Google: Me Too, a Refrigerator, and Innovation
June 23, 2021
Okay, pantry, refrigerator, on ice, whatever. Google is not an innovator; it is a me too outfit. I read “Si! Das Ist Richtig! Google’s Reportedly Building a Duolingo Competitor.” The write up reveals:
the company is preparing a new product called Tivoli that’ll be rolled out later this year. It’ll initially work on text, and will live in Google Search.
I thought I saw a Google slide deck in 2006 which had this in a dot point. Oh, well, history is not exactly what thumbtypers do these days.
The write up states:
Whenever Google launches its efforts, it might a heavy competition from other industry leaders such as Babel, Duolingo, and Rosetta Stone. According to a report by Meticulous Research analytics firm, the online language learning market is set to reach $21.2 billion by 2027. And it wouldn’t surprise me if the search giant is gearing up to grab a big chunk of that booty.
Okay, big numbers and competitors who are entrenched.
What’s interesting is that Google is pulling some of its preserved groceries out of the warehouse and presenting them as alternatives to self driving cars which are sort of self driving, solving death which is a thorny problem, and floating ideas which show that the mom and pop online advertising store is not out of ideas.
There’s a freezer in the company garage stuffed with me toos. Just add marketing, shake, and serve.
Stephen E Arnold, June 23, 2021
Russia: Getting Ready for Noose Snugging
June 23, 2021
Tens of thousands of Russian citizens have taken to the streets in protest and the government is cracking down. On social media platforms, that is. Seattle PI reports, “Russia Fines Facebook, Telegram Over Banned Content.” The succinct write-up specifies that Facebook was just fined 17 million rubles (about $236,000) and messaging app Telegram 10 million rubles ($139,000) by a Moscow court. Though it was unclear what specific content prompted these latest fines, this seems to be a trend. We learn:
“It was the second time both companies have been fined in recent weeks. On May 25, Facebook was ordered to pay 26 million rubles ($362,000) for not taking down content deemed unlawful by the Russian authorities. A month ago, Telegram was also ordered to pay 5 million rubles ($69,000) for not taking down calls to protest. Earlier this year, Russia’s state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor started slowing down Twitter and threatened it with a ban, also over its alleged failure to take down unlawful content. Officials maintained the platform failed to remove content encouraging suicide among children and containing information about drugs and child pornography. The crackdown unfolded after Russian authorities criticized social media platforms that have been used to bring tens of thousands of people into the streets across Russia this year to demand the release of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most well-known critic. The wave of demonstrations has been a major challenge to the Kremlin. Officials alleged that social media platforms failed to remove calls for children to join the protests.”
Yes, Putin would have us believe it is all about the children. He has expressed to the police his concern for young ones who are tempted into “illegal and unsanctioned street actions” by dastardly grown-ups on social media. His concern is touching.
Beyond Search thinks Mr. Putin’s actions are about control. An article in Russian named “Sovereign DNS Is Already Here and You Haven’t Noticed” provides information that suggests Mr. Putin’s telecommunications authority has put the machinery in place to control Internet access within Russia.
Fines may be a precursor to more overt action against US companies and content the Russian authorities deem in appropriate.
Cynthia Murrell, June 23, 2021
Microsoft Teams: More Search, Better Search? Sure
June 23, 2021
How about the way Word handles images in a text document? Don’t you love the numbering in a Word list? And what about those templates?
Microsoft loves features. It is no surprise that Teams is collecting features the way my French bulldog pulls in ticks on a warm morning in the woods in June.
Here is an interesting development in search. We learn from a very brief write-up at MS Power User that “Microsoft Search Will Soon Be Able to Find Teams Meeting Recordings Based on What Was Said.” It occurs as the company moves MS Teams recordings to OneDrive and SharePoint. (We note Zoom offers similar functionality if one enables audio transcription and hits “record” before the meeting.) Writer Surur reports:
“Previously, Teams meeting recordings were only searchable based on the Title of the meetings. You will now be easily able to find Teams meeting recordings based on not just the Title of the meeting, but also based on what was said in the meeting, via the transcript, as long as Live Transcription was enabled. Note however that only the attendees of the Teams meeting will have the permission to view these recordings in the search results and playback the recordings. These meetings will now be discoverable in eDiscovery as well, via the transcript. If you don’t want these meetings to be discoverable in Microsoft Search or eDiscovery via transcripts, you can turn off Teams transcription.”
This is a handy feature. It does mean, however, that participants will want to be even more careful what they express in a Teams meeting. Confirmation of any surly utterances will be just a search away. How does the system index an expletive when the dog barks or a Teams’ session hangs?
