Microgoof: JEDI Knight Defeated by Unknown Death Ray
July 14, 2021
Here’s an interesting passage:
More important than the money was that it gave the company a level of third-party validation, that its cloud-computing platform is on par with Amazon, the market leader. The Pentagon, arguably the world’s most sophisticated cyber customer, had chosen Microsoft over Amazon to fully revamp and modernize its tech ecosystem. That gave Microsoft credibility. Now, however, the Department of Defense says Microsoft’s offering wasn’t going to “meet its needs.”
The write up then indirectly links the death ray to none other than the mom and pop online bookstore:
Amazon challenged and eventually sued the federal government complaining that Microsoft was awarded the contract because of President Trump’s animosity towards the Washington Post, owned by Amazon’s founder and former CEO, Jeff Bezos.
Politics! Not technology! The write up points out:
Amazon controls roughly a third of the market and a host of government contracts, including with the Central Intelligence Agency. By comparison, analysts estimate Microsoft has cornered only around 20% of the market.
How could the defenses of the JEDI be breached? Was it the same weakness that causes printers to fail, supply chain attacks to thrive, and fuzzed communications about the minimum requirements for Windows 11?
No, no, no.
The Microgoof will take months, maybe years, to figure out. Where was Windows Defender when the Redmond giant needed its support? Maybe the service could not access Teams? Maybe the call did not go through because the parties were using a Windows Phone? Maybe the Windows update interrupted the system? What if the unknown death ray was crafted by the Bezos bulldozer now guided by Max Peterson who replaced the former Microsoftie Teresa Carlson, who is now a Splunker?
One thing is clear: First SolarWinds, the printer thing, then Windows 11, and now the JEDI zapper. I smell the exhaust from the Bezos bulldozer. Who else will?
Stephen E Arnold, July 14, 2021
Is a New Wave of Disintermediation Gaining Momentum
July 9, 2021
Hacker News pointed to “We Replaced Rental Brokers with Software and Filled 200+ Vacant Apartments.” That real estate write up provides a good case example for using software to chop out the useless humanoids. Sound like an Amazon thing? I think so. Corporate special librarians were among the first to be allowed to find their future elsewhere. Other professions are finding ways to de-humanoid their business processes. How does that Ford Bronco get painted? Not by people with spray guns. Those made-for-TV car shows use humans. Real car makers don’t unless there is some compelling reason.
Now a start up is going to try and de-people Amazon AWS development and programming. Amazon is trying to train people to think Amazon for new t shirts and super duper online cloud services. But the company’s efforts are mostly free education plays and zippy presentations at Amazon-sponsored events.
The disintermediation of the Amazon developer is now a start up’s goal. Digger.dev says:
Digger automatically generates infrastructure for your code in your cloud account. So you can build on AWS without having to learn it.
Disenchanted with the Lyft and Uber thing? Tired of collecting unemployment? Bored with your lawyering gig? Now you can become an entrepreneur:
Deploy anything. Containers, Serverless Lambda functions, webapps, databases, queues, load balancers, autoscaling – Digger supports it all.
If Digger.dev is successful, the certified Amazon professional may be looking for a new career. COBOL programmer maybe?
Stephen E Arnold, July 9, 2021
China Chipping Away at Chips: Progress Evident
July 7, 2021
Intel is paying a third party to fab some super duper chips using the same teeny weeny traces rumored to be used in Apple’s next gen, does-everything chip. But Intel itself is not making the chips. China, however, seems to be plugging along with its chip fabbing efforts. It seems that China is moving forward in fabrication and technology for embedding AI in silicon. Global Times reports, “Chinese Tech Giant Baidu Spins Off $2 Billion AI Chip Unit, Gears Up for Homegrown Production Amid Fierce Competition.” Does this mean the bias will now be hardwired in? Who will know until it is too late.
The chip unit Kunlun will soon become an independent company, with the Baidu chip’s chief architect as its CEO. It is hoped the move will bring Kunlun more funding and more flexibility. Shares of Baidu climbed since the announcement. The brief write-up reports:
“Kunlun chips are designed to optimize AI workload and improve cloud cost structure. The project was first announced by Baidu CEO Robin Li at Baidu AI Developer Conference in 2018. It can be widely applied in scenarios such as computer vision and natural language processing. The first generation of Kunlun chips has seen the mass production in early 2020. The second generation with the performance of three times higher than that of the first generation, will be mass produced in the second half of 2021, according to media reports. Chips, which play a crucial role in the Internet of Things era, have become a new focus of competition for China’s technology giants. The competition has intensified amid the recent global shortage of chips and the US restriction on chip supplies to Chinese companies, according to industry experts.”
