Ring, Ring: Will the Police Continue to Respond?
February 21, 2020
Amazon has been working to establish a policeware business. One of the more visible products is the Amazon Ring doorbell. The law enforcement community has access, under certain conditions, to the data captured by these devices. The idea is that Ring videos provide useful information to investigators.
“Cute Videos, but Little Evidence: Police Say Amazon Ring Isn’t Much of a Crime Fighter” reports:
Ring promises to “make neighborhoods safer” by deterring and helping to solve crimes, citing its own research that says an installation of its doorbell cameras reduces burglaries by more than 50 percent. But an NBC News Investigation has found — after interviews with 40 law enforcement agencies in eight states that have partnered with Ring for at least three months — that there is little concrete evidence to support the claim.
Then Euronews adds:
Three agencies said the ease with which the public can share Ring videos means officers spend time reviewing clips of non-criminal issues such as raccoons and petty disagreements between neighbors. Others noted that the flood of footage generated by Ring cameras rarely led to positive identifications of suspects, let alone arrests. Thirteen of the 40 jurisdictions reached, including Winter Park, said they had made zero arrests as a result of Ring footage. Thirteen were able to confirm arrests made after reviewing Ring footage, while two offered estimates. The rest, including large cities like Phoenix, Miami, and Kansas City, Missouri, said that they don’t know how many arrests had been made as a result of their relationship with Ring — and therefore could not evaluate its effectiveness — even though they had been working with the company for well over a year.
If these data are accurate and Euronews is on the beam, Amazon’s idea may not convert to revenue from the firm’s policeware investments.
Amazon has other capabilities of utility to law enforcement. A Ring which goes unheeded may slow if not stall Amazon’s ambitions in this market segment. The use of the word “cute” is another amagenic touch. There is some aggression toward the online bookstore it seems.
Stephen E Arnold, February 20. 2020
Innovators and Innovation: Is Google in the Me Too Business?
February 21, 2020
Ah, Google Plus. One could get a bonus for doing Plus things. Yes, Google Plus, the wanna be Facebook. And using the Orkut experience only made Google Plus better. How could a plus become a minus? It happened. Keep in mind that Google Plus could at any moment vivify if a Googler with time on his/her hands enters the “circle.” Why? How? What?
Hey, that’s just Googley.
Cult of Mac is circulating what may be a delicious digital cupcake. Now the confection could be a real treat like those at Philz Coffee, or it could be one of the pipe dreams about job security in the Google Cloud unit. Who knows?
The write up’s title is “Google Is Readying Its Own Apple News Competitor.” Now Apple News is different from Facebook, the alleged target of the Google Plus service. There’s insufficient information to figure out if the Apple News service is making publishers and users happy. DarkCyber has heard that some of those ink stained wretches are not ready to shout “Hurrah” from the watering holes near the great publishing facilities in Manhattan and trailer courts in Kansas-like locations.
The write up states:
Google has been in talks with multiple publishers about paying a licensing fee for content used in its upcoming news product. So far it sounds like the company is mostly talking to publishers outside the US, but the company says it views the initiative as an important tool for an informed democracy.
Ah, democracy. Google allegedly phrased its idea this way:
“We want to help people find quality journalism – it’s important to informed democracy and helps support a sustainable news industry,” said Richard Gingras, VP of news at Google. We care deeply about this and are talking with partners and looking at more ways to expand our ongoing work with publishers, building on programs like our Google News Initiative.”
Let’s reflect a moment on these questions:
- What me too product from Google has been the equivalent of Amazon’s AWS or Apple’s ear bud things?
- What happens when the Googlers working on the alleged product decide to shift to a product that will earn the workers bonuses and niftier work?
- What’s the plan for differentiating the service from for fee competitors, original sources and their pay walls and begging for dollars messages, or ad supported services like Newsnow.co.uk?
There are other questions, but this is a rumor. When it becomes a reality like Google Plus, then we will have “real” news or AF as some young folks say.
Stephen E Arnold, February 21, 2020
YouTube: About Findability or Futility
February 21, 2020
I am a librarian. My view is that YouTube search is not too good. When I was in library school, one of my professors used the technical term “stinks” when describing some retrieval systems. Maybe that term works in this post’s context?
