Google Minus: Putting Wood Behind Confusion
February 17, 2022
I read “Google+ Is Dead Again, Maybe for Good This Time.” Here in my redoubt in rural Kentucky, the social network thing has not been a thing. We do try to keep track of some of the Googley management decisions.
The write up explains that Google+ was terminated sort of in 2019. Then the article explains that Google Minus became Currents, also a backwater in this here hollow. But here’s the summary of Google management’s ability to create helpful services and serve its customers:
Google said that the introduction of the Spaces group chat app last year negated the need for Currents, so it plans to wind it down starting in 2023. Before it does that, however, it will add new capabilities to Spaces to accommodate some of Currents’ social features… As was the case with Google+, the usage and purpose of Currents was likely unclear to many users. That issue extends to Spaces, as well, unfortunately. As Google described it last year, Spaces is an evolution of Rooms but is a part of Google Chat that’s designed for group messaging, much like Slack. Got it?
Actually, no. I do understand the management acumen behind this modifications. No big time revenue, no wood.
Stephen E Arnold, February 17, 2022
Who Is the Bigger Disruptor: A Twitch Streamer or a Ring Announcer?
February 17, 2022
People can agree on is that there is a lot of misinformation surrounding COVID-19. What is considered “misinformation” depends on an individuals’ beliefs. The facts remains, however, that COVID-19 is real, vaccines do not contain GPS chips, and the pandemic has been one big pain. Whenever it is declared we are in a post-pandemic world, misinformation will be regarded as one of the biggest fallouts with an on-going ripple effect.
The Verge explores how one controversial misinformation spreader will be discussed about for years to come: “The Joe Rogan Controversy Is What Happens When You Put Podcasts Behind A Wall.” Misinformation supporters, among them conspiracy theorists, used to be self-contained in their own corner of the globe, but they erupted out of their crazy zone like Vesuvius engulfing Pompeii. Rogan’s faux pas caused Spotify podcast show to remove over seventy episodes of his show or deplatform him.
Other podcast platforms celebrated the demise of a popular Spotify show and attempted to sell more subscriptions for their own content. These platforms should not be celebrating, though. Spotify owned Rogan’s show and his controversy has effectively ruined the platform, but it could happen at any time to Spotify’s rivals. Rogan is not the only loose cannon with a podcast and it does not take much for anything to be considered offensive, then canceled. The rival platforms might be raking in more dollars right now, but:
“We’re moving away from a world in which a podcast player functions as a search engine and toward one in which they act as creators and publishers of that content. This means more backlash and room for questions like: why are you paying Rogan $100 million to distribute what many consider to be harmful information? Fair questions!
This is the cost of high-profile deals and attempts to expand podcasting’s revenue. Both creators and platforms are implicated in whatever content’s distributed, hosted, and sold, and both need to think clearly about how they’ll handle inevitable controversy.”
There is probably an argument about the right to Freedom of Speech throughout this controversy, but there is also the need to protect people from harm. It is one large, gray zone with only a tight rope to walk across it.
So Amouranth or Mr. Rogan? Jury’s out.
Whitney Grace, January 17, 2022
The Metazuck Shuts Down Iranian Accounts Posing as Scottish Nationalists
February 17, 2022
Here we have an all-too-rare case of Facebook (Meta) taking action against imposter accounts. Yahoo Finance reports, “Facebook Takes Down Fake Iranian Accounts that Posed as Scottish Locals.” The network in question, however, had not been particularly effective at influencing its target audience. Though the eight Facebook and 126 Instagram accounts had 77,000 followers between them, the most popular one only garnered 4,000 followers, and only half of those were actually located in the UK. We suppose even small victories can be used for PR purposes.
We are told the fake Scots were firm supporters of Scottish independence and critical of the UK government. The creators of these false accounts may have expected more bang for their rial, for they put in an unusual amount of effort to make them seem real. Reporter Karissa Bell writes:
“In a call with reporters, Facebook’s Global IO Threat Intelligence Lead, Ben Nimmo, said that it’s not the first time the company has caught Iran-linked fake accounts targeting Scotland, but that the latest network stood out for its ‘artisanal’ approach to the fake personas. ‘What was unique about this case was the effort that the operators took to make their fakes look like real people,’ Nimmo said. He noted the accounts spent considerable time posting about their ‘side interests,’ like football, in an attempt to boost their credibility. Some of the accounts also lifted profile photos from real celebrities or media personalities, and regularly updated the images in order to appear more real. Other accounts used fake photos generated by AI programs.”
