Survey Says, Make the Content Go Away, Please
May 19, 2020
TechRadar states the obvious—“Want to Remove Information About Yourself Online? You’re Not Alone.” The write-up cites a recent Kaspersky survey of over 15,000 respondents. It confirms people are finally taking notice that their personal data has been making its way across the Web. The findings show a high percentage of Internet users have tried to erase personal information online, and for good reason, but many have met with little success. Writer Mike Moore reports:
“Four in five people (82 percent) surveyed in a major study by Kaspersky said they had tried to remove private information which had been publicly available, either from websites or social media channels, recently. However a third (37 percent) of those surveyed had no idea of how to remove details about themselves online. … [The survey] found that over a third (34 percent) of consumers have faced incidents where their private information was accessed by someone who did not have their consent. Of these incidents, over a quarter (29 percent) resulted in financial losses and emotional distress, and more than a third (35 percent) saw someone able to gain access to personal devices without permission. This rises to 39 percent among those aged between 25 and 34, despite younger internet users often being expected to have higher levels of technological literacy. Overall, one in five people say they are concerned about the personal data that organizations are collecting about them and their loved ones.”
The standard recommendation to protect privacy in the first place has been to use a VPN, but even that may be inadequate. A study performed by TechRadar Pro found that nearly half of all VPN services are based in countries that are part of the Fourteen Eyes international surveillance alliance. Looking for alternatives? Moore shares this link to a TechRadar article on what they say are the most secure VPN providers.
Cynthia Murrell, May 19, 2020
Work from Home: Trust but Use Monitoring Software
May 19, 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic keeps offices closed and employees continue to work from home, bosses want to be sure their subordinates are working. According to the Washington Post, bosses are “replicating the office” using webcams, microphones, and surveillance software says the article, “Managers Turn To Surveillance Software, Always-On Webcams To Ensure Employees Are (Really) Working From Home.”
Harking back to the chatrooms of yesteryear, employees log into digital work spaces with customizable avatars and chatroom cubicles with instructions to keep webcams and microphones on all day. The idea of the digital workspace designed by Pragli will encourage spontaneous conversation. Some quickly adapt to the technology change, others have difficulty.
While some companies do not replicate the office with programs, they are using other tools such as always on webcams, check-ins, and mandatory digital meetings. There is the concern that companies are being invasive:
“Company leaders say the systems are built to boost productivity and make the quiet isolation of remote work more chipper, connected and fun. But some workers said all of this new corporate surveillance has further blurred the lines between their work and personal lives, amping up their stress and exhaustion at a time when few feel they have the standing to push back.”
Since the COVID-19 forced the American workforce into quarantine, companies want to confirm their workers’ productivity and report on how they are spending their business hours. There has also been an increase in the amount of time Americans spend working each day.
InterGuard is a software that can be hidden on computers and creates a log of everything a worker did during the day. The software records everything a worker does as frequently as every five seconds. It ranks the apps and Web sites as “productive” and “unproductive,” then tallies a “productivity score.”
Many employees do not like the surveillance software and cite that the need to confirm they are actually working disrupts their work flow. Pragli, on the other hand, says the replication of human interaction brings employees closer and allows them to connect more frequently.
A new meaning for the phrase “trust but verify.”
Whitney Grace, May 19, 2020
Content Free Advice: SEO Hits New Heights
May 19, 2020
I have just watched a value-free video about producing value-free content. Uselessness squared, if you will. Regular readers know we are no fans of quick and easy SEO techniques—slapping keywords onto a page just to boost a company’s Google search ranking. The “marketing” approach has had a negative impact on the Internet for years, and we have recently noted an uptick in SEO advice creeping across the web.
One fast talker in particular has garnered our attention, and you can read more of what we’ve learned about him here. He calls his YouTube channel The Hustle Show; at least he acknowledges his advice is designed for shady characters. The video I was tasked with reviewing, “How to Find Keywords for Plumbers—Best Keywords for a Plumbing Company” provides no redemption. Our host claims to have done a lot of plumbing. After checking out his purported bona fides on LinkedIn, we wonder where he found the time.
The video pushes a specific SEO platform with its “keyword magic” tool. Just plug and play—no beneficial content needed! Several times in this five-minute video, the speaker prompts viewers to follow a link to the platform’s free trial and to watch more videos where he explains the self-explanatory tools.
What’s the line between content free and duplicitous information? None. We have a new SEO centric service in the works. Gathering data about the questionable activities of SEO experts is long overdue. When money changes hand, the SEO game enters a new playground.
