Quote to Note: Google Glass Not Working Very Well
January 28, 2017
Here’s a quote to note. I have zero idea if the wizard Sergey Brin actually said what “Google Co Founder Sergey Brin: I Didn’t See AI Coming” said. Here’s the passage I highlighted:
Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google and one of the most successful Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, says he did not foresee the artificial intelligence revolution that has transformed the tech industry. “I didn’t pay attention to it at all, to be perfectly honest,” he said in a session at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos. “Having been trained as a computer scientist in the 90s, everybody knew that AI didn’t work. People tried it, they tried neural nets and none of it worked.”
I liked this statement as well:
“What can these things do? We don’t really know the limits,” said Brin. “It has incredible possibilities. I think it’s impossible to forecast accurately.”
I thought Google owned a stake in Recorded Future, an outfit which specializes in predictive analytics. So Google’s fancy math, its own engineering wizards, its economists, and its own promising investments provided no alerts, insights, or prognostications?
Or, and this is interesting, did Mr. Brin, the champion of Google Glass, see through them darkly?
Stephen E Arnold, January 28, 2017
IBM Watson: Now About Generating Big Revenue
January 27, 2017
To IBM’s credit, since the “weather” changed, IBM’s Watson marketing has been less fun for me. I did enjoy reading “Elementary, My Dear IBM: When Will Watson Make Money?” I prefer the concept of substantial, sustainable revenue which generates profits for stakeholders, but the write up’s title is pretty good.
After asking this important question, the write up states:
IBM Watson has taken heat from Wall Street for not adding to Big Blue’s revenue as the company reported a 19th successive quarter of decline.
That’s quite a track record. Nineteen of anything in a row is difficult to pull off. Way to go, IBM.
I highlighted this passage as well:
But quizzing executives following IBM’s financial report on the fourth quarter of 2016, Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty noted that although Watson was getting a “pretty significant share of the press” – to put it mildly – unlike the other businesses that it was cited alongside, Watson was “not contributing to revenue”. Huberty probed when Watson would start bringing in money. IBM admitted to shaving spent a combined $16bn on R&D and acquisitions during 2016, including buying 15 companies such as the $2.6bn acquisition of Truven Health Analytics.
I put a Big Blue exclamation point next to this passage. IBM’s CFO commented about Watson’s payoff this way:
revenue would come through Watson serving IBM’s strategic imperatives and cognitive software. Watson is the “silver thread” running though Watson Health and Financial Services, IBM’s IoT and security, he said. “Watson is firmly, firmly established as the silver thread that runs through those cognitive solutions and you can see all of that in the solution software performance.”
Okay, shareholders, there’s your answer. What can one weave with silver thread? How about some silver thread pants for the executive who needs to slay financial dragons in World of Warcraft.
Stephen E Arnold, January 27, 2017
Semantic Search and Old Style Marketing
January 27, 2017
I read “It Used to Be So Easy to Get Google to Love You Now Not So Much.” I find it amusing that marketing methods which are ineffectual are still used in Google’s mobile oriented, buy-ad world. Here’s a great example from a small company trying to become a headliner.
Years ago I worked on a US government project. I developed a system which manipulated certain Web search systems’ indexing. It seems to me that one outfit has tried to emulate the DNA of my method. You can see the example of content marketing which is designed to polish a halo for a company involved in indexing. Yep, I know indexing is not exactly what makes the venture capitalists’ heart pound. But indexing has a long tradition of being
- Expensive
- Labor intensive if one wants to deliver precision and recall in search results
- Intellectually demanding, particularly when smart software goes off the rails so often
- Tough to make magnetic.
The write up “Searching with Semantic Technology” summarizes a write up in a “thought leader” publication. There is a parental reminder to remember how important indexing is. There is a concluding statement which explains that natural language processing plays a role in delivering search results. The buzzword “semantic” is repeated.
