Technology That Literally Can Read Your Lips (Coming Soon)
August 19, 2016
The article on Inquisitr titled Emerging New “Lip-Reading” Technology To Radically Revolutionize Modern-Day Crime Solving explains the advances in visual speech recognition technology. In 1974 Gene Hackman could have used this technology in the classic film “The Conversation” where he plays a surveillance expert trying to get better audio surveillance in public settings where background noise makes clarity almost impossible. Apparently, we haven’t come very far since the 70s when it comes to audio speech recognition, but recent strides in lip reading technology in Norwich have experts excited. The article states,
“Lip-reading is one of the most challenging problems in artificial intelligence so it’s great to make progress on one of the trickier aspects, which is how to train machines to recognize the appearance and shape of human lips.” A few years ago German researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology claim they’ve introduced a lip-reading phone that allowed for soundless communication, a development that was to mark a massive leap forward into the future of speech technology.”
The article concludes that while progress has been made, there is still a great deal of ground to cover. The complications inherent in recognizing, isolating, and classifying lip movement patterns makes this work even more difficult than audio speech recognition, according to the article. At any rate, this is good news for some folks who want to “know” what is in a picture and what people say when there is no audio track.
The article concludes that while progress has been made, there is still a great deal of ground to cover. The complications inherent in recognizing, isolating, and classifying lip movement patterns makes this work even more difficult than audio speech recognition, according to the article. At any rate, this is good news for some folks who want to “know” what is in a picture and what people say when there is no audio track.
Chelsea Kerwin, August 19, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
There is a Louisville, Kentucky Hidden /Dark Web meet up on August 23, 2016.
Information is at this link: https://www.meetup.com/Louisville-Hidden-Dark-Web-Meetup/events/233019199/
Google Maps: Suddenly Exciting
August 18, 2016
The Alphabet Google thing wants to do maps its way. That’s fine. The Sillycon Valley outfit often perceives that its “logical” approach is the one true way. Not everyone is riding Google’s self driving car, however.
Two write ups caught my eye only because I noticed the dust up over naming places in the Crimea. I assume the Crimea is a nifty place and that the residents are thrilled to have Google adjust map names to make their life easier.
The first write up concerns Palestine. Navigate to the delightfully named article “Palestine Is Exactly Where It Was. Google Cannot You See!” The main point of the write up is:
Search engine Google has removed Palestine from its maps service on July 25 and replaced it with Israel
But Google says, “Palestine was never on Google Maps after claims it had been airbrushed away.” This point appeared in a story in the UK newspaper The Telegraph. Google apparently uses a dashed line to display a “disputed” terrritory. Adding a bit of spice to the story was this statement in the rejoinder:
Google said in a response that Palestine had never been marked as a territory on its map, but that a glitch in the software had resulted in Palestinian areas being removed. “There has never been a ‘Palestine’ label on Google Maps,” said a spokesman for Google. “However, we discovered a bug that removed the labels for ‘West Bank’ and ‘Gaza Strip’. We’re working quickly to get these labels back to the area.”
A glitch is nothing new in Harrod’s Creek. My steam powered computer and Bell+Howell camera are often persnickety. In the contentious part of world in which Palestine exists, the Google change has caught some attention.
The other story is about South Korea. Point your easily monitored browser at “Google Accused of Getting Free Ride on Map Data.” The issue, as i understand it, is the location of the map data. The notion of distributed computing is A OKAY with the Alphabet Google thing, but the concept seems to run counter to the wishes of a nation state. I learned:
Google’s recent attempts to carry South Korea’s geographical information outside the nation is mired in controversy. Those who oppose Google’s use and storage of the Korean map data overseas argue that sensitive security data, including locations of military facilities, would be exposed to external threats and Google wants to get a free ride by accessing the data for which the government and Korean firms spent trillions of won to develop.
The idea of using Google’s existing systems is not making some folks happy in
South Korea.
How will Google plot a course through the dangerous shoals of online maps. I experienced one solution a couple of years ago. Google did not include a location on a Google map. That works. Fortunately I was standing outside the Washington, DC eatery called Cuba Libre when I noticed the restaurant was not on the map.
If it is not on Google, the restaurant did not exist, at least at that point in time in front of the physical restaurant.
Logical, of course.
Stephen E Arnold, August 18, 2016
Yahoo and Its Five Mistakes Mom Insists You Must Not Make
August 18, 2016
I love parental inputs to commercial enterprises run by real professional managers, mavens, accountants, and lawyers. The advice is fascinating and almost as amusing as a 1946 episode of “The Jack Benny Show.”
Navigate to “5 Things Entrepreneurs and MBAs Should Learn from Yahoo’s Fall.” Let’s look at each of the admonitions. Mom, I promise that I am listening to you.