Cynthia Murrell, May 19, 2020
DarkCyber Exclusive: Litigation Likely for Naked Short Selling
May 18, 2020
In a conversation with former CIA professional Robert David Steele, DarkCyber learned of an impending legal action. Steele revealed in a video conference information about naked short selling, a Wall Street tactic to make money outside the boundaries of existing rules and regulations. DarkCyber obtained permission to create a summary of Steele’s main points. You can view the six minute exclusive at this link. In the question-and-answer session, Mr. Steele referenced additional information about this matter. You can access some associated information at:
- http://stopnakedshortselling.org
- Task force recommendation here
- Information provided to the White House here
DarkCyber finds the subject, the allegations, and the concept interesting. Financial fancy dancing is not new, and Steele is focused on an activity pushed out of the public eye due to the torrent of pandemic information.
Stephen E Arnold, May 18, 2020
IBM: Rapprochement, Pragmatism, Survival?
May 18, 2020
Just a tiny decision. Probably nothing. The thwarted time sharing warp drive machine is sputtering. Gone are the days of IBM mainframes and those pesky plug compatible pretenders. Online meant IBM, by golly.
Then IBM drifted from the data centers, wandered in the PC wilderness, and ended on the shores of Lake Craziness in the Adirondacks chanting the mantra “Watson, Watson, Watson, come here I want you.”
IBM has a new president able to make decisions different from the previous chiefette. Gone are the daily stock buybacks. Terminations of those over 55 have slowed. Ads, although still a little wacky, no longer explain that IBM is a winner (a game show winner, that is).
The future of the company may be rapprochement. With what company? Microsoft, the devil in the OS/2s? Google? The company IBM understands according to a letter an IBM executive wrote me years ago. Huawei? Oracle, the mere database company which bought Sun Micro? No. No. No.
The “let’s be friends” is explained in “Red Hat and AWS launch OpenShift, a Joint Kubernetes Service.” DarkCyber noted:
According to Red Hat vice president of Hosted Platforms Sathish Balakrishnan, the fully managed service will help IT organizations to more quickly build and deploy applications in AWS on Red Hat’s enterprise Kubernetes platform, using the same tools and APIs. In addition, developers will be able to build containerized applications that integrate natively with the more than 170+ integrated AWS cloud-native services.
Yes, small news.
However, maybe Big Blue and the cagey orange smile may extend their relationship. IBM’s cloud and IBM itself might benefit from becoming BFFs with the FAABG least likely to kick Big Blue off the revenue bus.
The Bezos bulldozer chugs along, and even IBM can run fast enough to jump on the somewhat indifferent money scraper.
Stephen E Arnold, May 18, 2020
Discrete Mathematics: Free and Useful
May 18, 2020
DarkCyber notes that Oscar Levin’s Discrete Mathematics: An Open Introduction can be downloaded from this link. The volume, now in its third edition, includes new exercises. Our favorite section address Graph Theory. There are exercises and old chestnuts like coloring a map. If you want to work on those policeware relationship map, you will find the book useful. In fact, the book provides enough information to allow one to understand the basics of determining who knows whom and other interesting insights in data from Facebook-type aggregators.
Stephen E Arnold, May 18, 2020
Crazy Expert Report: Covid19 and Enterprise Search? Really?
May 18, 2020
I received a notification from an online information service called WaterClouds Reports and Kandj and Prof Research. What? Water clouds, Kandj, and Prof Research. Will too many flailing experts spoil the content free soufflé?
Plus, the water thing meshes nicely with Beyond Search and DarkCyber.
What’s WaterCloud Reports up to these days? The answer is delivering information purporting to be about market research, news and reports using a number of different business identities. Suspicious? Yep, very suspicious.
I learned:
The news concerns “The Absolute Report Will Add the Study for Impact of Covid 19 in Enterprise Search Software.”
Now that’s a small dump truck of nuttiness.
What’s in this report available from and outfit called Kandj Market Research and not Water Cloud Reports?
Check this lingo with Covid tacked at the end:
The recent report titled “The Enterprise Search Software Market” and forecast to 2024 published by KandJ Market Research is a focused study encompassing the market segmentation primarily based on type and application. The report investigates the key drivers leading to the growth of the Enterprise Search Software market during the forecast period and analyzes the factors that may hamper the market growth in the future. Besides, the report highlights the potential opportunities for the market players and future trends of the market by a logical and calculative study of the past and current market scenario. The Final Report Will Include the Impact of COVID – 19 Analysis in This Enterprise Search Software Industry.
