VK.com: An Alternative to Facebook
May 27, 2016
VK is the name of the “old” VKontakte social networking service. My estimates peg the traffic to the site at about 30 percent of Facebook. The user count is in the 300 million range and growing. The user base is concentrated in Russia, but the service is attracting users from other countries. Online translation tools make it easy for a non Russian speaker to use the service.
Earlier this year, I read “German Neo Nazis Flocking to Putin’s Facebook Knock off VKontakte.” The write up seems a bit one sided, but social network sites allegedly linked to Mr. Putin suggests that a bit of additional research and investigation are warranted.
You can sign up and explore VK.com at www.vk.com. I provide some basics for appropriate prophylactic measures in my Dark Web lectures. One thought is okay here: Be prudent.
You will need a VK.com account to access an interesting facial recognition service called FindFace. The site looks like this:
Like Google’s “search by photo”, the FindFace service delivers close matches to the face you upload to the service. The Guardian published “Face Recognition App Taking Russia by Storm May Bring End to Public Anonymity.” The digital wannabe stated:
FindFace compares photos to profile pictures on social network Vkontakte and works out identities with 70% reliability.
I mention VK.com and FindFace because I was asked if there were an alternative to Facebook. The answer is, “VC.com.” However, the use of the service for certain types of groups and certain purposes is less easy than it was in the past. Some folks can use the VK.com apps and features instead of fooling around with Dark Web services.
Stephen E Arnold, May 27, 2016
The Reinterpretation of Google History
May 27, 2016
I read “Why Google Beat yahoo in the War for the Internet.” The information in the article touches upon some important points; for example, Google focused on a more homogeneous infrastructure. The history of Google, however, includes some tactical moves which the article ignores.
My enthusiasm for recycling the information about Google’s first five years has shriveled since I published the third volume of my Google trilogy. I want to point out several factoids which, no doubt, will interest few today. The article makes much of what is described as a “fresh start.” I do not agree with the “fresh” part.
First, Google is a descendent of Alta Vista, Jon Kleinberg’s Clever, and the information access research conducted at Stanford University and other universities with an interest in this technical field. As a result, the infrastructure benefits from Digital Equipment’s investment in its Alta Vista system. Much of that “knowledge” migrated to Google as Messrs. Brin and Page hired notable professionals away from the chaos of Alta Vista under Hewlett Packard’s management. Jeff Dean, Simon Tong, and others are responsible for much of the infrastructure for Google. The Alta Vista system was anchored in the DEC technology. The memory management benefits were obtained at a cost. Google embraced commodity hardware and a big chunk of the Alta Vista thinking. Fresh? Well, sort of.
Second, Google’s scrutiny of Yahoo had a couple of payoffs. Yahoo was a crazy quilt of warring tribes. Each tribe had its own technology idols. Google interpreted this as expensive and focused on reducing the costs by standardizing on systems and methods to a greater degree than Yahoo did. Over time, Yahoo became more sluggish due to its different fiefdoms. Google was comparatively stronger due to its less chaotic approaches. Don’t get me wrong. Google in its first five years was a wild and crazy outfit. Yahoo was wilder and crazier. As part of Google’s learning from Yahoo, Google recognized the value of selling ads the Yahoo way. Yahoo was unhappy with Google’s borrowing of its GoTo.com/Overture approach. Google settled a legal spat with about $1 billion in payments to the Yahooligans. But the majority of Google’s revenue comes from that GoTo.com/Overture me too play.
Third, Google, like Yahoo, is not sure what it will be from year to year. The difference is that Google has crafted a relatively consistent flow of advertising revenue from its early and somewhat crude pre-Oingo days. Google integrated acquired technologies more effectively than Yahoo typically did. The ability to integrate provided Google an important edge.
There are other touchpoints in Google’s early days. From my point of view, Google is from its inception a beneficiary of good luck because the competitors in Web search were distracted in an effort to become portals. Google, as I see the company, is less of an innovator and more of an emulator. Google has yet to demonstrate that renaming the company, reorganizing the units, and funding projects like cheating death will yield the next big thing.
