Harvard: Does the University Sell What the Customer Wants?
September 22, 2016
I know that online facilitates many functions. One can look up information. One can make up information and disseminate it so the information becomes “accurate.” One can take money and combine many functions in one glorious paean to academic integrity and scholarly research.
Consider fat and sugar. The Harvard crowd prefers kale and spring water, but for the moment consider these two essential components of many university commissaries.
Why am I linking online and the complements of chocolate and salt? The answer is my reaction to “Sugar Industry Secretly Paid for Favorable Harvard Research.” For the moment, let’s assume that this article is spot on. Hey, if something is online, that something is accurate, factual, and dead right. Well, that is what Jasper and Olli, along with the rest of the Beyond Search barn yard crew believe.
The write up informed me:
As nutrition debates raged in the 1960s, prominent Harvard nutritionists published two reviews in a top medical journal downplaying the role of sugar in coronary heart disease. Newly unearthed documents reveal what they didn’t say: A sugar industry trade group initiated and paid for the studies, examined drafts, and laid out a clear objective to protect sugar’s reputation in the public eye.
Hmmm. “Paid for” means content marketing. Search engine optimization undermines precision and recall. The mobile crowd is not into either of these yardsticks. But folks who like Twinkies can relate to sugar and fat. Now it seems that fat may be slightly less problematic for the waistline than sugar.
The write up told me:
Kearns [an expert who found the pay for brains’ play] said the papers, which the trade group later cited in pamphlets provided to policymakers, aided the industry’s plan to increase sugar’s market share by convincing Americans to eat a low-fat diet.
Yep, death. I suppose that if a few people die because of flawed research data that’s okay. Harvard has many initiatives to help those who have issues. However, Harvard does like to take care of itself and its available cash and assorted reserves.
Another maven’s comment received the fatty yellow highlight for this passage:
Marion Nestle, a nutrition expert at New York University who was not involved in the paper, said she’s still not convinced by those who argue that “sugar is poison” — a person’s total calorie consumption could matter more. But she called the UCSF findings a “smoking gun” — rare, hard evidence of the food industry meddling in science. “Science is not supposed to work this way,” she wrote in an accompanying commentary. “Is it really true that food companies deliberately set out to manipulate research in their favor? Yes, it is, and the practice continues,” Nestle added, noting that Coca-Cola and candy makers have both tried recently to influence nutrition research.
I am confident that Harvard can explain its venturing into the esteemed field of content marketing. I love that Harvard athletic program too. But I am even more fond of Harvard research than I was before learning about pay to play. I need a kale sandwich and a bottle of spring water. 23 skidoo to integrity in academe.
Stephen E Arnold, September 22, 2016
Text and Data Analysis: Cyber Profiling for Everyone
September 22, 2016
Cyber security experts are taking a leaf out of The FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit and are profiling cyber criminals. However, the parameter here used for profiling is just one – language.
In an article titled #CloudSec2016: Cybercrime Underground by Geography that appeared in the Info Security magazine, the author says that –
Rather than categorize by country, McArdle categorized “the big three cybercrime undergrounds” by language. He considers Russian-speaking countries; English-speaking countries; and China, to be the most notable.
Robert McArdle of Trend Micro who has been quoted in the article states that –
The Russian – and I refer to all Russian-speaking countries, including the Ukraine – cybercrime underground is the oldest and most mature. They’re cybercrime pioneers, with most threats starting in Russia and then moving elsewhere.
In the US, three cyber-attacks occur every minute, 170 every hour and 1.5 million every year. Total loss suffered due to such cybercrimes is around $400 billion per year, a staggering figure.
However, here in rural Kentucky we try not to generalize; for example, pundits who suggest that cyber-crimes emanate from Russia or Russian speaking countries. The cyber underground is very active in US too where teens have been arrested for breaking into Federal agencies’ servers.
Unlike conventional crimes, forensic profiling has never been attempted on cyber-criminals. We think cyber profiling is a freight train rolling down high speed rails.
Vishal Ingole, September 22, 2016
Watch out for Falling Burritos
September 22, 2016
Amazon and Wal-Mart are already trying to deliver packages by drones, but now a Mexican restaurant wants in on the automated delivery game. Bloomberg Technology tells the story in “Alphabet And Chipotle Are Bringing Burrito Delivery Drones To Campus.” If you think you can now order a burrito and have it delivered to you via drone, sorry to
tell you that the service is only available on the Virginia Tech campus. Alphabet Inc. unit Project Wing has teamed up with Chipotle Mexican Grill for the food delivery service.
Self-guided hybrid drones will deliver the burritos. The burritos will come from a nearby food truck, so the navigation will be accurate and also so the food will be fresh. The best part is that when the drones are making the delivery, they will hover and lower the burritos with a winch.