The only hitch in the git along is that the effort to trigger a Web search system using this abstract, keyword, and allegedly critical comment is that it is old and no longer works very well.
Why? Let me point out:
- Queries come from mobile device users. Some topics don’t lend themselves to mobile methods. It follows that methods based in whole or in part on the methods I developed and explained in my articles over the years are a bit like multiple Xerox copies of an original document. Faded and often useless.
- The jargon problem plagues those with niche capabilities. I pointed out in my cacaphone write up and compilation of buzzwords that most folks don’t have a clue what words mean. A good example is “semantic,” a term which has been devalued and applied to everything from marketing search engines to metasearch engines and more.
- The Web indexing systems have shifted over the years from reliance of a handful of proven indexing methods to wrappers of code which act “smart.” Results lists are essentially unpredictable today. Spoofing with words is a bit like shooting a handgun at the ocean in the hope of killing a fish.
For more information on an old system which doesn’t work very well anymore, navigate to www.augmentext.com. For more examples of marketing material which uses an ineffectual method to add razzle dazzle to a capability which is at best boring and more often of minimal interest, read the blog which serves as the home to this “insight.”
Kenny Toth, January 27, 2017
Some Web Hosting Firms Overwhelmed by Scam Domains
January 27, 2017
An article at Softpedia should be a wakeup call to anyone who takes the issue of online security lightly—“One Crook Running Over 120 Tech Support Scam Domains on GoDaddy.” Writer Catalin Cimpanu explains:
A crook running several tech support scam operations has managed to register 135 domains, most of which are used in his criminal activities, without anybody preventing him from doing so, which shows the sad state of Web domain registrations today. His name and email address are tied to 135 domains, as MalwareHunterTeam told Softpedia. Over 120 of these domains are registered and hosted via GoDaddy and have been gradually registered across time.
The full list is available at the end of this article (text version here), but most of the domains look shady just based on their names. Really, how safe do you feel navigating to ‘security-update-needed-sys-filescorrupted-trojan-detected[.]info’? How about ‘personal-identity-theft-system-info-compromised[.]info’?
Those are ridiculously obvious, but it seems to be that GoDaddy’s abuse department is too swamped to flag and block even these flagrant examples. At least that hosting firm does have an abuse department; many, it seems, can only be reached through national CERT teams. Other hosting companies, though, respond with the proper urgency when abuse is reported—Cimpanu holds up Bluehost and PlanetHoster as examples. That is something to consider for anyone who thinks the choice of hosting firm is unimportant.
We are reminded that educating ourselves is the best protection. The article links to a valuable tech support scam guide provided by veteran Internet security firm Malwarebytes, and suggests studying the wikis or support pages of other security vendors.
Cynthia Murrell, January 27, 2017
A New Search Engine Targeting Scientific Researchers Touts AI
January 27, 2017
The article titled How a New AI Powered Search Engine Is Changing How Neuroscientists Do Research on Search Engine Watch discusses the new search engine geared towards scientific researchers. It is called Semantic Scholar, and it uses AI to provide a comprehensive resource to scientists. The article explains,
This new search engine is actually able to think and analyze a study’s worth. GeekWire notes that, “Semantic Scholar uses data mining, natural language processing, and computer vision to identify and present key elements from research papers.” The engine is able to understand when a paper is referencing its own study or results from another source. Semantic Scholar can then identify important details, pull figures, and compare one study to thousands of other articles within one field.
This ability to rank and sort papers by relevance is tremendously valuable given the vast number of academic papers online. Google Scholar, by comparison, might lead a researcher in the right direction with its index of over 200 million articles, it simply does not have the same level of access to metadata that researchers need such as how often a paper or author has been cited. The creators of Semantic Scholar are not interested in competing with Google, but providing a niche search engine tailored to meet the needs of the scientific community.
