Court Case Hunger? Judyrecords Is Available
November 24, 2020
Unable to pay the fee for LexisNexis-type commercial search systems? You are not alone. If you want information from court records, navigate to Judyrecords. Within the last couple of months, the system has added more than 35 million cases. Aren’t these data available for free elsewhere? Sure, if you like going through hoops like verification procedures. Judyrecords lets a user plug in the names of entities and view results. I ran one of my go to queries: “Palantir IBM.” Here are the results:
This may not be important to you, but for those who have to wade through for fee legal search systems, Judyrecords is helpful. But for how long? Yes, that is a good question. For now, however, give it a whirl. Keep in mind that US court systems without online technology or special arrangements for document access prevent the system from being comprehensive. Lawyers enjoy results which must be checked by billable professionals, however.
Stephen E Arnold, November 23, 2020
Soros: Just in Time 20-20 Hindsight
November 18, 2020
Here’s an interesting quote (if it is indeed accurate):
SFM [a George Soros financial structure] made this investment [in Palantir Technologies] at a time when the negative social consequences of big data were less understood,” the firm said in a statement Tuesday. SFM would not make an investment in Palantir today.
The investment concerns Palantir Technologies. George Soros, who is 90 years young, according to “Soros Regrets Early Investment in Peter Thiel’s Palantir,” includes this statement:
Soros has sold all the shares it’s permitted to sell at this time and will keep selling, according to the statement. “SFM does not approve of Palantir’s business practices,” the firm said.
Hindsight is 20-20. Or is it?
Hindsight bias can cause memory distortion. Because the event happened like you thought it would, you go back and revise your memory of what you were thinking right before the event. You re-write history, so to speak, and revise the probability in hindsight. Going forward, you use that new, higher probability to make future decisions. When in fact, the probabilities haven’t changed at all. That leads to poor judgment.—“Innovators: Beware the Hindsight Bias”
Stephen E Arnold, November 18, 2020
Exclusive: Interview with DataWalk’s Chief Analytics Officer Chris Westphal, Who Guides an Analytics Rocket Ship
October 21, 2020
I spoke with Chris Westphal, Chief Analytics Officer for DataWalk about the company’s string of recent contract “wins.” These range from commercial engagements to heavy lifting for the US Department of Justice.
Chris Westphal, founder of Visual Analytics (acquired by Raytheon) brings his one-click approach to advanced analytics.
The firm provides what I have described as an intelware solution. DataWalk ingests data and outputs actionable reports. The company has leap-frogged a number of investigative solutions, including IBM’s Analyst’s Notebook and the much-hyped Palantir Technologies’ Gotham products. This interview took place in a Covid compliant way. In my previous Chris Westphal interviews, we met at intelligence or law enforcement conferences. Now the experience is virtual, but as interesting and information in July 2019. In my most recent interview with Mr. Westphal, I sought to get more information on what’s causing DataWalk to make some competitors take notice of the company and its use of smart software to deliver what customers want: Results, not PowerPoint presentations and promises. We spoke on October 8, 2020.
DataWalk is an advanced analytics tool with several important innovations. On one hand, the company’s information processing system performs IBM i2 Analyst’s Notebook and Palantir Gotham type functions — just with a more sophisticated and intuitive interface. On the other hand, Westphal’s vision for advanced analytics has moved past what he accomplished with his previous venture Visual Analytics. Raytheon bought that company in 2013. Mr. Westphal has turned his attention to DataWalk. The full text of our conversation appears below.
Xoogler Awakes to a Reality: How about That?
August 30, 2020
Navigate to “Eric Schmidt: China Could Be AI’s Superpower If We Don’t Act Now.” The point of the write up seems to be to overlook the obvious. Mr. Schmidt was the “adult” at Google. He is now the technical advisor to the board of Alphabet where he was formerly the executive chairman. As executive chairman, he was responsible for the external matters of all of the holding company’s businesses, including Google Inc., advising their CEOs and leadership on business and policy issues.
Based on the information in the article, he seems to be going into full pundit mode.