The first point is that Yahoo mixed up “being in the right place at the right time” as being smart. Okay, Yahoo was one of the first directories for the Internet. Since folks were struggling to get a sense of what the Internet was, Yahoo’s directory was a good place to start. The company followed its nose and ended up with a big valuation in those early Internet years almost a quarter century ago. The write up points out:
[Yahoo] should have built strong engineering foundation instead focusing on sales and revenue.
My thought is that Yahoo, like many other outfits at that time was trying to figure out how to keep the site online, cope with bandwidth issues, and pay for stuff. Looking back, mom, it is easy to do the shoulda woulda coulda. Yahoo is amazing for surviving as long as it did. Money, mom, is important. May I have my allowance now?
The second point in the write up is tough for me to figure out: “Yahoo forgot what had taken them there.” I am not sure Yahoo knew where the company was at any one point in time. The growth, the engineering challenges, the successes and the failures were one crazy blur. Yahoo in its hay day was like Google now but without the online advertising revenue. Sure, Yahoo had GoTo.com, Overture.com, and its own systems, but lacked the ability to do what Google did. In case you forgot, mom, Google focused on using online advertising to generate revenue from search. That’s it. The rest of Google did not exist. Yahoo had the disadvantage of being in the midst of a cyclone of opportunities. Yahoo, even today, cannot contain the environmental effects of being blindsided by success in its formative years. Mom, I don’t know what happened after the punch I drank.
The third point seems to be that Yahoo killed its “golden goose.” For Yahoo, selling its share of Alibaba was a bad idea. I am not sure that Yahoo management at any point in time could identify a goose, let alone a golden one. Mom, I don’t know why I jumped naked into the Wilson’s swimming pool last night. Honest. Yahoo was and remains a consequence of its formative experiences. Companies have cultural momentum. Change is not particularly effective. Mom, yes, I will pick up my room.
The fourth point is that Yahoo hired professional managers to fix up the company. See point three. Change is hard. Mom, yes, I will take out the garbage as soon as I get home from Jim’s house.
The fifth point is sort of an MBA diagram. Like many great MBA diagrams, the arrows offer several subtle management insights. Here’s the diagram:
Yahoo did not see opportunities. Yahoo ran into icebergs just like the Titanic. Mom, I promise I will enjoy my time in juvie detention. It will be okay. I have learned my lesson.
What the write up says, in my opinion, is that an entrepreneur riding a hugely successful, little understood roller coaster should:
- Understand that luck is not intelligence or, even better, wisdom
- Nosce Te Ipsum. Figure out what made one successful: Luck, lots of cash, inept competitors, users who came from the woodwork, etc.
- Do not kill sources of money
- Do not hire MBAs
- Recognize the next big thing and make it a huge success.
Easy. Just like growing up. Mom, you really helped me after I was arrested. I promise I won’t get in trouble again. Parental inputs were, are, and will be the type of information that often makes zero sense. Entrepreneurs, listen to your mother.
Stephen E Arnold, August 18, 2016
The Decline of Free Software As a Failure of Leadership and Relevance
August 18, 2016
The article on Datamation titled 7 Reasons Why Free Software Is Losing Influence investigates some of the causes for the major slowdown in FOSS (free and open software software). The article lays much of the blame at the feet of the leader of the Free Software Foundation (FSF), Richard Stallman. In spite of his major contributions to the free software movement, he is prickly and occasionally drops Joe Biden-esque gaffes detrimental to his cause. He also has an issue when it comes to sticking to his message and making his cause relevant. The article explains,
“Over the last few years, Richard Stallman has denounced cloud computing, e-books, cell phones in general, and Android in particular. In each case, Stallman has raised issues of privacy and consumer rights that others all too often fail to mention. The trouble is, going on to ignore these new technologies solves nothing, and makes the free software movement more irrelevant in people’s lives. Many people are attracted to new technologies, and others are forced to use them because others are.”
In addition to Stallman’s difficult personality, which only accounts for a small part of the decline in the FSF’s influence, the article also has other suggestions. Perhaps most importantly, the FSF is a tiny company without the resources to achieve its numerous goals like sponsoring the GNU Project, promoting social activism, and running campaigns against DRM and Windows.
Chelsea Kerwin, August 18, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
There is a Louisville, Kentucky Hidden /Dark Web meet up on August 23, 2016.