That is a lot of effort to foment a bit of unrest in a corner of the UK. We wonder what else these imposters are up to and what they have planned for the future.
Cynthia Murrell, February 17, 2021
It Is Official: Meatmeats Are a Thing
February 16, 2022
Many poobahs have hopped on the Meat — sorry, I meant — Meta outfit’s new lingo. My addled brain perceives Metamates as “meatmeats.” If you want the verbiage rendered, you will find some half cooked explanations in the Jeff Bezos-related real news outlet’s story “Move Fast, Rename Things: Facebook Tries to Boost Morale with New Slogans.” You will have to pay to view the story, possibly to foot the bill for removing future eggs from the big boat which is attracting some attention in Rotterdam.
The article states that the chief Zuck stated or put on a PowerPoint slide:
Employees would be expected to first prioritize Meta, followed by a person’s team (metamates), followed by the individual (me). He said that the company’s corporate values would be “Live in the future” and “Be direct and respect your colleagues,” according to three people familiar with the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal matters. It was previously “Be open.”
Okay, the Facebook is for me the Zuckbook. The company engages in assorted Zuckery. But right after I dyslexia-ized “metamates” into meatmeats, I thought of the poem “Lessons of War” by Henry Reed. I will not bore you with the Latin and jump to this snippet of the poem:
And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this
Is to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it
Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this
Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards
The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:
They call it easing the Spring. (Source: http://www.solearabiantree.net/namingofparts/namingofparts.php)
Yep, activities and words meaningless to some and bees zucking around, meatmeats. Can Madison Avenue, MBA, and Silicon Valley channeled wordage change the company once known as Facebook? Sure, just like search is only a click away.
Stephen E Arnold, February 16, 2022
France Wants Another Google PEZ Pellet
February 16, 2022
The craving for Google cash bundles is amusing. “France’s Privacy Watchdog Latest to Find Google Analytics Breaches GDPR” explains:
The French data protection watchdog, the CNIL, said today that an unnamed local website’s use of Google Analytics is non-compliant with the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — breaching Article 44 which covers personal data transfers outside the bloc to so-called third countries which are not considered to have essentially equivalent privacy protections.
What will Googzilla do? Threaten to pull out of Europe like the Zuckers? Pay up? Drag the matter through the highly efficient French legal system?
Probably all three options. France will continue punching the PEZ dispenser for Google outputs.
Stephen E Arnold, February 16, 2022
Facebook Gets a Bad Wrap: Analysis That Is
February 16, 2022
I read the Wrap’s “Why Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg Are Boxed In: Analysis.” (There’s a paywall in place, gentle reader.) My take on the write up is that Facebook has been boxed out by three interesting factors: [a] It is a product designed for college students circa 2004. These “objects of attention” in the early incarnations of the social network are now nosing into their 40s. The parents of these millennials or whatever the cohort is called have discovered Facebook. The silver citizens are definitely checking out grandkiddies via the ‘Book.
[b] The Facebook brand has morphed into Zuckbook or Meta or some crisis PR firm’s vision of smooth sailing into a safe harbor. Not many firms have the distinction of being viewed as a digital embodiment of the chemically infused Love Canal.
[c] Yeah, TikTok. Algorithms, short videos, and the benign Hoovering of data about users. And a China connection too. As sensitive as the Zuck’s radar has been, he appears to have zucked up.
The write up in Wrap takes a complementary view; for example:
Additionally, even if Zuckerberg succeeds in building a business ecosystem around the metaverse, the company will have to figure out an advertising model without relying on targeted ads. There are also consumer safety and security concerns that have not been addressed, and while it rebranded to Meta last October, Facebook is still strongly associated with its image.
Yep, the Apple move to eunuchize the Zuck was a sharp swipe at the Zuckbook.
Ouch.
Stephen E Arnold, February 16, 2022
School Book Bans Are on the Rise
February 16, 2022
If one thought we had progressed beyond censorship in this country, one should think again.