Chelsea Kerwin, January 27, 2017
Looking for Insight and Universal Search: Dip in the Insightpool
January 26, 2017
I read “Insightpool Launches World’s Largest Influencer Search Engine.” I think I know what an influencer is. That is a person to whom others turn for guidance, insight, a phone call, or invitations to parties. I also know what an “influence peddler” is. That’s a person who delivers introductions, pressure, content marketing in various forms, and maybe for enough cash a good word to a really important person.
How does one find these folks? Easy. Use the University search system for influencers.
I learned:
With Universal Search, brand marketers can search for influencers across 100 social networks including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and other niche social communities such as Yelp!, Reddit, and Weibo. Additionally, they can view key insights by influencer segment to understand follower size and reach, conversation sentiment, frequency of activity and other characteristics. Marketers not only save significant time in selecting the right influencer, but also gain more detailed information about the influencers most likely to actively engage in their strategic campaigns. This leads to higher performance and conversions.
Okay. This is slightly different from getting a meeting with a senator’s administrative aide or wrangling a face to face with one of Google’s vice presidents of engineering.
The top influencer at Insightpool said:
“This is the largest influencer database on the planet. Other influencer platforms offer fewer than 100,000 at most. The real benefit with Universal Search lies in its pure simplicity — using a familiar search bar to find the most relevant influencers. It used to take days to identify the right people for a campaign. Now it takes seconds.”
You can run your queries using the “influencer marketing platform.” Tap into a search system that
blends together our mission of connecting brands and people on social media. We are not just an intelligent Influencer Marketing platform, we are not just a tech company, we are creators and innovators dedicated to revolutionizing the way brands build relationships and create measurable results through social channels. Since inception in 2013, our customers have helped refine the product roadmap, which has dramatically expanded to pioneering concepts such as identification, prediction, automated social drip marketing campaigns, nurturing and creating measurable insights that give brands results and revenue.
There you go. A search engine for those who want real information.
Stephen E Arnold, January 26, 2017
Voice Search: An Amazon and Google Dust Up
January 26, 2017
I read “Amazon and Google Fight Crucial Battle over Voice Recognition.” I like the idea that Amazon and Google are macho brawlers. I think of folks who code as warriors. Hey, just because some programmers wear their Comicon costumes to work in Mountain View and Seattle, some may believe that code masters are wimps. Obviously they are not. The voice focused programmers are tough, tough dudes and dudettes.
I learned from a “real” British newspaper that two Viking-inspired warrior cults are locked in a battle. The fate of the voice search world hangs in the balance. Why is this dust up covered in more depth on Entertainment Tonight or the talking head “real” news television programs.
I learned:
The retail giant has a threatening lead over its rival with the Echo and Alexa, as questions remain over how the search engine can turn voice technology into revenue.
What? If there is a battle, it seems that Amazon has a “threatening lead.” How will Google respond? Online advertising? New products like the Pixel which, in some areas, is not available due to production and logistics issues?
No. Here’s the scoop from the Fleet Street experts:
The risk to Google is that at the moment, almost everyone starting a general search at home begins at Google’s home page on a PC or phone. That leads to a results page topped by text adverts – which help generate about 90% of Google’s revenue, and probably more of its profits. But if people begin searching or ordering goods via an Echo, bypassing Google, that ad revenue will fall. And Google has cause to be uncomfortable. The shift from desktop to mobile saw the average number of searches per person fall as people moved to dedicated apps; Google responded by adding more ads to both desktop and search pages, juicing revenues. A shift that cut out the desktop in favor of voice-oriented search, or no search at all, would imperil its lucrative revenue stream.
Do I detect a bit of glee in this passage? Google is responding in what is presented as a somewhat predictable way:
Google’s natural reaction is to have its own voice-driven home system, in Home. But that poses a difficulty, illustrated by the problems it claims to solve. At the device’s launch, one presenter from the company explained how it could speak the answer to questions such as “how do you get wine stains out of a rug?” Most people would pose that question on a PC or mobile, and the results page would offer a series of paid-for ads. On Home, you just get the answer – without ads.
