [a] an untraceable prepaid debit card, [b] a clean email address not linked to the tutorial user, [c] prepaid hotspot connectivity via Karma, O2, and T-Mobile, a USB key preloaded and bootable with TAILS and support software.
- He is making the Dark Web Notebook available at a special pre-publication price of $99, regular price $149.
HonkinNews reveals that Stephen E Arnold’s three hour, hands on tutorial for Dark Web access via TAILS, live access to selected Dark Web sites, and the procedure for acquiring Bitcoin without revealing an investigator’s identify will be presented. Attendees for this session must have proof that they are engaged in active investigations and intelligence work.
The video explains the scope of the Dark Web Notebook and highlights several aspects of the book which make it useful for those engaged in an active investigation or intelligence operation; for example, how to obtain an untraceable identity when best practices are followed, the method for obtaining specific information about Dark Web sites engaged in unlawful activities, and cleared third-party vendors able to provide Dark Web services for operations. Vendors are on procurement schedules such as GSA or DSA, among others.
The video walks through each section’s content and appendices. This week’s program explains that for individuals or organizations not part of a government entity, on-site tutorials, webinars, and formal training programs are available from Stephen E Arnold and the Dark Web Notebook team.
The video also announces that Stephen E Arnold will be lecturing and conducting training classes at the upcoming Techno Security & Digital Forensics Conference, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The program is available at www.technosecurity.us.
I have seen the video, and it is clear that Stephen’s presentations will be a popular part of the program at the conference. The information in the Dark Web Notebook is likely to be of interest because it provides recipes for Dark Web access, use of specialized software, and identify protection. The video includes urls and email addresses for those who are interested in attending his lectures in Myrtle Beach in June 2017 or in arranging a program for a specific audience.
You can access the video at this link: https://youtu.be/N9-1LFnJW8A
Kenny Toth, March 28, 2017
Now Online: HonkinNews for 14 March 2017
March 14, 2017
HonkinNews for March 7, 2017 Now Available
March 7, 2017
The March 7, 2017, HonkinNews explains how to make bad data better. Curious about this type of digital magic? We report that one expert believes one just adds more data. The result is that a data lake becomes crystal clear. Believe it or not. Fake news and fake research may be more widespread than some believe. One well respected academic reports that often rejected research will get published. The author just needs to be persistent. Google may have a competitor which believes it can become the king of search. The proud owners of Qwant, a search system based on Pertimm technology, perceive the GOOG as vulnerable. With more than 95 percent of Web search traffic from France and Germany flowing to Google, we are not sure if Qwant realizes that Quaero tried this play and failed to get a first down. Did you know that one search wizard believes that Google’s PageRank system is like a soccer game? We sure didn’t. We red carded this explanation. Hewlett Packard Enterprise seems to be emulating IBM’s financial trajectory. Indicators are down. And Yahoo is making headlines once again. The person responsible for the security lapses and the failure of the company to manage the situation is revealed. Tune in to find out who won the purple plastic ring at the carnival. The video is at this link.
Ken Toth, March 7, 2017
HonkinNews for 28 Feb 2017 Now Available
February 28, 2017
This week’s HonkinNews considers the Facebook “manifesto.” Our interpretation is that companies like Facebook are countries too. Aren’t we lucky? The IBM security conference is scheduled for March 2017 and Beyond Search was invited. We assume that the data science root access breach will be one highlighted case study. The program also comments on the Pinterest Lens technology. Now after “pintering”, one can locate and buy a product. No words required. Two stories illustrate the depth or shallowness of thinking about online research. We present a list of “must use” search engines and note some notable omissions. Then we consider a comparison of conducting research on an ad supported system versus the commercial databases, books, and journals at a first-rate research library like Dartmouth’s. The subject of Google’s Loon balloons drifts in as well. We consider the question: Will Facebook free Internet drones engage in combat with Google’s free Internet Loon balloons? You can find it at this link.
Kenny Toth, February 28, 2017
HonkinNews for 21 February Now Available
February 21, 2017
Hang onto your lightweight mobile. HonkinNews lets you watch recall, precision, and relevance being kicked to pieces by a real live SEO expert and famed author. We love that “famed” thing. You will also get a peek at how to visualize innovation. Inside the box and outside the box look tame compared to our view of the real world. We give you a tip for searching for an image in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 350,000 digital collection. You may not like the answer. We did not. If you have a mainframe in your home office, you can load Watson and let it index your significant other’s recipes, or you can process a local bank’s overnight cash transactions. Either way, IBM gives you some Watson juice. And you will get a bit of information about Yahoo’s most recent security issue. Yep, yabba dabba hoot.
Kenny Toth, February 21, 2017
Gender Bias in Voice Recognition Software
February 21, 2017
A recent study seems to confirm what some have suspected: “Research Shows Gender Bias in Google’s Voice Recognition,” reports the Daily Dot. Not that this is anything new. Writer Selena Larson reminds us that voice recognition tech has a history of understanding men better than women, from a medical tracking system to voice-operated cars. She cites a recent study by linguist researcher Rachael Tatman, who found that YouTube’s auto captions performed better on male voices than female ones by about 13 percent—no small discrepancy. (YouTube is owned by Google.)