Let’s try it out, “YouTube search stinks.” Would my former professor agree? I don’t know.
YouTube wants to improve its search function and Make Use Of reports on how, “Searching For The Right YouTube Channel Gets Easier With These 5 Sites.” It is difficult to find specific channels or even decent recommendations on YouTube, unless you know exactly what you are looking for. You can spend time mastering YouTube search or you can use Web sites that do the work for you.
The first useful tool is actually on the YouTube Web site. The YouTube Trends page update every fifteen minutes and highlights the most popular videos of the day. It is not catered for individuals, but it does show what is trending with other viewers. More specific categories can be selected showing what is popular in selected area.
Channels Stacks is another choice if you are searching for educational videos. YouTube has always been an excellent platform for free educational content. Alexander Olssen created Channel Stacks to curate educational content by topic. There are currently four categories: technology, creative, business, and lifestyle.
With the rise of streaming TV channel surfing should be a thing of the past, but organic discovery still exists on YouTube. If you do not know what to watch, check out Neverthink which does the task thinking for you. All one needs to do is select download the Neverthink app, pick a theme, and zone out. Neverthink curates videos based on the them, they will be good quality, and can lead you to a creator’s other work.
CreatorSpot is the new YouTubers best friend:
“CreatorSpot is quite like ProductHunt for creators on YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. The site features eight new creators every day and that gives you a window to discover a fledgling YouTuber to follow. With thousands of videos uploaded every day, it’s difficult for a new content producer to come to everyone’s attention on platforms like YouTube. The bigger names benefit from YouTube’s algorithm while the fresh creators just about try to survive. This site attempts to help them get some limelight. The platform relies on user submissions, to begin with. The creators are evaluated on quality, originality, attention, and frequency. You can use the site to not only discover new videos and content creators behind them but also recommend photographers, YouTubers, writers, influencers, and producers you know who are doing great work.”
Walnut TV literally combines YouTube and Reddit into one, which is great because Reddit’s search feature is a millions times better than YouTube. Walnut TV is exactly like Reddit with Subreddits, except everything is videos.
PocketTube is a subscription manager service that helps you organize your videos and channels. With PocketTube you can organize subscriptions into groups, personalize them with icons, and change the layout. This makes it easier to search, add, and delete videos.
YouTube may not conform to my professor’s definition of “stinks,” but the online ad giant has an opportunity to improve. YouTube may deliver futility, not findability.
Whitney Grace, February 21, 2020
Why 2020 Will Be Challenging for Google and Europe
February 21, 2020
A straightforward Reuters news story appeared on Valentine’s Day. Title? “Google Protests Eye-Catching $2.6 Billion EU Fine, Judge Disagrees.” (This is a trustworthy story because Thomson Reuters provides a link to its trust principles.)
The trustworthy story includes a few interesting factettes about the online ad giant’s defensive posture; for example:
- The deterrent multipler and another multiplier factor was excessive and unwarranted.
- Google’s behavior was not anti competitive.
- Google’s lawyer pointed to the company’s “good faith attempts” to remediate itself.
Interesting position for Google. Different legal eagles continue to sing from the decades-old Google hymnal.
One statement, however, cuts through the “gee, we’re trying” and “you are unfair to the Google.” This is the quote attributed to EU lawyer Anthony Dawes:
Google’s conduct constituted a well established form of abuse.
It does not appear that Google’s assurances that it has kicked its habit of being Googley yet. The phrase “well established form of abuse” suggests that a fine may not do the trick.
Maybe the EU should consider a tough love approach:
But what if public criticism, fines, and tough love do not work? What recourse does the EU have? DarkCyber has a hunch that the EU regulators probably use Google on a daily basis to locate information as part of their effort to bring Google into line with the EU’s expectations and rules.
Maybe, just maybe, this is the challenge:
Hence, 2020 will be a push-pull affair. Queue “The Imperial March.”
Stephen E Arnold, February 21, 2020
Africa: Booming Intelware and Policeware Markets?