We are reminded AI chips are crucial to growing fields like unmanned vehicles and cloud servers, so there is much money to be made for companies that act quickly. Will China consider such issues as the unintentional harm biased AI can wreak on individuals and society. Nope. I think in the next six to nine months, there will be harm, and it may affect outfits like Intel which are working overtime to regain some of their former glory in the Great Chip Derby.
News releases are much easier to churn out than advanced semiconductors in our opinion. Maybe Wingtech via Nexperia will buy Newport Wafer Fab. This Newport outfit is the largest chip maker in the UK? Could this be a signal that China wants to make sure it can be a player in the chip game? The answer is, “Looks like it.”
Cynthia Murrell, July 7, 2021
Deloitte Acquires Terbium Labs: Does This Mean Digital Shadows Won the Dark Web Indexing Skirmish?
July 7, 2021
Deloitte has been on a cybersecurity shopping spree this year. The giant auditing and consulting firm bought Root9B in January and CloudQuest at the beginning of June. Now, ZDNet reports, “Deloitte Scoops Up Digital Risk Protection Company Terbium Labs.” We like Terbium. Perhaps the acquisition will help Deloitte move past the unfortunate Autonomy affair. Writer Natalie Gagliordi tells us:
“The tax and auditing giant said Terbium Labs’ services — which include a digital risk protection platform that aims to helps organizations detect and remediate data exposure, theft, or misuse — will join Deloitte’s cyber practice and bolster its Detect & Respond offering suite. Terbium Labs’ digital risk platform leverages AI, machine learning, and patented data fingerprinting technologies to identify illicit use of sensitive data online. Deloitte said that adding the Terbium Labs business to its portfolio would enable the company to offer clients another way to continuously monitor for data exposed on the open, deep, or dark web. ‘Finding sensitive or proprietary data once it leaves an organization’s perimeter can be extremely challenging,’ said Kieran Norton, Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory’s infrastructure solution leader, and principal. ‘Advanced cyber threat intelligence, paired with remediation of data risk exposure requires a balance of advanced technology, keen understanding of regulatory compliance and fine-tuning with an organization’s business needs and risk profile.’”
Among the Deloitte clients that may now benefit from Terbium tech are several governments and Fortune 500 companies. It is not revealed how much Deloitte paid for the privilege.
Terbium Labs lost the marketing fight with an outfit called Digital Shadows. That company has not yet been SPACed, acquired, or IPOed. There are quite a few Dark Web indexing outfits, and quite a bit of the Dark Web traffic appears to come from bots indexing the increasingly shrinky-dink obfuscated Web.
Is Digital Shadows’ marketing up to knocking Deloitte out of the game? Worth watching.
Cynthia Murrell, July 6, 2021
Microsoft in Perspective: Forget JEDI. Think Teams Together
July 7, 2021
I received some inputs from assorted colleagues and journalistic wizards regarding JEDI. The “real” news outfit CNBC published “Pentagon Cancels $10 Billion JEDI Cloud Contract That Amazon and Microsoft Were Fighting Over.” The write up stated:
… the Pentagon is launching a new multivendor cloud computing contract.
What caused this costly, high-profile action. Was it the beavering away of the Oracle professionals? Were those maintaining the Bezos bulldozer responsible? Was it clear-thinking consultants who asked, “Wasn’t Microsoft in the spotlight over the SolarWinds’ misstep?” I don’t know.
But let’s put this in perspective. As the JEDI deal was transported to a shelf in a Department of Defense store room at the Orchard Range Training Site in Idaho, there was an important — possibly life changing — announcement from Microsoft. Engadget phrased the technology breakthrough this way: Microsoft Teams Together Mode test lets just two people start a meeting. I learned:
Together Mode uses AI-powered segmentation to put all participants in a meeting in one virtual space.
I assume that this was previously impossible under current technology like a mobile phone, an Apple device with Facetime, Zoom, and a handheld walkie talkie, a CB radio, a ham radio, FreeConference.com, or a frequently sanitized pay phone located in a convenient store parking lot near the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.
I have a rhetorical question, “Is it possible to print either the news story about the JEDI termination or the FAQ for Together in the midst of — what’s it called — terror printing, horror hard copy effort — wait! — I have it. It is the condition of PrinterNightmare.
I have to stop writing. My Windows 10 machine wants to reboot for an update.