Though no one is accusing the tech industry of purposely rendering female voices less effective, developers probably could have avoided this problem with some forethought. The article explains:
’Language varies in systematic ways depending on how you’re talking,’ Tatman said in an interview. Differences could be based on gender, dialect, and other geographic and physical attributes that factor into how our voices sound. To train speech recognition software, developers use large datasets, either recorded on their own, or provided by other linguistic researchers. And sometimes, these datasets don’t include diverse speakers.
Tatman recommends a purposeful and organized approach to remedying the situation. Larson continues:
Tatman said the best first step to address issues in voice tech bias would be to build training sets that are stratified. Equal numbers of genders, different races, socioeconomic statuses, and dialects should be included, she said.
Automated technology is developed by humans, so our human biases can seep into the software and tools we are creating to supposedly to make lives easier. But when systems fail to account for human bias, the results can be unfair and potentially harmful to groups underrepresented in the field in which these systems are built.
Indeed, that’s the way bias works most of the time—it is more often the result of neglect than of malice. To avoid it requires realizing there may be a problem in the first place, and working to avoid it from the outset. I wonder what other technologies could benefit from that understanding.
Cynthia Murrell, February 21, 2017
HonkinNews for 14 February 2017 Now Available
February 14, 2017
Want some tax love? HonkinNews explains that you can visit an H&R Block store front and “touch” IBM Watson. Sounds inviting, doesn’t it? You will also learn about the fate of Lexmark’s search and content businesses under the firm’s new ownership. Denmark has appointed an ambassador to Sillycon Valley. Perhaps Apple, Facebook, and Google really are nation states? Google’s cloud wizard has some job advice for the newly terminated. Perhaps dog training collars are a breakthrough for those eager to acquire news skills. Lucid Imagination became Lucidworks. Now the company has positioned itself to deliver Exalead style search based applications. The play did not work too well for Exalead, which wrote the book about SBAs. Will Lucidworks make the me-too strategy pay off for the company’s backers and their tens of millions of dollars? We also catalog the many ways to search using the Pixel phone. Whatever happened to universal search? We reveal where to live if you want easy access to old fashioned book stores. No, it is not Harrod’s Creek, Kentucky. You can view the video at this link.
Kenny Toth, February 14, 2017
HonkinNews for 7 February 2017 Now Available
February 7, 2017
This week’s program highlights Google’s pre school and K-3 robot innovation from Boston Dynamics. In June 2016 we thought Toyota was purchasing the robot reindeer company. We think Boston Dynamics may still be part of the Alphabet letter set. Also, curious about search vendor pivots. Learn about two shuffles (Composite Software and CopperEye) which underscore why plain old search is a tough market. You will learn about the Alexa Conference and the winner of the Alexathon. Alexa seems to be a semi hot product. When will we move “beyond Alexa”? Social media analysis has strategic value? What vendor seems to have provided “inputs” to the Trump campaign and the Brexit now crowd? HonkinNews reveals the hot outfit making social media data output slick moves. We provide a run down of some semantic “news” which found its way to Harrod’s Creek. SEO, writing tips, and a semantic scorecard illustrate the enthusiasm some have for semantics. We’re not that enthusiastic, however. Google is reducing its losses from its big bets like the Loon balloon. How much? We reveal the savings, and it is a surprising number. And those fun and friendly robots. Yes, the robots. You can view the video at this link. Google Video provides a complete run down of the HonkinNews programs too. Just search for HonkinNews.
Kenny Toth, February 7, 2017
Synthetic Datasets: Reality Bytes
February 5, 2017
Years ago I did a project for an outfit specializing in an esoteric math space based on mereology. No, I won’t define it. You can check out the explanation in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The idea is that sparse information can yield useful insights. Even better, if mathematical methods were use to populate missing cells in a data system, one could analyze the data as if it were more than probability generated items. Then when real time data arrived to populate the sparse cells, the probability component would generate revised data for the cells without data. Nifty idea, just tough to explain to outfits struggling to move freight or sell off lease autos.
I thought of this company’s software system when I read “Synthetic Datasets Are a Game Changer.” Once again youthful wizards happily invent the future even though some of the systems and methods have been around for decades. For more information about the approach, the journal articles and books of Dr. Zbigniew Michaelewicz may be helpful.
The “Synthetic Databases…” write up triggered some yellow highlighter activity. I found this statement interesting:
Google researchers went as far as to say that even mediocre algorithms received state-of-the-art results given enough data.
The idea that algorithms can output “good enough” results when volumes of data are available to the number munching algorithms.
I also noted:
there are recent successes using a new technique called ‘synthetic datasets’ that could see us overcome those limitations. This new type of dataset consists of images and videos that are solely rendered by computers based on various parameters or scenarios. The process through which those datasets are created fall into 2 categories: Photo realistic rendering and Scenario rendering for lack of better description.
The focus here is not on figuring out how to move nuclear fuel rods around a reactor core or adjusting coal fired power plant outputs to minimize air pollution. The synthetic databases have an application in image related disciplines.
The idea of using rendering engines to create images for facial recognition or for video games is interesting. The write up mentions a number of companies pushing forward in this field; for example, Cvedia.
However, the use of NuTech’s methods populated databases of fact. I think the use of synthetic methods has a bright future. Oh, NuTech was acquired by Netezza. Guess what company owns the prescient NuTech Solutions’ technology? Give up? IBM, a company which has potent capabilities but does the most unusual things with those important systems and methods.
I suppose that is one reason why old wine looks like new IBM Holiday Spirit rum.
Stephen E Arnold, February 5, 2017
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