February 20, 2020
DarkCyber has a difficult time determining what information is on the money and what information is on the floor of the data casino. We read “Inside Africa’s Increasingly Lucrative Surveillance Market.” The write up is chock full of details. Some of the allegedly accurate information was interesting.
Here’s a sampling of factoids to evaluate:
Market size, but it is not clear what “market” means, just Africa, the world, or developed countries: The cybersecurity market was worth $118.78bn in 2018. By 2024, this figure is expected to hit $267.73bn.
Name of Gabonese Republic’s enforcement unit: SILAM which is allegedly run by French national Jean-Charles Solon. The write up states: “Solon previously worked for the General Directorate for External Security (Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure – DGSE), France’s intelligence agency.” Allegedly Solor is familiar with the ins and outs of wire tapping. The write up asserts without providing a specific source: “According to our sources, Solon is well equipped and handles everything from wiretap transcripts, text message and WhatsApp conversation interceptions, and email and social media surveillance.” Solon is likely to find the write up in This Is GCN worth some special attention, but that’s just DarkCyber hunch.
Entities (governmental and commercial) linked to the Gabonese Republic include: Amesys and its Cerebro tool, SDECE/DGSE, AMES, Nexa Technologies, and Suneris Solutions (Thales).
Current market leaders: The write up reports, “Ercom and Suneris Solutions have a leading position in the African market, especially in the sub-Saharan region.” These two companies are owned by Thales.
What sells and where to buy: The write up notes, ““Clients want to buy something that has a proven track record. They’re not looking for an experimental gadget.” For Africa, the two must-see events are Milipol Paris, held in November, and ISS World Middle East and Africa, held in March in Dubai.”
Israeli companies selling or trying to sell in Africa: The write up identifies these firms as eyeing the African markets –—Thales (includes Ercom and Suneris Solutions), Mer Group and its unit Athena GS3 (Mer Group (Congo, Guinea, Nigeria and DRC), Verint Systems and Elbit Systems (South Africa, Angola, Ethiopia, Nigeria, etc.), AD Consultants, and NSO Group. The write up asserts, “The Israelis are everywhere. They even managed to equip Saudi Arabia! It’s pretty much impossible to bypass them.”
Other companies trying to sell to African markets include: BAE Systems, Gamma Group, Trovicor (now a unit of Nexa), Hacking Team, VasTech, Protei (a Russian firm), Huawei, and ZTE Corporation (described in the article as a compatriot of Huawei).
DarkCyber will leave it to you, gentle reader, to figure out if the write up in This is GCN is fact or fluff. What is known is that most of the named entities in this write up work overtime to avoid big time news coverage, traditional marketing, and noisy public relations. DarkCyber believes that firms providing specialized services should remain low profile.
In closing, if you want information about Sudanese intelligence activities, you may find this thesis by Muhammad Bathily helpful. Its title is “Reform of Senegalese Gendarmerie Intelligence Services.” You can locate the document at this url https://t.co/0cp1CCqiKy. (Verified at 1049 am US Eastern time, 2 20 20)
Stephen E Arnold, February 20, 2020
More PR for Cognitive Search
February 20, 2020
With available data growing faster than traditional search technology seems able to handle, ToolBox predicts, “‘Cognitive Search’ May Be the Sector to Watch.” Writer Santiago Perez considers:
“On an individual level, we have all grappled with the frustrating experience of trying to enter just the right keyword or combination of letters and numbers to get to the exact bit of data we need. But as data multiplies continuously in libraries and archives, a new sort of search with the ability to cut through the chaff is coming into its own. It’s called ‘cognitive search.’ As the term suggests, the ‘thinking’ is deeper than that in a traditional keyword search. It’s leveraged by artificial intelligence and machine learning and gathers insights from signals and behavioral data. The insights can come from activities such as employee visits to web pages, their interactions with each other via chat media or the documents they produce and store.”
Perez cites research (PDF) that indicates between 60 percent and 73 percent of information corporations have gathered is currently unused. However, wonder whether the focus is in the right place here—what is the quality of such data? Where does it originate, how was it gathered, and has anyone verified it? For the vast majority, the answer is “of course not.”