Google, for me, was a one off, an anomaly.
Stephen E Arnold, May 27, 2016
Paid Posts and PageRank
May 27, 2016
Google users rely on the search engine’s quality-assurance algorithm, PageRank, to serve up the links most relevant to their query. Blogger and Google engineer Matt Cutts declares, reasonably enough, that “Paid Posts Should Not Affect Search Engines.” His employer, on the other hand, has long disagreed with this stance. Cutts concedes:
“We do take the subject of paid posts seriously and take action on them. In fact, we recently finished going through hundreds of ‘empty review’ reports — thank you for that feedback! That means that now is a great time to send us reports of link buyers or sellers that violate our guidelines. We use that information to improve our algorithms, but we also look through that feedback manually to find and follow leads.”
Well, that’s nice to know. However, Cutts emphasizes, no matter how rigorous the quality assurance, there is good reason users may not want paid posts to make it through PageRank at all. He explains:
“If you are searching for information about brain cancer or radiosurgery, you probably don’t want a company buying links in an attempt to show up higher in search engines. Other paid posts might not be as starkly life-or-death, but they can still pollute the ecology of the web. Marshall Kirkpatrick makes a similar point over at ReadWriteWeb. His argument is as simple as it is short: ‘Blogging is a beautiful thing. The prospect of this young media being overrun with “pay for play” pseudo-shilling is not an attractive one to us.’ I really can’t think of a better way to say it, so I’ll stop there.”
Cynthia Murrell, May 27, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Open Source Software Needs a Micro-Payment Program
May 27, 2016
Open source software is an excellent idea, because it allows programmers across the globe to share and contribute to the same project. It also creates a think tank like environment that can be applied (arguably) to any tech field. There is a downside to open source and creative commons software and that is it not a sustainable model. Open Source Everything For The 21st Century discusses the issue in their post about “Robert Steele: Should Open Source Code Have A PayPal Address & AON Sliding Scale Rate Sheet?”
The post explains that open source delivers an unclear message about how code is generated, it comes from the greater whole rather than a few people. It also is not sustainable, because people do need funds to survive as well as maintain the open source software. Fair Source is a reasonable solution: users are charged if the software is used at a company with fifteen or more employees, but it too is not sustainable.
Micro-payments, small payments of a few cents, might be the ultimate solution. Robert Steele wrote that:
“I see the need for bits of code to have embedded within them both a PayPalPayPal-like address able to handle micro-payments (fractions of a cent), and a CISCO-like Application Oriented Network (AON) rules and rate sheet that can be updated globally with financial-level latency (which is to say, instantly) and full transparency. Some standards should be set for payment scales, e.g. 10 employees, 100, 1000 and up; such that a package of code with X number of coders will automatically begin to generate PayPal payments to the individual coders when the package hits N use cases within Z organizational or network structures.”
Micro-payments are not a bad idea and it has occasionally been put into practice, but not very widespread. No one has really pioneered an effective system for it.
Steele is also an advocate for “…Internet access and individual access to code is a human right, devising new rules for a sharing economy in which code is a cost of doing business at a fractional level in comparison to legacy proprietary code — between 1% and 10% of what is paid now.”
It is the ideal version of the Internet, where people are able to make money from their content and creations, users’ privacy is maintained, and ethics is essential are respected. The current trouble with YouTube channels and copyright comes to mind as does stolen information sold on the Dark Web and the desire to eradicate online bullying.
Whitney Grace, May 27, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Quotes to Note: The Thiel-Hulk Matter
May 26, 2016
The downsizing New York Times is channeling the Gawker thing. I read “Tech Billionaire in a Secret War with Gawker.” [Note: You may or may not be able to view this. Speak to the Gray Lady, not me.] The billionaire is Peter Thiel, a founder of PayPal and a number of other high profile and wildly successful companies. He is, I learned, a member of the PayPal mafia. Who knew?
I was not sure what a “demigod” was. I turned to Google. The first hit is this illustration apparently from a video game. Who knew?