Stephen E Arnold, July 7, 2021
The Future of Open Source Software: Who Knows? Maybe VCs and Data Aggregators?
July 5, 2021
I read some of the write up about Audacity, an audio editor, maybe a wannabe digital audio workstation. One group of write ups foretell the future of this particular open source software as spyware. A good example is “Audacity 3.0 Called Spyware over Data Collection Changes by New Owner.” This is an interesting premise. In some countries, companies even those wearing open source penguins and waving FOSS flags must comply. I suppose the issue is intentional data collection. From a business perspective, there’s money in them thar data elements. And money, not free, is the name of the game in some circles; for example, developers who cut corners in code and construction.
There’s another side to the argument. A reasonable example is “Audacity Is a Poster Child for What Can Be Achieved with Open-Source Software.” The main idea is that if one does not like Audacity, a skilled person can whip up an Audacity variant. (Is the process as simple as creating a Covid variant?) The write up points out:
the first version of Audacity was released in 1999 (at the time the name was different)…Still, while it might look outdated, Audacity doesn’t lack when it comes to features. If you can find them.
High praise?
The author of “Poster Child” opines:
From what I’ve seen over the last two months, Muse Group seems to have its heart in the right place. And if the opposite comes true, there’s always GitHub’s fork button. For now, though, it seems that not only is Audacity in good hands, but that it might be finally getting that design refresh it desperately needs.
The point I carried away from these two write ups is that open source is at an inflection point.
Making money from software is more difficult than it seems. Services, subscribing, consulting, for-fee extras, training, customizing, and platforming are quite different from picking up a box with a disc inside.
Observations:
- Open source software is supposed to give users a way to free themselves from the handcuffs of license agreements. Aren’t the new monetization methods a form of handcuffing?
- The value of sucked up data, packaged, and licensed to an aggregator an interesting path forward. Hey, Intuit licensed its small business user data to a quite interesting ConAgra of data collection. What’s good for the proprietary goose, may be very, very good for an open source gander.
- Monopolization of software functionality hooked into the ever-secure ever-so-reliable cloud sets the stage for no-code alternatives. Will these be free and open? My hunch: Unlikely.
Net net: Open source, she be changin’.
Stephen E Arnold, July 5, 2021
Databases: Old Wine, New Bottles, and Now Updated Labels with More Jargon and Buzzwords
June 29, 2021
I read “It’s the Golden Age of Databases. It Can’t Last.” The subtitle is fetching too:
Startups are reaping huge funding rounds. But money alone won’t be enough to top the current market leaders.
I think that it is important to keep in mind that databases once resided within an organization. In 1980, I had my employer’s customer database in a small closet in my office. I kept my office locked, and anyone who needed access had to find me, set up an appointing, and do a look up. Was I paranoid? Yep, and I suppose that’s why I never went to work for flexi-think outfits intellectually allied with Microsoft or SolarWinds, among others.
Today the cloud is the rage. Why? It’s better, faster, and cheaper. Just pick any two and note that I did not include “more secure.” If you want some color about the “cost” of the cloud pursuit fueled by cost cutting, check out this high flying financial outfit’s essay “Andreesen Horowitz Partner Martin Casado Says the Cost of Cloud Computing Is a $100 Billion Drag on the Biggest Software Companies, Sparking a Huge Debate across the Industry.” Some of the ideas are okay; others strike me as similar to those suggesting the Egyptian pyramids are big batteries. The point is that many companies embraced the cloud in search of reducing the cost and hassle of on premises systems and people.
One of the upsides of the cloud is the crazy marketing assertions that a bunch of disparate data can be dumped into a “cloud system” and become instantly available for Fancy Dan analytics. Yeah, and I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. I accept PayPal too.
The “Golden Age” write up works over time to make the new databases exciting for investors who want a big payout. I did note this statement in the write up which is chock-a-block with vendor names:
Ultimately, Databricks and Snowflake’s main competitors probably aren’t each other, but rather Microsoft, AWS and Google.
Do you think it would be helpful to mention IBM and Oracle? I do.
Here’s another important statement from the write up:
One thing is certain: The big data revolution isn’t slowing down. And that means the war over managing it and putting the information to use will only get more fierce.
Why the “fierce”? Perhaps it will be the investors in the whizzy new “we can federate and be better, faster, and cheaper” outfits who put the pedal to the metal. The reality is that big outfits license big brands. Change is time consuming and expensive. And the seamless data lakes with data lake houses on them? Probably still for sale after owners realize that data magic is expensive, time consuming, and fiddly.