Cynthia Murrell, June 23, 2021
German Monitoring Comes into Focus
June 23, 2021
Redittor u/emooon alerts us to some disturbing legislation in the post, “Germany is About to Pass a Law that Allows German Intelligence Agencies to Use Trojan Software on its Citizens Without Any Reasons for Suspicion.” The post points us to a warning from the civil rights and consumer protection organization Digitale Gesellschaft (“Digital Society”); see here for the original German version and here for Google’s auto-translation. The society’s press release states that several entities, including the Chaos Computer Club, Facebook, and Google, protested the law in an open letter (original here) to the German Parliament. Despite the objections, however, the law was passed on June 10. U/emooon summarizes the problem:
“The focus of criticism is the authority to use the so called State-Trojans for the purpose of source telecommunication surveillance, with which in particular also stored encrypted communication directly on the end devices of the users is to be diverted and monitored. Not only are ongoing communications to be monitored, but in some cases stored messages are also to be accessed retroactively. This not only represents a significant encroachment on the fundamental rights of those affected, but also undermines the security of communications as a whole, as the authorities hack into the devices and exploit security loopholes instead of closing them. In addition, the powers to monitor individuals are to be massively expanded and the intelligence services are to be given broad discretion to take action. This is justified in particular by activities on the Internet.”
Then there is the part that prompted that open letter mentioned above:
“[These organizations] all fear that the expansion of Article 10 could force communications service providers to limit the security and integrity of their own services to help intelligence agencies spy. This reaches as far as being obligated to transfer ‘software-updates’ through the German intelligence agencies in order for them to integrate spyware.”
Furthermore, we are told, the law undermines the well-established separation requirement between the intelligence services and the police. This is not an encouraging development.
Cynthia Murrell, June 23, 2021
Why Messrs Brin and Page Said Adios
June 22, 2021
Years ago I signed a document saying I could not reveal any information obtained, intuited, learned, or received by any means electrical or mechanical from an interesting company for which I did some trivial work. I have been a good person, and I will continue of that path in this short blog post based on open source info and my own cogitations.
Yes, the GOOG. I want to remind readers that in 2019, the dynamic duo, the creators of Backrub, and the beneficiaries of some possible inspiration from Yahoo, GoTo.com, and Overture stepped away from their mom and pop online advertising store. With lots of money and eternal fame in the pantheon of online superstars, this was a good decision. Based on my understanding of information in open sources, the two decades of unparalleled fun was drawing to a close. Thus, hasta la vista. From my point of view, these visionaries who understood the opportunities to sell ads rendered silly ideas like doing good toothless. Go for the gold because there was no meaningful regulation as long as their was blood lust for tchotchkes like blinking Google pins or mouse pads with the Google logo.
But there were in open source information hints of impending trouble; for example:
- Management issues, both personal and company centric. Who can forget drug overdoses, attempted suicides, and baby daddies in the legal department? Certainly not the online indexes which provide valid links here, here, and here. Keep in mind, gentle reader, that these items are from open sources.
- Grousing from Web site owners, partners, and developers. The Foundem persistence gave hope to many that others would speak up despite Google’s power, money, and flotillas of legal destroyers.
- Annoying bleats about competition were emitted with ever increasing stridency from those clueless EU officials. Example number one: Margrethe Vestager. Danes fouled up taking over England, other Scandinavia countries, and lost the lead in ham to the questionable Spanish who fed cinco jota pigs acorns.
Nope, bail out time.
I offer these prefatory sentences because those commenting, tweeting, and blogging about “Google Executives See Cracks in Their Company’s Success” seem to have forgotten the glorious past of the Google. I noted this statement which is eerily without historical context and presented as a novel idea:
But a restive class of Google executives worry that the company is showing cracks. They say Google’s work force is increasingly outspoken. Personnel problems are spilling into the public. Decisive leadership and big ideas have given way to risk aversion and incrementalism. And some of those executives are leaving and letting everyone know exactly why.
Okay. But Messrs Brin and Page left. This is a surprise? Why? The high school science club management method is no longer fun. The crazy technology is expensive and old. The Foosball table needs resurfacing. The bean bags smell. And — news flash — when Elvis left the building, the show was over.
Messrs Brin and Page left the building. Got the picture?
Stephen E Arnold, June 22, 2021
X1 Embraces Social Media and Collections Search for eDiscovery
June 22, 2021
It looks like eDiscovery firm X1 is moving beyond enterprise search into collection-centric search. They have sent around a memo announcing their “Defensible Social Media and Web Collections On-Demand.” The notice explains:
“Taking on the process of capturing evidence in a forensically sound manner can be challenging, time consuming and sometimes impossible with ever-increasing workloads. Why not outsource the collection portion of the process by letting our team of experts perform the job for you? With X1 Social Discovery On-Demand, X1’s forensic experts capture the data you need in a legally defensible manner, alleviating any headaches or worry about ESI collection.
- Social Media and Web Capture Collection – save critical time by leveraging the expertise of X1 for efficient and accurate collections
- Defensible Metadata Collection – unlike the ‘print screen’ approach, with X1 key metadata is included with all captures and deliverables with chain of custody preserved throughout
- Experienced Service Support – X1 works with you to understand your collection scope and deliverable requirements up front bringing timely, authenticated results
- Choose from Several Different Export Options – Concordance Load File, CSV, PDF, HTML for clear and accurate output
- Get Started Right Away – engage with an X1 Solutions Consultant and start the collection process same-day”
Information on the X1 Social Discovery and the X1E Remote Collection On-Demand can be found on the company’s products page. At the time of this writing, new customers can save 50% off their first collection for up to 10 accounts. We do not know how long the “limited time” offer will last. We also cannot speak for or against the solutions since we have not tried them ourselves. We find the development interesting, though. Founded in 2003, the evolving small business is based in Los Angeles.