The news story suggests that the multi thousand dollar report may not be completed. Is it possible that this digital container of loopy zeros and ones is only completed when someone buys a copy?
No problem. Enterprise search is definitely a hot topic when Covid 19 is involved. Whip out your credit card. The report costs $4,000. There’s a deal too. Fork over $6,000 and you get an enterprise license. In the average WFH company, how many employees are hungering to read a report about enterprise search and Covid 19?
Answer: Not many.
What big time enterprise search vendors are included? Here’s the partial list. You have to spit out an email in order to see names of the other five vendors:
AddSearch
Algolia
Apache Solr
Elasticsearch
SearchSpring
Swiftype
Two open source systems apparently have reacted to Covid 19 for enterprise search. Also four other firms have put on their digital N95 masks and tried to “save” search.
Several observations:
- Outright scam or just a high school term paper? DarkCyber is leaning to the scam end of the spectrum?
- Covid 19. Nothing thrills like a key word which may attract clicks from the curious or the clueless.
- Kandj and the cloud whatever? Wow.
Not even Forrester, Gartner, Kelsey, and other mid tier consulting firms use this type of marketing. Well… sometimes?
Stephen E Arnold, May 18, 2020
Amazon Promises an All Star Sub and Thomson 404s to Source
May 18, 2020
The news item was not a breath taker: “Amazon Says Appropriate Executive to Be Available, As U.S. Panel Calls on Bezos to Testify.”
On May 15, the Bezos bulldozer said no in a nice way to the US government. Mr. Bezos would be driving the bulldozer to a small town where one lone retail store front was operating. Apparently knocking down the building in Farmington, Illinois, required his attention. The US government would be able to speak with “the appropriate Amazon executive.” No surprise.
What was a surprise to some in Harrod’s Creek, Kentucky, was the dead link to the Amazon blog post pointing to the full text of Amazon’s response to the US government. This is particularly interesting since the article was written and checked by at least Ismail Shakil and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru and Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Gerry Doyle.
Ah, those trust principles appear to address issues other than verifying links to Amazon documents.
Stephen E Arnold, May 18, 2020
Data Visualizations: An Opportunity Converted into a Border Wall
May 18, 2020
I read “Understanding Uncertainty: Visualizing Probabilities.” The information in the article is useful. Helpful examples make clear how easy it is to create a helpful representation of certain statistical data.
The opportunity today is to make representations of numeric data, probabilities, and “uncertainty” more easily understandable.
The barrier is that “good enough” visualizations can be output with the click of a mouse. The graphic may be attractive, but it may distort the information allegedly presented in a helpful way.
But appearance may be more important than substance. Need examples. Check out the Covid19 “charts”. Most of these are confusing and ignore important items of information.
Good enough is not good enough.
Stephen E Arnold, May 18, 2020
Boolean Is Better but Maybe Google Must Motor Through Ad Inventory by Relaxing Queries…a Lot?
May 17, 2020
A brief exchange on StackExchange demonstrates some common sense. One user, moseisley.2015, asks the community, “Should Default Search Behavior be ‘This AND That,’ or ‘This OR That’?” They elaborate:
“I have web application that shows lists of various data types … employees, customers, inventory items, orders, and so on. There’s one simple search field for doing a ‘global’ search … . Question is, when a user enters multi-word text in the field should the default search behavior be (1) this OR that or (2) this AND that? What default behavior do you think average users would expect?”
Their example lists four records: John Smith, John Jones, Michael Smith, and Betty Taylor-Smith. Would users expect the query “John Smith” to return just the first record (AND) or all four (OR)? As any online researcher from the ‘70s and ‘80s would tell you, the Boolean AND is the better default. The first respondent, SNag, sensibly writes:
“As a user, the more I type in, the more specific I’m expecting the results to get, and this is what happens with AND. With OR, your results would explode! If my search for popular Google Doodle games gave me everything that was popular, everything Google, everything Doodle and every game out there, I’d be lost! If you’re expecting your user to fetch all matching either John or Smith results, consider supporting syntax like John|Smith (where | is the logical symbol for OR) and placing a hint ? icon next to the search box to showcase the various supported syntaxes. You could also consider quotes in the search syntax for exact matches, where “Smith” wouldn’t match Taylor-Smith, but Smith would. “John”|”Smith” would then match all John and all Smith but not Betty Taylor-Smith.”
We concur. The second respondent, Big_Chair, adds a good observation—users without any programming background are probably unfamiliar with the | character and may need a more explicit cue that their query is about to return results based on OR rather than AND.
Cynthia Murrell, May 17 2020
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