I am not interested in the news story about a person who wants to fight for truth, justice, and the Silicon Valley way. I am not sure who Hulk Hogan is. That’s okay. The write up contained some quotes to note. I don’t want to lose track of these. I might want to spice up a report or a lecture with these allegedly accurate statements made by a powerful, rich wizard. Here you go:
- The story is not a story. It is a “bizarre and astounding back story.” [The New York Times] I once read similar headlines in the IGA store waiting for a human to check out my toothpaste and sparkling water purchases. Who published stories with these words? I think it was the National Enquirer.
- “I refuse to believe that journalism means massive privacy violations.”—Peter Thiel
- “We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters,” is the Founders Fund tag line.—The New York Times quoting a Web site.
Great stuff. I wonder how Palantir Technologies, a company founded by Mr. Thiel, who is characterized as having “demigod status”, about the leaks to Buzzfeed. Should that reporter be concerned about legal action? I hope not.
Stephen E Arnold, May 26, 2016
Inc Magazine Explains Search. Really.
May 26, 2016
I read “How the World of Search Looks Like. Really.” [sic]
Now that is fine syntax. Perhaps the savvy Inc editor is confused about the Strunk & White comments about the use of “what”? Really.
The write up is even more orthogonal than the headline’s word choice.
An expert in search, who works at Gravity Media, has focused his attention on information access. Now information access is a nebulous concept. Search is a bit less difficult to define if you are, like me, pushing 72 years in age. Log on to an online system. Enter a keyword. Review the matches the system generates via brute force look up. See, easy, really.
I learned in the write up that my Abe Lincoln learnings are hopelessly out of whack.
I noted this passage:
While young Snapchatters who grew up in the midst of the evolving Web may prefer to Google search, the later-adopting Baby Boomers may very well be using Yahoo search.
Okay. Snapchatters. How does one “find” information via Snapchat?
I noted this statement:
Globally, quite a few other competitors are making good old Google sweat a bit. Tell me, are you feeling lucky? (My poor attempt at a Google joke…) Internationally, people are Yandexing, Baiduing, Yahooing, and the list goes on and on.
Ha. Ha. Really.
Then a statement which blindsided me. People in different countries search for information in ways different from those used in the US:
As the globe continues to shrink in the wake of the World Wide Web, these cultural nuances are something international brands should consider when trying to capture global audiences. Up until now there has been little attention paid to this increasing trend of the “other” search networks.
Right. Little attention. I assume those ads on Baidu for products not from China are outliers?
I circled:
Chinese-Americans’ searches will likely use a combination of Chinese and English search terms depending on what their level of comfort is with translation. This same fact is the reason a first generation Chinese millennial living in the U.S. would choose to utilize both Baidu and Google, depending on what they are searching.
My approach is to search for Chinese information in Chinese. I don’t read or speak Chinese, but I have team members who do. If one of these people sends me a link to a document in a language other than English, I use various online translation systems to get the main idea. Then I pick up the phone and talk with the native speaker about the information.
I completed the article with a big blue exclamation point:
In conclusion, the truth is that there is very little data on the Internet related to global search trends and user preferences. If the Internet has taught us one thing it is that being more visible on the Web is always to the benefit of the marketer. So if your brand has not been running search campaigns across more networks than just Google, now is the time to start. The insights that can be derived from a test campaign alone can reveal hugely important details related to the search habits of your target audience. Even if the outcome of a Yahoo paid search campaign reaffirms that a strictly Google campaign is the way to reach your brand’s target audience, there is only one way to find out – test it.
It seems, gentle reader, that the article is less about the search thing and more about the marketing services thing. That’s okay. Little wonder that niche search engines are poking their noses into the big, uncertain world. One can now search for gifs at GifMe or Giphy for this reason.
Back to Inc. What the heck is the editorial policy at Inc. Wonky word choice and an article about search which does not address the topic of what the world of search looks like. Looks like content marketing at best and editorial shortcutting from my vantage point in rural Kentucky. Really.
Stephen E Arnold, May 26, 2016
The Internet Archive: How It Works
May 26, 2016
I have noted that the interface for the Internet Archive is interesting. For me, the system is almost unusable.