But rah rah is solid info today.
Stephen E Arnold, June 29, 2021
Microsoft Teams: More Search, Better Search? Sure
June 23, 2021
How about the way Word handles images in a text document? Don’t you love the numbering in a Word list? And what about those templates?
Microsoft loves features. It is no surprise that Teams is collecting features the way my French bulldog pulls in ticks on a warm morning in the woods in June.
Here is an interesting development in search. We learn from a very brief write-up at MS Power User that “Microsoft Search Will Soon Be Able to Find Teams Meeting Recordings Based on What Was Said.” It occurs as the company moves MS Teams recordings to OneDrive and SharePoint. (We note Zoom offers similar functionality if one enables audio transcription and hits “record” before the meeting.) Writer Surur reports:
“Previously, Teams meeting recordings were only searchable based on the Title of the meetings. You will now be easily able to find Teams meeting recordings based on not just the Title of the meeting, but also based on what was said in the meeting, via the transcript, as long as Live Transcription was enabled. Note however that only the attendees of the Teams meeting will have the permission to view these recordings in the search results and playback the recordings. These meetings will now be discoverable in eDiscovery as well, via the transcript. If you don’t want these meetings to be discoverable in Microsoft Search or eDiscovery via transcripts, you can turn off Teams transcription.”
This is a handy feature. It does mean, however, that participants will want to be even more careful what they express in a Teams meeting. Confirmation of any surly utterances will be just a search away. How does the system index an expletive when the dog barks or a Teams’ session hangs?
Cynthia Murrell, June 23, 2021
TikTok: What Is the Problem? None to Sillycon Valley Pundits.
June 18, 2021
I remember making a comment in a DarkCyber video about the lack of risk TikTok posed to its users. I think I heard a couple of Sillycon Valley pundits suggest that TikTok is no big deal. Chinese links? Hey, so what. These are short videos. Harmless.
Individuals like this are lost in clouds of unknowing with a dusting of gold and silver naive sparkles.
“TikTok Has Started Collecting Your ‘Faceprints’ and ‘Voiceprints.’ Here’s What It Could Do With Them” provides some color for parents whose children are probably tracked, mapped, and imaged:
Recently, TikTok made a change to its U.S. privacy policy,allowing the company to “automatically” collect new types of biometric data, including what it describes as “faceprints” and “voiceprints.” TikTok’s unclear intent, the permanence of the biometric data and potential future uses for it have caused concern
Well, gee whiz. The write up is pretty good, but there are a couple of uses of these types of data left out of the write up:
- Cross correlate the images with other data about a minor, young adult, college student, or aging lurker
- Feed the data into analytic systems so that predictions can be made about the “flexibility” of certain individuals
- Cluster young people into egg cartons so fellow travelers and their weakness could be exploited for nefarious or really good purposes.
Will the Sillycon Valley real journalists get the message? Maybe if I convert this to a TikTok video.
Stephen E Arnold, June 18, 2021
Google Wants to Do Better: Read These Two Articles for Context
June 10, 2021
You will need to read these two articles before you scan my observations.
The first write up is “How an Ex Googler Turned Artist Hacked Her Work to the Top of Search Results.” The is a case example of considerable importance, at least to me and my research team. The methods of word use designed to bond to Google’s internal receptors is the secret sauce of search engine optimization experts. But here is a Xoogler manipulating Google’s clueless methods.
The second article is “Google Seeks to Break Vicious Cycle of Online Slander.” Ignore the self praise of the Gray Lady. The main point is that Google is going to take action to deal with the way in which its exemplary smart software handles “slander.” The main point is that Google has been converted from do gooder to the digital equivalent of Hakan Ayik, the individual the Australian Federal Police converted into the ultimate insider. The similarity is important at least to me.
Don’t agree with my interpretation? No problem. Nevertheless, I will offer my observations:
First, after 20 years of obfuscation, it is clear that the fragility and exploitability of Google’s smart software is known to the author of “How an Ex Googler Turned Artist Hacked…”. Therefore, the knowledge of Google’s willful blind spots is not secret to about 100,000 full time equivalent Googlers.
Second, Google – instead of taking direct, immediate action – once again is doing the “ask forgiveness” thing with words of assurance. Actions speak louder than words. Maybe this time?
Third, neither of the referenced articles speaks bluntly and clearly about the danger mishandling of meaning poses. Forget big, glittery issues like ethics or democracy. Think manipulation and becloudization.
Stephen E Arnold, June 10, 2021
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