Google and China. Advisor to Alphabet’s Board. Yep, telling the US China could be a leader in artificial intelligence. Perfect for 2020, a year of novelties.
I want to point out that an AI hot spot in China is Tsinghua University. This means that if the information in “Tsinghua University Plans to Open AI Research Center in China, Names Google’s AI Chief as Advisor” is accurate, Mr. Schmidt may want to focus on sending his message directly to Google.
The interview is just about as 2020 as Palantir’s insistence that it is not a Silicon Valley type outfit.
Yes, 2020. A good year for insights and interesting information.
Oh, Jeff Dean? He’s one of the serious engineers at the Google. BigTable, Chubby, and more, particularly in the smart software realm. Perhaps he is advising Tsinghua University on recipes, once an interest of the person who may be the smartest Googler in the collection of wizards.
This AI thing. Is Google helping out China in its AI efforts? Good question. Maybe a Sillycon Valley journalist will do some investigative reporting? Nah, it’s 2020. Redefine reality.
Stephen E Arnold, August 30, 2020
Policeware Marketing: Medium Blog Post a Preferred Channel
May 27, 2020
Just a short note. Sintelix, a developer of policeware, published a white paper called “Sintelix – The Text Intelligence Solution.” The document is available on Medium, a popular publishing platform. The white paper / product description is about 1,500 words in length. The article contains illustrations, diagrams, and lists. One of the DarkCyber team said, “It reads like a product brochure.” I thought the information was useful. The Sintelix decision to use Medium is one additional example of the stepped up marketing policeware and intelware vendors are taking. Shadowdragon is using Twitter to promote its policeware system. Palantir Technologies’ CEO has used public forums and video to explain use cases for its investigative and analytic system. LookingGlass has moved forward with online demonstrations and webinars for potential licensees of its cyber system.
Observations:
- Tradition has dictated that vendors of specialized services developed for law enforcement and intelligence agencies market via personal contacts or restricted/classified events. The fierce competition for available government contracts may be forcing a change.
- Face-to-face events like breakfasts, brown bag presentations, and lectures for LE and intel professionals may be difficult to supplement with online-only initiatives. Plus, there is the danger of webinar fatigue or the sign up and no show problem. Security is also a consideration because some attendees may not be whom they purport to be on registration form.
- Expanded visibility like that achieved by NSO Group may have unexpected consequences. Some government procurement processes shy away from high-profile vendors. As a result, obtaining information about the activities of a Leidos, for example, is difficult. Increased visibility may repel some potential customers.
The shift in marketing, no matter how minor, is important. The downstream consequences of visibility are difficult to predict because conference organizers, procurement processes, customers who prefer face-to-face interactions, and similar pre Rona methods may no longer work as well.
Stephen E Arnold, May 27, 2020
AWS Kendra: A Somewhat Elastic Approach to Enterprise Search
May 12, 2020
Elastic, Shay Banon’s Version 2 of Compass, has a hurdle to jump over. Elasticsearch has been a success. The Lucene-centric “system” which some call ELK has become a go-to solution for many developers. Like Lucidworks (It does?) and many other “enterprise search and more” vendors, Elasticsearch delivers information retrieval without the handcuffs of options like good old STAIRS III or Autonomy’s neuro-linguistic black box.
Amazon took notice and has effectively rolled out its own version of enterprise search based on … wait for it … the open source version of Elastic’s Elasticsearch. The service has been around since Amazon hired some of the Lucidworks (It does?) engineers more than five years ago after frustration with the revolving doors at that firm became too much even by Silicon Valley standards. Talk about tension. Yebo!
Amazon has reinvented Elasticsearch. The same process the Bezos bulldozer has used for other open source software has been in process for more than 60 months. Like the system’s Playboy bunny namesake, Kendra has a few beauty lines in her AWS exterior.
A tweak here (access to Amazon’s smart software) and a tweak there (Amazon AWS pricing methods), and the “new” product is ready for prime time, ready for a beauty contest against other contestants in the most beautiful IR system in the digital world.