While the drones will be automated, human pilots will be nearby to protect people on campus from falling burritos and in case the drones veer from their flight pattern. The FAA approved the burrito delivering drone test, but the association is hesitant to clear unmanned drones for bigger deliver routes.
…the experiment will not assess one of the major technology hurdles facing drone deliveries: creation of a low-level air-traffic system that can maintain order as the skies become more crowded with unmanned vehicles. NASA is working with Project Wing and other companies to develop the framework for such a system. Data from the tests will be provided to the FAA to help the agency develop new rules allowing deliveries…
The drone burrito delivery at Virginia Tech is believed to be the most complex delivery flight operation in the US. It is a test for a not too distant future when unmanned drones deliver packages and food. It will increase the amount of vehicles in the sky, but it will also put the delivery business in jeopardy. Once more things change and more jobs become obsolete.
Whitney Grace, September 22, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
There is a Louisville, Kentucky Hidden Web/Dark Web meet up on September 27, 2016.
Information is at this link: https://www.meetup.com/Louisville-Hidden-Dark-Web-Meetup/events/233599645/
Gleaning Insights and Advantages from Semantic Tagging for Digital Content
September 22, 2016
The article titled Semantic Tagging Can Improve Digital Content Publishing on Aptara Corp. blog reveals the importance of indexing. The article waves the flag of semantic tagging at the publishing industry, which has been pushed into digital content kicking and screaming. The difficulties involved in compatibility across networks, operating systems, and a device are quite a headache. Semantic tagging could help, if only anyone understood what it is. The article enlightens us,
Put simply, semantic markups are used in the behind-the-scene operations. However, their importance cannot be understated; proprietary software is required to create the metadata and assign the appropriate tags, which influence the level of quality experienced when delivering, finding and interacting with the content… There have been many articles that have agreed the concept of intelligent content is best summarized by Ann Rockley’s definition, which is “content that’s structurally rich and semantically categorized and therefore automatically discoverable, reusable, reconfigurable and adaptable.
The application to the publishing industry is obvious when put in terms of increasing searchability. Any student who has used JSTOR knows the frustrations of searching digital content. It is a complicated process that indexing, if administered correctly, will make much easier. The article points out that authors are competing not only with each other, but also with the endless stream of content being created on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Publishers need to take advantage of semantic markups and every other resource at their disposal to even the playing field.
Chelsea Kerwin, September 22, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
There is a Louisville, Kentucky Hidden Web/Dark Web meet up on September 27, 2016.
Information is at this link: https://www.meetup.com/Louisville-Hidden-Dark-Web-Meetup/events/233599645/
Singularity 1on1: Fund Raising Event
September 22, 2016
Editor’s note: To donate to Singularity 1on1, click this link[.
In a conversation with Nikola Danaylov, the engaging entrepreneur behind Singularity 1 on 1, has tallied more than four million downloads. When I first met him, he referenced Socrates, the Athenian philosopher. Danaylov’s approach to information is based on questions. My thought is that he is the modern counterpart to the individuals who learn and cause others to learn via rigorous questioning. The remarkable video interview series has been featured on BBC, ArteTV, and TV Japan, among other high impact outlets.
The service, available at this link, is a conversation about exponential growth, accelerating change, artificial intelligence and ethics – because technology is not enough.
The main idea is that we are not experiencing a shift in technology but rather a shift in humanity. So everything that we know for certain is certainly going to change if we are to survive the 21st century; for example, political processes, economics, law, religion, and the very meaning of what it means to be human.
Danaylov told me:
The blog is not meant to provide definitive answers, but rather, to ask the tough questions in an attempt to generate discussion, provoke thought and stir the imagination. It aims to spark a conversation about the impact of technology, exponential growth and artificial intelligence where everyone’s opinions and participation are greatly encouraged.
He added:
So while I do not shy to provide my opinion but place no claim on its superiority because the goal is to get the audience actively involved in the ever-evolving conversation about the future of humanity.
From my vantage point, Singularity Weblog’s value may be not so much in the answers it provides, but in the Questions it raises — the kind that everybody could or should be asking.
In addition to the video interviews, Singularity Weblog:
- Publishes relevant articles by Socrates and his friends.
- Posts interviews with the best scientists, writers, entrepreneurs, film-makers, journalists, philosophers and artists.
- Brings attention to relevant news stories, films, media and scientific developments.
- Provides an online discussion forum where readers and supporters can start a conversation on issues important to them.
- Gives people a platform to write and share your own great content.
Danaylov is deeply in love with learning but keenly aware that his personal knowledge is always going to be dwarfed by his ignorance: a man who knows that he doesn’t know; a man with many questions and few answers of his own… Thus Singularity Weblog is, and will always remain to be, an open and collaborative work in progress. And Nikola is, and will remain to be, a student and a host, rather than a teacher or an owner.