Be that as it may, both Amazon and Microsoft are forging ahead with machine-learning based cognitive search solutions to more thoroughly analyze all that (suspect) data. AWS’s Kendra is currently only available in northern Virginia, Oregon, and Ireland, but they do have a preview available for AWS users. Microsoft is positioning its Project Cortex as the “fourth pillar” of Microsoft Office. See the write-up for more details on each of these products.
Cynthia Murrell, February 20, 2020
Protecting Digital Data Eggs with Multiple Clouds
February 20, 2020
Rumor has it the CIA has finally begun the procurement process to update its cloud technology, we learn from Inventa’s article, “The CIA Wants to Upgrade its Cloud Tech Without DoD’s JEDI Drama.” Though we’re told an agency spokesperson refused to confirm the plan, we imagine the CIA is eager to avoid the Iowa App syndrome. Writer surbhi suspects the CIA is reluctant to comment because it wishes to avoid the sort of spotlight that was cast last year on the Pentagon’s JEDI cloud procurement process. According to Nextgov, though, the agency has released its draft RFP, expects proposals to be in this spring, and plans to make a decision by September.
The article notes that, about a year ago, the CIA’s Directorate of Digital Innovation put forth its C2E (or Commercial Cloud Enterprise) plan. Though some specifics seem to have changed since that announcement, it likely still represents a commercial contract worth tens of billions of dollars. That impression is reinforced by the plan outlined last summer by the Director of National Intelligence, “The Strategic Plan to Advance Cloud Computing in the Intelligence Community” (PDF), which emphasizes:
“Information is exploding in volume and velocity and challenging our ability to expeditiously collect, analyze, and draw conclusions from disparate data sets. Additional manpower will not close the resulting gap; we must leverage leading edge technology. The future IC cloud environment presented herein will effectively function as a force multiplier to enhance our effectiveness and address mission challenges.”
The write-up reminds us:
“The CIA was an early adherent of the cloud when it chose Amazon to build a $600 million private cloud in 2013. … The Atlantic called it a ‘radical departure for the risk-averse intelligence community’ in a 2014 article. Cloud technology has certainly evolved in the seven years since the CIA last did this exercise, and it makes sense that it would want to update a system this old, which is really ancient history in technology terms. The CIA likely sees the same cloud value proposition as the private sector around flexibility, agility and resource elasticity, and wants the intelligence community to reap the same benefits of that approach. Certainly, it will help store, process and understand an ever-increasing amount of data, and put machine learning to bear on it as well.”
Putting the available digital eggs in one rucksack may not be prudent.
Cynthia Murrell, February 20, 2020
Amazon: A Dark Underbelly or Just Low Cost Content?
February 20, 2020
Here is something they don’t tell you when you sign up for that $120/year Amazon Prime membership. From Vox’s article, “The Dark Underbelly of Amazon Prime Video,” we learn that almost two-thirds of the service’s streaming videos are user-generated. There also seems to be little to no vetting of this content. That explains why it is difficult to find something good to watch on the platform if one is not searching for something specific. The piece cites a recent feature from the Wall Street Journal. Writer Marc Atkins adds:
“We did some more sleuthing and found even more weird and potentially offensive content. It’s almost as though Amazon welcomes the bad videos, which count toward the total number of titles available on Prime Video. According to Ampere Analytics, Amazon Prime Video boasts 65,504 distinct titles — almost 10 times the 7,177 on Netflix. Users who upload videos, WSJ reports, also get a small cut of revenue based on how many people watch their videos, so there’s an incentive to upload even more. A quick glance at what turned up in a handful of search results shows that quantity can outweigh quality.”
Atkins lists a few examples, from mere oddities to the truly bizarre. See the write-up for those titles. He continues:
“We’ve come to expect off-putting content from social behemoths like Facebook and Google’s YouTube, where many regular people — and the occasional coordinated efforts from foreign governments — post their memes and videos. Amazon Prime Video, on the other hand, presents itself as a Netflix competitor, and that might lead its users to believe that the content on the platform has been vetted. To the average user, it’s not even clear that any of the content on Amazon Prime Video is user-generated, much less the majority of it. Unlike YouTube, Amazon doesn’t label user-generated content as such.”