“Amazon Launches Cognitive Search Service Kendra in General Availability” reports:
Once configured through the AWS Console, Kendra leverages connectors to unify and index previously disparate sources of information (from file systems, websites, SharePoint, OneDrive, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Amazon Simple Storage Service, relational databases, and elsewhere).
Does this sound like federated search or the Palantir Gotham approach to content?
Well, yes.
The reason is that most enterprise search vendors like Coveo, Attivio, X1, IBM Omnifind (also built on Lucene), and dozens of other systems make the same claims.
The reality is that these systems do not have the bits and pieces available within a giant cloud platform with quite a few graduates of an Amazon AWS training program ready to plug in the AWS solution. For example, if a government agency wants the search in Palantir, no problem. Palantir deploys on AWS. But if that government agency wants to use Amazon’s policeware services and include search, there’s Kendra.
You can get a free copy of the DarkCyber Amazon policeware report’s executive summary by requesting the document at this link.
What does Amazon bring to the enterprise search party?
The company has more than 200 services, features, component, and modules on the shelf. Because enterprise search is not a “one size fits all”, the basic utility function has to fit into specific enterprise roles. For most enterprise search vendors, this need for user function customization is a deal breaker. Legal doesn’t want the same search that those clear minded home economics grads require in the marketing department. Microsoft SharePoint offers its version of “enterprise search” but paints over the cost of the Microsoft Certified professionals who have to make the search system work Fast. (Yep, that’s sort of an inside search joke.)
Amazon AWS provides the engine and the Fancy Dan components can be plugged in using the methods taught in the AWS “learn how to have a job for real” at a company your mom uses to shop during the pandemic. Amazon and Microsoft are on a collision course for the enterprise, and the Kendra thing is an important component.
The official roll out is capturing headlines, but the inclusion of Lucene-based search invites several observations:
- Despite AWS’ pricing, an Amazon enterprise search system allows the modern information technology professional to get a good enough service with arguably fewer headaches than other options except maybe the SearchBlox solution
- Enterprise search becomes what it has been for most organizations: A utility. Basic information retrieval is now an AWS component and that component can be enhanced with SageMaker, analytics, and other AWS services.
- Amazon wins even if Kendra does not win the hearts and minds of IBM Omnifind, Inbenta, and Algolia users. Why? Most of the cloud based enterprise search vendors support the AWS platform. What are the choices? The wonky HP cloud? The “maybe we will kill it” Google Cloud? Azure, from the outfit that cannot update Windows 10 without killing user computers who activate game mode? Plus, dumping Kendra for another TV star inspired search system is easy. Chances are that, like Palantir, AWS hosts and supports that competitive system too.
Net net: The fight with Microsoft is escalating. The Bezos bulldozer will run over open source outfits and probably some AWS customers. But Kendra’s turning her gaze on the bountiful revenues of Microsoft in the enterprise. Will Amazon buy a vendor of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel clones?
Exciting times, maybe not just because of enterprise search? Why did those defectors from Lucidworks (It does?) embrace Lucene and not SOLR? Maybe they did that too?
Stephen E Arnold, May 12, 2020
Banjo: What Did SoftBank Money Buy?
May 11, 2020
We completed an analysis of Banjo’s intellectual property. Note: the Banjo url ends in jo, not com. The company — despite its low, low profile since 2016 — has been a reasonably active policeware vendor. Is the activity directed at publicity? Expanding its sales force? Developing a platform comparable to Amazon’s sprawling policeware initiative?
Nope.
The firm has been patenting and repatenting some of its ideas. A quick example is the method disclosed in a paper by one of Banjo’s first employees: “Lateral Thinking in Search Engines” by Yann Landrin-Schweitzer, et al, in Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines, March 2006. You can locate a copy of this infrequently cited document at this link. Note: you may have to pay to view the document.
The ideas were evident in Banjo’s consumer app, which will not be discussed in this brief blog post, and again in the post-pivot patent documents.
The method, known for decades, was popularized by Endeca. The idea is to find, show, or leverage in some fashion related content. Some of the now disgraced search and retrieval evangelists called this “side search.”