Hasn’t Google read “The Art of War” which advises:
“Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”
My hunch is that this “real” news write up is designed to poke the soft underbelly of Googzilla. That sounds like a great idea. Try this with your Alexa, “Alexa, how do I hassle Google?”
Stephen E Arnold, January 26, 2017
Declassified CIA Data Makes History Fun
January 26, 2017
One thing I have always heard to make kids more interested in learning about the past is “making it come alive.” Textbooks suck at “making anything come alive” other than naps. What really makes history a reality and more interesting are documentaries, eyewitnesses, and actual artifacts. The CIA has a wealth of history and History Tech shares with us some rare finds: “Tip Of The Week: 8 Decades Of Super Cool Declassified CIA Maps.” While the CIA Factbook is one of the best history and geography tools on the Web, the CIA Flickr account is chock full of declassified goodies, such as spy tools, maps, and more.
The article’s author shared that:
The best part of the Flickr account for me is the eight decades of CIA maps starting back in the 1940s prepared for the president and various government agencies. These are perfect for helping provide supplementary and corroborative materials for all sorts of historical thinking activities. You’ll find a wide variety of map types that could also easily work as stand-alone primary source.
These declassified maps were actually used by CIA personnel, political advisors, and presidents to make decisions that continue to impact our lives today. The CIA flickr account is only one example of how the Internet is a wonderful tool for making history come to life. Although you need to be cautious about where the information comes from since these are official CIA records they are primary sources.
Whitney Grace, January 26, 2017
Google Needs a Time-Out for Censorship, But Who Will Enforce Regulations
January 26, 2017
The article on U.S. News and World Report titled The New Censorship offers a list of the ways in which Google is censoring its content, and builds a compelling argument for increased regulation of Google. Certain items on the list, such as pro-life music videos being removed from YouTube, might have you rolling your eyes, but the larger point is that Google simply has too much power over what people see, hear, and know. The most obvious problem is Google’s ability to squash a business simply by changing its search algorithm, but the myriad ways that it has censored content is really shocking. The article states,
No one company, which is accountable to its shareholders but not to the general public, should have the power to instantly put another company out of business or block access to any website in the world. How frequently Google acts irresponsibly is beside the point; it has the ability to do so, which means that in a matter of seconds any of Google’s 37,000 employees with the right passwords or skills could laser a business or political candidate into oblivion…
At times the article sounds like a sad conservative annoyed that the most influential company in the world tends toward liberal viewpoints. Hearing white male conservatives complain about discrimination is always a little off-putting, especially when you have politicians like Rand Paul still defending the right of businesses to refuse service based on skin color. But from a liberal standpoint, just because Google often supports left-wing causes like gun control or the pro-choice movement doesn’t mean that it deserves a free ticket to decide what people are exposed to. Additionally, the article points out that the supposed “moral stands” made by Google are often revealed to be moneymaking or anticompetitive schemes. Absolute power corrupts no matter who yields it, and companies must be scrutinized to protect the interests of the people.
Chelsea Kerwin, January 26, 2017
The SEO, PPC Baloney Sandwich: Total Search Can Be Dangerous
January 25, 2017
I love the clever folks’ ability to make language do tricks. I read “Unleashing the Potential of ‘Total’ Search.” The write up itself strikes me as a bit of content marketing. The objective is to whip up enthusiasm for a Breakfast Briefing “event.” I am okay with PR. I am not okay with taking a nifty word like search and morphing it into one of those online advertising concepts which confuse and lure the unwary.
The SEO and PPC baloney dog. It can be your pal and your meal ticket… if someone bites.
Total search, according to the write up, is “a holistic approach to search marketing which considers SEO [search engine optimization, that old relevance killer] and PPC [pay for click, that buy traffic approach pioneered by GoTo.com years ago] as a single channel.”