Yet, I learned that Danaylov is of the strong belief that we can attain profound insights by asking challenging questions in the company of good people, gathered within an open, informal and interactive symposium. Danaylov hopes to be the midwife, and Singularity Weblog – the setting, where you come to examine the questions, search for your answers, challenge, be challenged and, ultimately, give birth to your own ideas.
It is for this reason that, having spent the past six years producing over 900 articles and interviewing more than 190 of the world’s best known experts, Danaylov has made his treasure trove of information available without charge.
He has a crowd funding campaign underway. Beyond Search readers can support his work at InterviewTheFuture.com.
I asked him what’s next for Singularity 1on1 and the Web log. He replied:
After doing 200 interviews I have learned that it is perhaps best to keep those secret until they are totally recorded, edited and ready for publishing. So you will have to subscribe to the Singularity 1on1 podcast to find out.
As part of my support for Danaylov’s information service, I noted this statement from Darian Wawer:
“There are probably only three things that have impacted my life to such an extent. Carl Sagan with his love for science, Elon Musk and his dedication to improving the quality of the world we live in and finally, the third person would be… Nikola Danaylov with his website Singularity Weblog. Obviously, there are a thousand people whose work I deeply appreciate (Kurzweil, Natasha-More, and so forth) but you are the hub that allows us to stay connected. You have also committed and sacrificed a lot to do so. You are the real deal.”
For more information about Danaylov’s impact, see https://www.singularityweblog.com/testimonials.
Stephen E Arnold, September 22, 2016
Brontobyes on the Move
September 21, 2016
I read “Basic Understanding of Big Data. What Is This and How It Is Going to Solve Complex Problems.” My initial reaction was that the article recycled Hewlett Packard Enterprise marketing exhaust. The author describes himself as:
a Software Geek, graduated in Computer Science and Engineering, and currently working as a BigData Developer in one of the leading MultiNational Company. (sic)
For me, the main idea in the article is that there is a great deal of Big Data sloshing around the datasphere. For proof, the write up reproduces an image from Hewlett Packard, and outfit now focused on infrastructure and consulting. The software has been spun off into an arm’s length outfit to the applause of lawyers, investment bankers, and accountants.
It appears that HPE has calculated that every 60 second these digital emissions take place:
- More than 98,000 tweets
- 595,000 Facebook status updates
- 11 million instant messages
- 698,445 Google search
- More than 168 million emails sent
- 1,820 terabytes of data created (no word on whether this is double counting of the tweets, instant messages, etc.)
- 217 new mobile Web users.
Nifty numbers but no footnote. My question? What are the sources of these data?
The article then trots out the Dracula lurking in the shadows—Big Data. Again Hewlett Packard Enterprise becomes the source of the fangs. A visual which looks like a PowerPoint slide says that we have “gone beyond the decimal systems.” Really? I particularly liked the introduction of the “brontobyte.” According to the art work, a brontobyte is a one followed by 27 zeros. Oh, I thought the decimal system was dead yet we are using it to explain this big numeric concept. Strikes me as goose feathers.
I was thrilled to see that the article then shifts gears to embrace IBM’s jargon about volume, variety, and velocity or the three Vs of Big Data. Data problems are really bad when the three Vs come into the game.
The article then introduces some technical concepts which have been kicking around since the late 1990s.
The author then tells me:
this article talks about only a glass of water from the entire ocean. Go get started and take a dip dive in the bigdata world or if i can say BigData Planet 🙂
Several observations:
- Recycling the marketing of a company like Hewlett Packard does not inspire confidence in the factual foundation of the article
- Dipping into IBM’s marketing jargon just makes me nervous. IBM has been lining up declining revenues for years
- Urging me to “take a dip” in the “bigdata world” (sic) is advice that is wonky.
What I liked about the write up was the inclusion of the report that “we have gone beyond the decimal system.” Sounds crazy to me. What if the brontobyte is carnivorous and hungry for Big Data expert stew.
Stephen E Arnold, September 21, 2016
Alphabet Google Faces a Secret Foe
September 21, 2016
I thought indexing the world’s information made it possible to put together disparate items of information. Once assembled, these clues from the world of real time online content would allow a person with access to answer a business question.
Apparently for Alphabet Google it faces a secret foe. I learned this by reading “Secretive Foe Attacks Google over Government Influence.” I learned:
Google has come under attack by a mysterious group that keeps mum about its sponsors while issuing scathing reports about the Mountain View search giant’s influence on government.
The blockbuster write up reported:
So far, only Redwood Shores-based Oracle has admitted to funding the Transparency Project, telling Fortune it wanted the public to know about its support for the initiative.
Yikes, a neighbor based at the now long gone Sea World.