History is cyclical, after all. Axios reports, “Book Bans Are Back in Style.” Writer Russell Contreras informs us:
“School districts from Pennsylvania to Wyoming are bowing to pressure from some conservative groups to review — then purge from public school libraries — books about LGBTQ issues and people of color. … ‘I’ve worked for this office for 20 years, and we’ve never had this volume of challenges come in such a short time,’ Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, told Axios. ‘In my former district, we might have one big challenge like every two years,’ Carolyn Foote, a retired Texas librarian of 29 years, told Axios. ‘I have to say that what we’re seeing is really unprecedented.’”
So it has gotten even worse than it was three decades ago. Would that be more of an ellipse than a circle? A cone? Perhaps a slippery slope. See the article for some of the banned titles, most having to do with racism and sexuality, as well as the thought police’s excuses, er, reasoning. It should be noted that conservatives, while firmly in the lead, are not the only ones trying to suppress the written word. Less often, progressives have called for older books with content like racial epithets and the “white savior” trope to be pulled from syllabuses and shelves. We learn:
“Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men regularly appeared on the American Library Association’s annual list of banned books. The ALA’s Caldwell-Stone says such challenges are sporadic and nothing compared to the current conservative-backed efforts.”
Gee, if only there were someone to provide students context around the literature they are assigned. An educated, more experienced human available in every classroom to provide guidance. Hmmm.
Cynthia Murrell, February 16, 2022
Pardner, We Never Meta an Outfit with Which We Could Not Litigate
February 15, 2022
TikTok is expanding in Europe. The Zuckbook is threatening to pull out of Europe. Good or bad? Here’s an easier question: Can Texas get billions out of Meta (aka Zuckbook) for alleged misuse of facial recognition?
My hunch is that TikTok in Europe is bad. Texas winning some type of Zuckbook cash output is badder.
“Texas Sues Meta, Saying It Misused Facial Recognition Data” reports:
The suit involves Facebook’s “tag suggestions” feature, which the company ended last year, that used facial recognition to encourage users to link the photo to a friend’s profile. Paxton [Texas Attorney General] alleged the company collected facial recognition data without their consent, shared it with third parties, and did not destroy the information in a timely manner — all in violation of state law.
What’s interesting is that there are other AGs who may want to monitor this legal matter. If the Zuckbook avoids a Super Bowl fine, that’s okay. There are probably other technical fish to fry at the social media out.
But…
If the Texas AG prevails, how many other states will ask a couple of bright eyed and busy tailed lawyers to see if similar actions took place in their state?
I can name a couple. Can Meta, or is the Zuckbook team too busy trying to figure out how to deal with what one might call headwinds?
Worth watching Mr. Paxton’s interest in Meta I think.
Stephen E Arnold, February 15, 2022
Interesting Assertion from Bezos Affiliated Newspaper
February 15, 2022
My recollection is that Amazon, when under Jeff Bezos’ control, provided technology to the US Central Intelligence Agency. I was surprised when I read “Senators: CIA Has Secret Program That Collects American Data.” I have no idea if the story is on the money or note. I found it interesting that Amazon was not mentioned in the write up. Even though that interesting detail was omitted, I noted this passage in the article:
“These reports raise serious questions about the kinds of information the CIA is vacuuming up in bulk and how the agency exploits that information to spy on Americans,” Patrick Toomey, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement. “The CIA conducts these sweeping surveillance activities without any court approval, and with few, if any, safeguards imposed by Congress.”
And Amazon? Not in the picture. Amazon’s client? In the picture.
Stephen E Arnold, February 15, 2022
Smart Software: Repeat the Third Grade, Please
February 15, 2022
I read an interesting analysis of new products culled from Product Hunt. The work is presented in “Are Product Hunt’s Featured Products Still Online Today?” If you are not familiar with Product Hunt, you can get a good summary from the article. The data are interesting, but there is one chart which struck me as thought provoking.
Here’s the chart. The data are the worst products in terms of user goodness in the period under study.
I know the chart is tiny, but the write up offers a larger one at this link. The topics for failures includes the “winners” in the fail category. Notice that one failure in the penultimate position is the feel-good buzz phrase “user experience.” The new product category grabbing the golden crown is the super hyped “artificial intelligence.”
I interpreted the results this way. Creating products that deliver user experience and artificial intelligence could be perceived by “users” or “customers” as flops. Marketers infused with Silicon Valley joy juice, may not agree. UX and AI are the best-est.
Stephen E Arnold, February 15, 2022
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