Search has a slightly different meaning to some folks here in down home rural Kentucky. Dictionary.com offers this definition:
1. to go or look through (a place, area, etc.)carefully in order to find something missing or lost:
They searched the woods for the missing child. I searched the desk for the letter.
2. to look at or examine (a person, object, etc.)carefully in order to find something concealed:
He searched the vase for signs of a crack. The police searched the suspect for weapons.
3. to explore or examine in order to discover:
They searched the hills for gold.
4. to look at, read, or examine (a record, writing,collection, repository, etc.) for information:
to search a property title; He searched the courthouse for a record of the deed to the land.
TheFreeDictionary.com says:
1. To move around in, go through, or look through in an effort to find something: searched the room for her missing earring; searched the desk for a pen.
2. To make a careful examination or investigation of; probe: search one’s conscience for the right thing to do.
3. Law To examine (a person or property) for the purpose of discovering evidence of a crime.
Verb transitive
1. To search a place or space in order to find something: searched all afternoon for my wallet.
2. To make a careful examination or investigation: searching for the right words to say.
3. Law To make a search for evidence.
noun
1. An act of searching.
2. Law The examination of a person or property, as by a law enforcement officer, for the purpose of discovering evidence of a crime.
3. A control mechanism on an audio or video player that rapidly advances or reverses the playing of a recording.
I suppose the inclusion of the word “total” allows the word search to become so much more to the wizard who is defining “total search” as marketing and ad buys.
The “total search” write up explains that “We live in a C2B world.” That means, I believe, “consumer to business world.”
Sorry. I don’t live in that world. I live in a world in which finding specific information, determining which information is either accurate or reasonably credible, and then analyzing that information in an effort to become more informed is important.
Presenting off point, inaccurate information is not my cup of tea.
How does one deliver “total search”? Here’s the “answer”:
There are several ways that a brand can realize the full potential of this approach. Some are fairly simple to implement, such as combining keyword research or aligning landing page testing. These can be merged into a single stream of work by your internal teams or agencies and will lead to immediate returns. Others (unifying leadership and introducing one search objective, for example) are likely to be more involved and may require a radical step-change in your organizational structure, driven from the top down. There are many other ways, which, in combination, can bring more benefits than the sum of the individual parts and drive significant incremental gains. Those brands that embrace a Total Search approach will be the ones that will more frequently be able to solve consumers’ problems and ultimately emerge successful.
There you go.
Think about this type of “search” in these three contexts:
- Your child is ill. One of the medical researchers at the hospital where doctors are trying to figure out how to address the disease presenting itself use “total search” to determine a course of action. Forget that baloney about precision and recall when searching the medical literature. Go for the content marketed drugs and the information delivered by an online ad. Care much about your child’s health? What’s your answer, gentle reader?
- You are involved in an accident. Three parties are involved, but only you have been injured. Your attorney is struggling to determine what coverage your automobile insurance provides. One of the other parties to the accident has decided to sue you even though your semi autonomous automobile was unable to avoid the collision caused by a vehicle hitting your car from behind. The momentum pushed your vehicle into a day care center van. Are you expecting your attorney to use free online Web search systems to locate legal information germane to your particular situation? How do you select your attorney? An ad supported online search?
- You are involved in a government project. You have to assemble information about a specific bad actor in a specific location. Your input will have a direct impact on the success or failure of the mission. This means that young men and women may die if you provide information that is not on point, accurate, and valid for that particular action. Are you prepared to rely on digital systems and content manipulated to get you to read information which is swizzled and promoted?
In each of these situations, the silliness and danger associated with “total search” becomes apparent to me. If you think that “total search” is just the ticket for you, you frighten me. A tainted baloney sandwich with slabs of SEO and PPC is not something too appealing to me. You can explain your preference to your ailing child, the attorney muffing your case, and the parents of the young woman who was killed due to your informational ignorance. Unleash your critical thinking, gentle reader.
Stephen E Arnold, January 25, 2017
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