I read “The Technology Behind the World’s Worst DVR.” I think the write up does a good job of explaining some of the challenges the system presents to the developers and to the users. I learned that the political ad archive works like this:
Okay, WordPress. I am a bit fuzzy about the other icons, however.
The good news appears in this statement:
Over the coming months we are working to make the system more accurate, and exploring ways to get it so that it can automagically identify newly released political ads without any need for manual entry.
Worth monitoring.
Stephen E Arnold, May 26, 2016
Erdogan Government Cracks down on Turkish Media
May 26, 2016
The Turkish government has been forcibly seizing and intimidating the nation’s media, we learn from “Erdogan’s Latest Media Takeover is About More than Just One Newspaper” at Mashable. Is this the future of publishing?
Turkish police fought protesters and manhandled journalists as the government wrested control of Zaman, Turkey’s most popular newspaper and, as journalist Suna Vidinli puts it, the country’s “last remaining effective voice of criticism in the press.” She continues:
“President Erdogan had long planned to take over Zaman as the paper was affiliated with Gulen Group, his main remaining adversary in his quest for absolute power. Earlier in the week, the Turkish Supreme Court — in a surprising and rare move — had released two top editors of Cumhuriyet, Can Dundar and Erdem Gul, from prison. They were imprisoned for writing about the illegal trafficking of weapons to radicals in Syria.
“Erdogan saw their release as a direct move against his authority and wowed to show who was boss. He signaled that the two journalists would be put back in prison soon and declared ‘things can get shaky in the following days.’ Hence, the takeover of Zaman was carefully planned as the most brutal confiscation of media to date in Turkish history.
“The confiscation of Zaman media group highlights some critical developments in Turkey. The government immediately took the media group offline, and a special tech team was brought in to completely wipe out the news archive and web content of the newspaper.”
The Chihan News Agency was also included in the seizure, a group we learn was the only non-governmental organization to monitor Turkish exit polls to ensure fair elections. The article notes that the remaining independent media in Turkey seem to have been effectively cowed, since none of them reported on the violent takeover. Governments, media groups, and human rights organizations around the world condemned the seizure; the U.S. State Department called Turkey’s pattern of media suppression “troubling.” We couldn’t agree more.
Cynthia Murrell, May 26, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Google Changes Its Algorithm Again
May 26, 2016
As soon as we think we have figured out how to get our content to the top of Google’s search rankings, the search engine goes and changes its algorithms. The Digital Journal offers some insight into “Op-Ed: How Will The Google 2016 Algorithm Change Affect Our Content?”
In early 2016, Google announced they were going to update their Truth Algorithm and it carries on many of the aspects they have been trying to push. Quality content over quantity is still very important. Keyword heavy content is negated in favor of pushing Web sites that offer relevant, in-depth content and that better answer a user’s intent.
SEO changes took a dramatic turn with a Penguin uploaded and changes in the core algorithm. The biggest game changer is with mobile technologies:
“The rapid advancement of mobile technologies is deeply affecting the entire web scenario. Software developers are shifting towards the development of new apps and mobile websites, which clearly represent the future of information technology. Even the content for mobile websites and apps is now different, and Google had to account for that with the new ranking system changes. The average mobile user is very task oriented and checks his phones just to quickly accomplish a specific task, like finding a nearby café or cinema. Mobile-oriented content must be much shorter and concise than web-oriented one. The average web surfer wants to know, learn and explore things in a much more relaxed setting.”
Google wants to clear its search results of what is known as unviable information and offer users a better quality search experience for both their mobile devices and standard desk computers. Good to know that someone wants to deliver a decent product.
Whitney Grace, May 26, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
JavaScript Code Search
May 25, 2016
The general purpose Web search systems are not particularly useful for narrow queries. As a result, developers who want to locate JavaScript code to perform a specific task have had to bang away at Bing, forums, Google, and odd duck discussions on open source code sites. I learned in “Find JavaScript Code Snippets by Functionality with Cocycles” that there is a niche search engine available. Navigate to Cocycles and run your query. According to the service’s Web site, additional languages will be added to the system in the near future. Worth a look.
Stephen E Arnold, May 25, 2016
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