Search is becoming policeware.
Cynthia Murrell, June 22, 2021
China Innovation: No Big Deal, Right?
June 22, 2021
I spotted a short news item in Nikkei Asia called “China Beats US in Patent Filings for Second Straight Year.” The main point is:
China is number one in patent filings.
“Patents,” you say. “These are science fiction or legal hand waving.”
Maybe.
I found it interesting that both the US and Germany slipped in the rankings. Germany was knocked out to the fourth spot by South Korea. Japan hangs in at third.
The write up states:
Chinese applicants submitted 68,720 patent requests last year, up 16% from 2019 despite the coronavirus pandemic, according to data from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). China’s Huawei Technologies, the world’s leading telecommunications equipment manufacturer, remained the top applicant for the fourth straight year. The U.S. remained in second place, with filings inching up 3% to 59,230. The numbers show clear signs of peaking out. Both the administrations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have found fault with China’s infringement of intellectual property rights and forced technological transfers. The battle for hegemony in advanced technology will likely ramp up.
I like the word hegemony. One doesn’t see it too often in US news write ups. Is there any correlation with education in these data?
Stephen E Arnold, June 22, 2021
Smart Software: Perhaps Objective Processes Are Inherently Biased?
June 22, 2021
Is prejudice innate or learned? Does language contain biases which are unnoticed by those who speak one? “The Efforts to Make Text-Based AI Less Racist and Terrible” answers these questions clearly. Smart software is going to generate remarkable distinctions.
The summary of the the projects which are laboring to deal with this built in behavior is interesting. The notion of amplification is fascinating as well. There are different types of “amplification” and none of them is immune to the magic of software ingesting human content and outputting — I hate to say it — outputs.
And those outputs are a challenge to the whiz kids who want to produce unbiased, accurate (from someone’s point of view), objective (from someone’s assumptions about what is “objective”), and useful smart software.
The write provides an example:
Other researchers are trying different approaches. Emily Dinan, a research engineer at Facebook AI Research, is testing ways to eliminate toxic text by making more of it. Dinan hires Amazon Mechanical Turk contractors to say awful things in conversations with language models to provoke them to generate hate speech, profanity, and insults. Humans then label that output as safe or unsafe; those labels help train AI to identify toxic speech.
Are there biases in intentional content? Oh, I think so.
Here’s an interesting statement from the write up:
Text generated by large language models is coming ever closer to language that looks or sounds like it came from a human, yet it still fails to understand things requiring reasoning that almost all people understand.
Smart software? Sure, no problem. Trying is good: Grants, desperate companies, and those chasing tenure are part of the motivational feedback loop. Amplification, a fancy word indeed.
Stephen E Arnold, June 22, 2021
Fixing Social Media: Will $100 Million Win the Pennant?
June 22, 2021
I read “A Real Estate Mogul Has a $100 Million Plan to Save the Internet.” Note that you may have to pay to read this story on the Bloomberg “news is not free” service.
The main point is:
Project Liberty would use blockchain to construct a new internet infrastructure called the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol. With crypto currencies, blockchain stores information about the tokens in everyone’s digital wallets; the DSNP would do the same for social connections. Facebook owns the data about the social connections between its users, giving it an enormous advantage over competitors. If all social media companies drew from a common social graph, the theory goes, they’d have to compete by offering better services, and the chance of any single company becoming so dominant would plummet.
Interesting. Isn’t major league baseball a club, a very select group of everyman owners?
I noted this fascinating assumption, which is a variation on the old Google saw that changing search habits is just a one click choice:
Project Liberty is proposing that the entire internet start doing things drastically differently.
There are a number of individuals who want to decentralize “the Internet.” Does anyone hear this echo:
Saddle up the horses, Sancho. We’re going after that blue windmill.
Yep, vamos.
Stephen E Arnold, June 22, 2021
Founders Forum: A Conference Report for Social Climbers, Foodies, and Auto Fans
June 21, 2021
This is a suggestion. Read “Inside the Elite UK Tech Event Attended by the Rich and Famous.” Gushing does not do justice to this news report. Here’s an example of the rock solid info you will ingest:
Branded as “something like the Davos of tech” by The Guardian newspaper, Founders Forum is put on by serial entrepreneur and investor Brent Hoberman. The former Eton and Oxford student, who co-founded Lastminute.com and the recently listed Made.com, is well-known for having one of the most impressive networks in the European tech scene. Many of his friends and investors are invited to Founders Forum each year.
What about a summary or the introductory remarks? Who gave presentations? What did the speakers say? What questions did the presenters dodge?
Zilch info.
I did learn that foods served included lobster and strawberries. Autos visible were Range Rovers (would they start?) and Teslas. Plus there was an error and a correction.
Outstanding, hard hitting, thumbtyper information. Personalities are what makes the world go round it seems. Yep, another Davos without the podcasts.
Stephen E Arnold, June 21, 2021
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