Information is at this link: https://www.meetup.com/Louisville-Hidden-Dark-Web-Meetup/events/233019199/
Read the Latest Release from…Virgil
August 18, 2016
The Vatican Library is one of the world’s greatest treasures, because it archives much of western culture’s history. It probably is on par with the legendary Library of Alexandria, beloved by Cleopatra and burned to the ground. How many people would love the opportunity to delve into the Vatican Library for a private tour? Thankfully the Vatican Library shares its treasures with the world via the Internet and now, according to Archaeology News Network, the “Vatican Library Digitises 1600 Year-Old Manuscript Containing Works Of Virgil.”
The digital version of Virgil’s work is not the only item the library plans to scan online, but it does promise donors who pledge 500 euros or more they will receive a faithful reproduction of a 1600 manuscript by the famous author. NTT DATA is working with the Vatican Library on Digita Vaticana, the digitization project. NTT DATA has worked with the library since April 2014 and plans to create digital copies of over 3,000 manuscripts to be made available to the general public.
“ ‘Our library is an important storehouse of the global culture of humankind,’ said Monsignor Cesare Pasini, Prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Library. ‘We are delighted the process of digital archiving will make these wonderful ancient manuscripts more widely available to the world and thereby strengthen the deep spirit of humankind’s shared universal heritage.’”
Projects like these point to the value of preserving the original work as well as making it available for research to people who might otherwise make it to the Vatican. The Vatican also limits the amount of people who can access the documents.
Whitney Grace, August 18, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
There is a Louisville, Kentucky Hidden /Dark Web meet up on August 23, 2016.
Information is at this link: https://www.meetup.com/Louisville-Hidden-Dark-Web-Meetup/events/233019199/
Has IBM Channeled Palantir with Augmented Intelligence?
August 17, 2016
I have been compiling publicly available information about Palantir Technologies, the former $20 billion unicorn. One of the factoids I located in my research was Palantir’s use of the notion intelligence augmentation. Palantir tries to make clear that humans are needed to get the most from the Gotham and Metropolitan products. This idea is somewhat old fashioned. There are some firms who explain that their content processing systems are intelligent, automatic, and really smart. As you may know, I think that marketers who suggest a new magic world of software is here and now are full of baloney. For some reason, when I describe a product or service as baloney, the wizards responsible for the product get really annoyed.
Augmented intelligence is a popular phrase. A quick check of my files related to search and content processing, turned up a number of prior uses of the phrase. These range from MondoBrain which offers “the most powerful simplest decision making and problem solving solution” to the slightly more modest write up by Matteo Pasquinelli.
In the intelligence niche, Palantir has been one of the companies bandying about the phrase “augmented intelligence” as a way to make clear that trained personnel are essential to the effective use of the Palantir framework. I like this aspect of Palantir because humans really are needed and many companies downplay that fact.
I read “IBM: AI Should Stand For ‘Augmented Intelligence’.” I love the parental “should” too. IBM, which owns the Palantir precursor and rival Analyst’s Notebook system wants to use the phrase too. Now the world of government intelligence is a relatively small group when compared to the users of Pokémon Go.
IBM, via what seems to be some content marketing, takes this position:
IBM says it is focused on augmented intelligence, systems that enhance human capabilities, rather than systems that aspire to replicate the full scope of human intelligence.
I am okay with this approach to smart software.
The write up adds this onion to the goulash:
IBM also acknowledges that AI must be trustworthy. The company argues that people will develop trust as they interact with AI systems over time, as they have done with ATMs. The key, the company suggests, will be ensuring that systems behave as we expect them to.
I check ATMs to make certain there is no false swiper technology attached to the user friendly gizmo, however.
The write up adds:
AI, IBM concludes, represents a partnership between people and machines, one that may alter the job landscape without eliminating jobs overall. The partnership comes with risks, the company says, but contends that the risks can be managed and mitigated.
My hunch is that IBM’s use of augmented intelligence may be a gentle poke at Palantir. Imagine a presentation before a group of US Army procurement professionals. IBM is pitching IBM Watson, a system consisting of open source software, home brew code, and technologies acquired by acquisition as the next big thing. IBM then tosses in the AI as augmented intelligence bedrock.
Palantir has made a similar presentation and presented Gotham and its integrated software system as an augmented intelligence framework.
How does a savvy US Army procurement professional determine how alike or dissimilar are the IBM and Palantir systems.
My thought about this semantic muddle is that both Palantir and IBM need to use language which makes the system differences more distinctive the way Endeca did. As you may know, Endeca in the late 1990s described its presentation of related content via links as “Guided Navigation.” The company then complained when another firm used its phrase. I think more about Endeca’s policing of this phrase as an innovation than I do Endeca’s computationally intensive approach to content processing.
I know I don’t use “Guided Navigation” when I am rested and talking about facets.
If I were IBM, I would search for lingo that makes sense. If I were Palantir, I would find a way to communicate the Gotham benefits in a distinctive manner.