For an example of Landrin-Schweitzer’s influence, check out US 8,341,223, Method for relevant content discovery. Since the patent document was filed in mid 2012, Banjo has made this method one of its key foundation stones.
What is interesting is that Landrin-Schweitzer left the company about the time the patent document was in process.
DarkCyber wants to point out that the “hot” technology powering the LiveTime unique capability is not particularly distinctive. Granted, Banjo has built a system which processes video and combines it with other inputs to generate alerts.
Nevertheless, the low profile adopted by the company may have been a way to reduce public scrutiny of what technology was the foundation for the interesting claims the company’s PR made.
I want to note that the DarkCyber research team tracked some of Banjo origin story to Jennifer Peck, worked at Banjo and who later married Mr. Patton. (Did the marriage or common sense stop the PR about Banjo which flowed in a steady stream until the end of 2015?)
Shifting gears the NASCAR way stabs the accelerator for more capital. SoftBank invested $100 million in Banjo in early 2016.
What is interesting is that the SoftBank due diligence process seems to have overlooked [a] some aspects about Mr. Patton and possibly the firm’s origin story, [b] Mr. Patton’s hackathon “wins” at a Google event and in an event held in China with “original” code, [c] and the firm’s core technology, [d] Landrin-Schweitzer’s contributions.
Mr. Patton’s trajectory from homeless waif in LA to the US Navy and military warfighting to NASCAR to construction to genius coder seems to be well crafted, almost like a feat of Baron Munchausen. The positioning of the company as one that wants to “save lives” could be a modern parable crafted on Madison Avenue to elevate the company above the likes of Palantir Technologies.
Wrapping the “good” cloth around surveillance technology is a PR plus to some. Plus, Banjo manifests Patton’s white knight accoutrements in the little known world of policeware applications. Also the factoids about Mr. Patton’s hard fought effort to obtain a college education and how a hitchhiking ride made an education possible could be inspiring to a befuddled and homeless youth. Does this remind anyone of a Jim Bakker? A modern version of a Horace Greeley tall tale?
Several questions:
- Are the other technology foundation stones unique and rock solid?
- How much of the technology embodied in Banjo is unique?
- What are the due diligence processes used by investment firms when facts suggest the founder’s past has not been vetted?
DarkCyber thinks that Banjo is an interesting firm. We have prepared a summary of Banjo’s intellectual property. If you are interested in learning more about this report, write benkent2020@yahoo.com.
The May 12, 2020, DarkCyber video program has more Banjo related content. You can view that video at this link. Remember: No ads, no search engine optimization, no begging for dollars. Just information.
Stephen E Arnold, May 11, 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
SoftBank in the News: The Caldron of Son, Masayoshi Son, That Is
May 8, 2020
Masayoshi Son, the founder of SoftBank, could feature in a new Star Wars movie. Tentative title: Trouble: The Caldron of Son. (A tip of the hat to The Wrath of Khan, of course.)
A short time ago, Banjo’s founder was allegedly involved in some non-high tech activities; for example, a possible drive by synagogue shooting and a KKK event. Why’s this important? SoftBank wrote a check for $100 million in 2016 to help this cyber intelligence firm become a better Palantir Technologies. Banjo’s secret sauce: Real time video alerts about “events” for law enforcement. Palantir does real time, but it is not exactly the TikTok of the investigative software world. Banjo was supposed to achieve that useful goal: Real time intelligence in real time.
That went south.
DarkCyber noted the real and trustworthy news story “WeWork Co-Founder Neumann Sues SoftBank over Failed Tender Offer.” WeWork, like Banjo, appears to have been a questionable investment. Now the very entrepreneur in whom Son had faith has turned around and bitten the hand that once fed him. How much? A significant portion of $9.6 billion to rescue the WeWork outfit.
What do these two investments have in common?
Answer: Due diligence which seemed to leave some issues in the fog. One issue: Damien Patten’s pre-Banjo life activities. Another issue: The interpersonal relationships and personality quirks of Adam Neumann.
