Google Gems: January 30, 2024
January 30, 2024
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
The dinobaby wants to share another collection of Google gems. These are high-value actions which provide insight into one of the world’s most successful online advertising companies. Let’s get rolling with the items which I thought were the biggest outputs of behavioral magma movements in the last week, give or take a day or two. For gems, whose keeping track?
The dinobaby is looking for Google gems. There are many. Thanks, MSFT Copilot Bing thing. Good enough, but I think I am more svelt than your depiction of me.
GOOGLE AND REAL INNOVATION
How do some smart people innovate. “Google Settles AI-Related Chip Patent Lawsuit That Sought US$1.67-Billion in Damages” states:
Singular, founded by Massachusetts-based computer scientist Joseph Bates, claimed that Google incorporated his technology into processing units that support AI features in Google Search, Gmail, Google Translate and other Google services. The 2019 lawsuit said that Bates shared his inventions with the company between 2010 and 2014. It argued that Google’s Tensor Processing Units copied Bates’ technology and infringed two patents.
Did Google accidentally borrow intellectual property? I don’t know. But when $1.67 is bandied about as a desired amount and the Google settles right before trial, one can ask, “Does Google do me-too invention?” Of course not. Google is too cutting edge. Plus the invention allegedly touches Google’s equally innovative artificial intelligence set up. But $1.67 billion? Interesting.
A TWO’FER
Two former Googlers have their heads in the clouds (real, not data center clouds). Well, one mostly former Googler and another who has returned to the lair to work on AI. Hey, those are letters which appear in the word lAIr. What a coincidence. Xoogler one is a founder of the estimable company. Xoogler two is a former “adult” at the innovative firm.
Sergey Brin’s, like Icarus, has taken flight. He didn’t. His big balloon has. The Travel reports in “The World’s Largest Airship Is Now A Reality As It Took Flight In California”:
Pathfinder 1, a prototype electric airship designed by LTA Research, is being unveiled to the public as dawn rises over Silicon Valley. The project’s backer, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, expects it will speed the airship’s humanitarian efforts and usher in a new age of eco-friendly air travel. The airship has magnified drone technology, incorporating fly-by-wire controls, electric motors, and lidar sensing, to a scale surpassing that of three Boeing 737s. This enlarged version has the potential to transport substantial cargo across extensive distances. Its distinctive snow-white steampunk appearance is easily discernible from the bustling 101 highway.
The article includes a reference to the newsreel meme The Hindenburg. Helpful? Not so much. Anyway the Brin-aloon is up.
The second item about a Xoogler also involves flight. Business Insider (an outfit in the news itself this week) published “Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt Quietly Created a Company Called White Stork, Which Plans to Build AI-Powered Attack Drones, Report Says.” Drones are a booming business. The write up states:
The former Google chief told Wired that occasionally, a new weapon comes to market that “changes things” and that AI could help revolutionize the Department of Defense’s equipment. He said in the Wired interview, “Einstein wrote a letter to Roosevelt in the 1930s saying that there is this new technology — nuclear weapons — that could change war, which it clearly did. I would argue that [AI-powered] autonomy and decentralized, distributed systems are that powerful.”
What if a smart White Stork goes after Pathfinder? Impossible. AI is involved.
WAY FINDING WITH THRILLS
The next major Google gem is about the map product I find almost impossible to use. But I am a dinobaby, and these nifty new products are not tuned to 80-year-old eyes and fingers. I can still type, however. “The Google Maps Effect: Authorities Looking for Ways to Prevent Cars From Going Down Steps” shares this allegedly actual factual functionality:
… beginning in December, several drivers attempted to go down the steps either in small passenger cars or lorries that wouldn’t even fit in the small space between the buildings. Drivers blamed Google Maps on every occasion, claiming they followed the turn-by-turn guidance offered by the application. Google Maps told them to make a turn and attempt to go down the steps, so they eventually got stuck for obvious reasons.
I did a job for the bright fellow who brought WordStar to market. Google Maps wanted me to drive off the highway and into the bay. I turned off the helpful navigation system. I may be old, but dinobabies are not completely stupid. Other drivers relying on good enough Google presumably are.
AI MARKETING HOO-HAH
The Google is tooting its trumpet. Here are some recent “innovations” designed to keep the pesky OpenAI, Mistal, and Zuckbookers at bay:
- Google can make videos using AI. “Google’s New AI Video Generator Looks Incredible” reports that the service is “incredible.” What else from the quantum supremacy crowd? Sure, and it produces cute animals.
- Those Chromebooks are not enough. Google is applying its AI to education. Read more about how an ad company will improve learning in “Google Announces New AI-Powered Features for Education.”
- More Googley AI is coming to ads. If you are into mental manipulation, you will revel in “YouTube Ads Are About to Get Way More Effective with AI-Powered Neuromarketing.” Hey, “way more” sounds like the super smart Waymo Google car thing, doesn’t it?
LITTLE CUBIC ZIRCONIAS
Let me highlight what I call little cubic zirconias of Google goodness. Here we go:
- The New York Post published “Google News Searches Ranked AI-Generated Rip-offs Above Real Articles — Including a Post Exclusive.” The main point is that Google’s estimable system and wizards cannot tell diamonds from the chemical twins produced by non-Googlers. With elections coming, let’s talk about trust in search results, shall we?
- Google’s wizards have created a new color for the Pixel phone. Read about the innovative green at this link.
- TechRadar reported that Google has a Kubernetes “flaw.” Who can exploit it? Allegedly anyone with a Google Gmail account. Details at this Web location.
Before I close this week’s edition of Gems, I want to mention two relatively minor items. Some people may think these molehills are much larger issues. What can I do?
Google has found that firing people is difficult. According to Business Insider, Googlers fired in South Korea won’t leave the company. Okay. Whatever.
Also, New York Magazine, a veritable treasure trove of technical information, reports that Google has ended the human Internet with the upgrade Chrome browser. News flash: The human Internet was killed by search engine optimization years ago.
Watch for more Google Gems next week. I think there will be sparkly items available.
Stephen E Arnold, January 30, 2024
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