There are significant differences between IBM Analyst’s Notebook and Palantir Gotham. Using the same phrase to describe each confuses me. I am pretty confident government procurement officials are not confused too much. Is it possible that IBM is having some fun with the AI definition as “augmented intelligence”?
Stephen E Arnold, August 17, 2016
The Force That through the Green Fuse Drives Search Baloney
August 17, 2016
I am quite skeptical about the results a free Web index presents when I look for information. I don’t want to single out any of the towering giants of Web search as spoofers, charlatans, and snake oil vendors but those ads and the quest for money are Job One.
I read “Why Poets Can Make Better Search Engines.” You may be able to access this write up for free or maybe not. A real journalistic outfit created the confection.
The idea is that search engines have to have the ability to form more poetic thoughts about what a user’s query “means.” I learned:
Artificial intelligence and machine intelligence are about decreasing the length of human perception. Google autocomplete is an attempt to shorten the time and path between thought and a response — to decrease the time and path between seeing something and categorizing it or identifying it and moving on.
The person making this statement is offered by a person working on Kensho, which is described as:
essentially a search engine for economic events and data.
Dig out your copy of Percy Bysshe Shelly’s collected poems. Use them as models for improving precision in recall in search. How exactly? Not important. As ee cummings wrote:
Unbeing dead isn’t being alive.
Got it.
Stephen E Arnold, August 17, 2016
Superior Customer Service Promised through the Accenture Virtual Agent Amelia
August 17, 2016
The article titled Accenture Forms New Business Unit Around IPsoft’s Amelia AI Platform on ZDNet introduces Amelia as a virtual agent capable of providing services in industries such as banking, insurance, and travel. Amelia looks an awful lot like Ava from the film Ex Machina, wherein an AI robot manipulates a young programmer by appealing to his empathy. Similarly, Accenture’s Amelia is supposed to be far more expressive and empathetic than her kin in the female AI world such as Siri or Amazon’s Alexa. The article states,
“Accenture said it will develop a suite of go-to-market strategies and consulting services based off of the Amelia platform…the point is to appeal to executives who “are overwhelmed by the plethora of technologies and many products that are advertising AI or Cognitive capabilities”…For Accenture, the formation of the Amelia practice is the latest push by the company to establish a presence in the rapidly expanding AI market, which research firm IDC predicts will reach $9.2 billion by 2019.”
What’s that behind Amelia, you ask? Looks like a parade of consultants ready and willing to advise the hapless executives who are so overwhelmed by their options. The Amelia AI Platform is being positioned as a superior customer service agent who will usher in the era of digital employees.
Chelsea Kerwin, August 17, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
There is a Louisville, Kentucky Hidden /Dark Web meet up on August 23, 2016.
Information is at this link: https://www.meetup.com/Louisville-Hidden-Dark-Web-Meetup/events/233019199/
SEO Is a Dirty Web Trick
August 17, 2016
Search engine optimization is the bane of Web experts. Why? If you know how to use it you can increase your rankings in search engines and drive more traffic to your pages, but if you are a novice at SEO you are screwed. Search Engine Land shares some bad SEO stories in “SEO Is As Dirty As Ever.”
SEO has a bad reputation in many people’s eyes, because it is viewed as a surreptitious way to increase traffic. However, if used correctly SEO is not only a nifty trick, but is a good tool. As with anything, however, it can go wrong. One bad SEO practice is using outdated techniques like keyword stuffing, copying and pasting text, and hidden text. Another common mistake is not having a noindex tag, blocking robots, JavaScript frameworks not being indexed.
Do not forget other shady techniques like the always famous shady sales, removing links, paid links, spam, link networks, removing links, building another Web site on a different domain, abusing review sites, and reusing content. One thing to remember is that:
“It’s not just local or niche companies that are doing bad things; in fact, enterprise and large websites can get away with murder compared to smaller sites. This encourages some of the worst practices I’ve ever seen, and some of these companies do practically everything search engines tell them not to do.”
Ugh! The pot is identifying another pot and complaining about its color and cleanliness.
Whitney Grace, August 17, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
There is a Louisville, Kentucky Hidden /Dark Web meet up on August 23, 2016.
Information is at this link: https://www.meetup.com/Louisville-Hidden-Dark-Web-Meetup/events/233019199/
HonkinNews for August 16, 2016
August 16, 2016
The weekly news program about search, online, and content processing is now available at https://youtu.be/mE3MGlmrUWc. In addition to comments about Goo!Hoo, IBM, and Microsoft, you will learn about grilling squirrel over a wood fire. Live from Harrod’s Creek.
Stephen E Arnold, August 16, 2016
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