These two events could be sufficient to make The Caldron of Son into a possible Quibi 10 part super successful video event. Who knows maybe the litigation will overlap with Quibi’s adventures with Eko?
DarkCyber perceives the due diligence evidenced in the Banjo and WeWork matters illustrate the weaknesses in the good enough approach to investment research.
One thing is clear: Spreadsheet fever may impair vision. That’s no fun(d).
Stephen E Arnold, May 7, 2020
For more coverage of “good enough,” navigate to this special page.
Facebook Chokes NSO Group: Will NSO Group Tap Out?
April 27, 2020
Facebook has become a digital world unto itself. From the insouciance demonstrated during the Cambridge Analytica matter to the cheerful attempt to create a global currency, Facebook has was some might call digital schnorrer. Take data and do what’s necessary to get as much as possible for nothing. Pay for data? Nah. Testify so elder statesmen can understand? Nah. Make it easy for consumers to manage their free Facebook accounts? Nah.
These are fascinating characteristics of a social media company eager to bring people together. But the company has another characteristic, and it is one that certainly surprised the hapless researchers at DarkCyber.
Cyberscoop reported that the Facebook legal eagles are doubling down on the bet that they can squeeze the NSO Group. Is it for cash? Is it for power? Is it to make darned clear that Facebook is more powerful than a company which develops specialized software for government agencies? DarkCyber doesn’t know, but it is clear, if the information in “Facebook: NSO Group Used U.S.-Based Servers in Operations against WhatsApp” is accurate, Facebook is ready to rumble.
The write up states:
In court documents, Facebook-owned WhatsApp claims NSO Group used a server run by Los Angeles-based hosting provider QuadraNet “more than 700 times during the attack to direct NSO’s malware to WhatsApp user devices in April and May 2019.”
The article points out that:
The filing is a blow to NSO Group’s claims that its signature product, Pegasus, isn’t capable of running operations in the United States.
What’s remarkable is that the lawsuit has become increasingly high profile. Dust ups related to what DarkCyber calls intelware and third parties usually keep a lower profile. A good example is the efforts expended to keep the lid on the interesting litigation between Analyst’s Notebook and Palantir Technologies. This matter, if mentioned at a conference, evokes the question, “What? When?”
The Facebook NSO Group dispute is getting media traction. Cyberscoop includes the full 35 page document via link in its article.
DarkCyber’s view is:
- There are some ironic factors in Facebook’s pursuit of this matter; for example, allegedly Facebook wanted to license NSO Group’s Pegasus. Is Facebook a bride left at the alter?
- Is Facebook trying to deflect attention from its own data policies? ( It is helpful to keep in mind that Facebook has to pay $5 billion for its Cambridge Analytica adventure.)
- Facebook’s own behaviors have been troubling to some individuals due to its own privacy and data actions; for example, exposing friends of friends without oversight to Facebook partners.
- Facebook’s shift from the privacy procedures users assumed were in place to a more Wild West approach to data as the social media firm sought to expand its revenues and user base.
Intelware companies are not new, but they are small compared to today’s Facebook. Intelware companies are like some flowers which die in direct sunlight. A special climate controlled environment is necessary for survival.
Facebook may be waking up to the fact that certain government agencies want access to Facebook data. Specialized firms, not just NSO Group, have the ability to work around, under, and through whatever shields Facebook puts in place to keep Facebook data for Facebook. And when Facebook does play nice with government agencies, Facebook plays by its own rules and brings the ball and the referee to the game.
DarkCyber’s perception is that Facebook was and is offended by what it thinks NSO did or does. DarkCyber assumes that Facebook wants it own NSO Group-style capabilities and is defending itself in order to be the Facebook everyone knows and loves.
With the Facebook – NSO Group matter moving forward, the path each company, the lawyers, and possibly government officials will explore will be interesting to chart.
Plus who knows whether Facebook is fighting hard to protect its customers or fighting another battle.
Also, NSO Group may, like a WWE star, have a masked helper waiting in the wings eager to join the fray.
Stephen E Arnold, April 27, 2020
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