The outfit going after the lovable Alphabet Google thing is called the Transparency Group. The excited syntax of the write up told me:
The Transparency Project commenced hostilities against Google in April, gaining national media attention with a report tracking the number of Googlers taking jobs in the White House and federal agencies, and the number of federal officials traveling in the other direction, into Google. Project researchers reported 113 “revolving door” moves between Google — plus its associated companies, law firms and lobbyists — and the White House and federal agencies.
Okay, but back to my original point. With the world’s information at one’s metaphorical fingerprints, is it not possible to process email, Google Plus, user search histories, and similar data laden troves for clues about the Transparency Group?
Perhaps the Alphabet Google entity lacks the staff and software to perform this type of analysis? May I suggest a quick telephone call to Palantir Technologies. From what I understand by reading open source information about the Gotham product, Palantir can knit together disparate and fragmented data and put the members of the Transparency Group on the map in a manner of speaking.
I understand the concept of finding fault with a near perfect company. But the inability of a search giant to find out who, what, when, where, what, how, and why baffles me.
It does not, as an old school engineer with a pocket protector might say, compute.
Stephen E Arnold, September 14, 2016
Open Source Log File Viewer Glogg
September 21, 2016
Here is an open source solution for those looking to dig up information within large and complex log files; BetaNews shares, “View and Search Huge Log Files with Glogg.” The software reads directly from your drive, saving time and keeping memory free (or at least as free as it was before.) Reviewer, Mike Williams tells us:
Glogg’s interface is simple and uncluttered, allowing anyone to use it as a plain text viewer. Open a log, browse the file, and the program grabs and displays new log lines as they’re added. There’s also a search box. Enter a plain text keyword, a regular or extended regular expression and any matches are highlighted in the main window and displayed in a separate pane. Enable ‘auto-refresh’ and glogg reruns searches as lines are added, ensuring the matches are always up-to-date. Glogg also supports ‘filters’, essentially canned searches which change text color in the document window. You could have lines containing ‘error’ displayed as black on red, lines containing ‘success’ shown black on green, and as many others as you need.
Williams spotted some more noteworthy features, like a quick-text search, highlighted matches, and helpful Next and Previous buttons. He notes the program is not exactly chock-full of fancy features, but suggests that is probably just as well for this particular task. Glogg runs on 64-bit Windows 7 and later, and on Linux.
Cynthia Murrell, September 21, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
There is a Louisville, Kentucky Hidden Web/Dark Web meet up on September 27, 2016.
Information is at this link: https://www.meetup.com/Louisville-Hidden-Dark-Web-Meetup/events/233599645/
Featurespace Raises Capital for Bank Fraud Monitoring Technology
September 21, 2016
Monitoring online fraud has become an increasingly popular application for machine learning and search technology. The Telegraph reported Cambridge AI fraud detection group raises £6.2m. The company, Featurespace, grew out of Cambridge University and its ARIC technology goes beyond rule-based fraud-detection. It scans all activity on a network and thus learns what registers as fraudulent or suspicious. The write-up tells us,
The company has now raised $9m (£6.2m), which it will use to open a US office after signing two big stateside deals. The funding is led by US fintech investor TTV Capital – the first time it has backed a UK company – and early stage investors Imperial Innovations and Nesta.
Mike Lynch, the renowned technology investor who founded software group Autonomy before its $11.7bn sale to Hewlett Packard, has previously invested in the company and sits on its board. Ms King said Featurespace had won a contract with a major US bank, as well as payments company TSYS, which processes MasterCard and Visa transactions.”
Overall, the company aims to protect consumers from credit and debit card fraud. The article reminds us that millions of consumers have been affected by stolen credit and debit card information. Betfair, William Hill and VocaLink are current customers of Featurespace and several banks are using its technology too. Will this become a big ticket application for these machine learning technologies?
Megan Feil, September 21, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
There is a Louisville, Kentucky Hidden Web/Dark Web meet up on September 27, 2016.
Information is at this link: https://www.meetup.com/Louisville-Hidden-Dark-Web-Meetup/events/233599645/
Algorithmic Bias: CPD or Cute Puppy Delta
September 20, 2016
With the publication of “Weapons of Math Destruction,” algorithmic bias identification has become the new parlor game. I enjoyed the write up with the cute puppy title “For More Proof Algorithms Can Be Biased, Look No Further Than Cute Puppies.”
The main point of the write up struck me as:
If men preferred small dogs and women preferred large dogs, and the researchers used more data from men, then the algorithm would lean towards ranking smaller dogs cuter, because those dogs are better-known by the algorithm.
My immediate reaction is that this type of training set bias is commonplace.
More interesting are the following biases in algorithms:
- Selecting the numerical recipes to use for numerical alchemy
- Sequencing of the chains of numerical recipes
- Threshold settings for the numerical recipes
- Methods for automatic or semi automatic threshold adjustments.
There’s more to bias than meets the eyes of puppy lovers. That’s the CPD or cute puppy delta.
Stephen E Arnold, September 20, 2016
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