That is misleading, to say the least. The WSJ article reports Amazon does use both AI and human reviewers to screen for offensive or illegal content. However, Atkins is dubious about their effectiveness, considering the gems he turned up in his search.
And the content may cost less than a Hollywood blockbuster conjured from Jack Warner’s former stomping grounds.
Cynthia Murrell, February 20, 2020
Downloading Web Sites: Some Useful Information Available
February 20, 2020
Do you want to download a Web site or the content available from a specific url? What seems easy can become a tricky problem. For example, Google offers “feature” content which is more difficult to download than our DarkCyber video news program. Presumably flowing acrylic paint has more value than information about policeware software.
There are tools available; for example, Cyotek Web Copy and HTTrack, among others. But many of the available Web site downloaders often encounter problems with modern Web sites accessible via any “regular” browser. The challenges come from the general Wild West in which Internet accessible content resides.
One site ripping software goes an extra step. If you download the free version or pay for Microsys’ A1 Web Site Downloader, the developers have created a quite useful series of help pages. Many of the problems one can encounter trying suck down text, images, videos, or other content are addressed.
Navigate to the Microsys help pages and browse the list of topics available. Note that the help directs one to the A1 Web Site Downloader, but the information is likely to be useful if you are using another software or if you are trying to code your own site ripper.
The topics addressed by Microsys include:
- Some basics like how to restrict how many pages are grabbed
- Frequent problems encountered; for example, no urls located
- The types of “options” available; for instance, dealing with Unicode. These “options” provide a useful checklist of important functions to include if you are rolling your own downloader. If you are trying to decide what alternative to AI Web Site Download, the list is useful.
- A rundown of frequently encountered errors and response code; for example, hard and soft 404s
- A summary of common platforms. (We liked the inclusion of information about EBay store data.)
- General questions about the A1 software.
You can access the software and the useful help information via the Microsys Web site at this link. Version 1.0 is free. The current version is about US$40.
DarkCyber pays some attention to software which purports to download Web sites. If you want to download Dark Web sites or content accessible via an obfuscation system, you will have to look elsewhere or do your own programming.
Stephen E Arnold, February 20, 2020
Google Discover: In Praise of Smart Ads
February 19, 2020
“Google’s Next Move: from Search to Discovery” is an interesting essay. The author sees a bright future for “smart targeting.”
Here’s the explanation of discovery:
The AI can collate and make sense of thousands of data points about a web user across multiple Google platforms and products – among them YouTube, Gmail, Play Store, News, Photos, Shopping, Translate, Calendar and any website that has a Google tag or Google Tag Manager. Using these signals about a user’s intent and interests, the AI can personalize content according to the emotional and rational factors that matter to the individual. One of the game changers here is the advertising on Google Discover, a feed that serves relevant content to a user, even when they’re not searching.
One of the benefits of the approach is that the “algorithm keeps learning more about you.”
DarkCyber noted this statement, presented as a glorious positive:
Google’s algorithms become more powerful as it discovers more about your brand, product, political, lifestyle, and other preferences from the way you engage with the content. As an example, the technology claims to be so advanced that that it would know not to show a video on the basics of how to play a guitar to an experienced musician, while it would know to show that video to a beginner. Another advantage of the Discover platform is that Google can roll out ads in a native format rather than traditional display banners, which is similar to the newsfeed that has been so effective for Facebook. In addition, advertisers can now reach customers earlier in the customer journey, before they start searching for and evaluating options. Brands can run Discovery campaigns across YouTube home feed, Gmail social and promotions tabs and Google Discover feed. The company claims that more than 800 million people now use Discover each month.
Sounds wonderful. The idea of advertising that flows to a prospect when that person is not looking for information.
The startling factoid in the write up is that Discover is here and beavering away in a smart way, of course. The factoid: 800 million people now use Discover each month.
Very Googley: A next move that is already here.
Stephen E Arnold, February 19, 2020
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