Google Censorship Related Document
October 10, 2018
I am not sure this is a real Google document with the name “Google Leak.” If the link goes dead, you are on your own. Plus it is a long one, chuck full of quotes and images and crunchy statements. Some Googlers like crunchy statements.
An entity named Allum Bokhari uploaded the document.
For me the main point is that Google can embrace censorship. Makes sense I suppose.
The images of the slides in a PowerPoint-type presentation could have been created by Google, a third party, or some combination of thinkers with a design firm added for visual spice.
The group through whose hands the artifact passed was was Breitbart, a semi famous outfit. I know this because the name Breitbart is overlaid in orange on each of the pages of the document. The document also contains the Google logo and the branding “Insights Lab.”
I know there is an Insights Lab in Colorado, but it is tough to figure out who crated the document from what appears to be hours spent running queries against the Google search engine and fiddling with a PowerPoint type presentation system.
But who exactly is responsible for the document? Anonymity is popular with the outputs of the New York Times, Bloomberg, and online postings like this one.
The who is a bit of a mystery.
To get the document from Scribd, yep, the service with the pop ups, pleas for sign ups, etc., you have to sign up with Facebook or Google. Makes sense.
Plus, the document contains more than 80 pages, and it takes some time to dig through the lingo, the images, and the gestalt of the construct.
Here’s an image, which explains that the least free countries are China and Syria. The most free countries are Estonia and Iceland. Estonia and Iceland are good places to be free. The downside of Estonia is the tension between Estonians and Russians, who are if the chart is accurate, not into living without censorship. Plus, the border between Russia and Estonia is not formidable. It is a bit like a potato field in places. Iceland is super, particularly if one enjoys low cost data center services, fishing, hiking, and brisk winters.
The future, it seems, is censorship. I noted the phrase “well ordered spaces for safety and civility.”
The document is worth a look if you can tolerate the fact that one registers via Facebook and Google to view the alleged Google document. Viewing the document for now does not require registration. Downloading may invite endless appeals for cash.
Stephen E Arnold, October 10, 2010
Design Tool Picular Taps into Google Image Color Data
October 9, 2018
We learn from a write-up at Fast Company that “Google Image Search Is Now a Design Tool.” More specifically, the new design tool Picular taps into Google Image Search for its data. This is an intriguing approach. Writer and associate editor Katharine Schwab writes:
“Picular is a new color search tool that lets you enter any search term and presents you with a slew of options, basing all of its color choices on what pops up first in Google image search. It’s a color-picker, courtesy of internet hive mind. For instance, if you type the word ‘desert’ into Picular’s search bar, the tool scrapes the top 20 image results from Google and finds the most dominant color in each image. It presents these results in a series of tiles: A sea of sandy browns and oranges, with a few blues (presumably from the sky) thrown in. Each tile has the color’s RGB code that instantly copies to your clipboard when you click on the tile, making it easy to instantly try out the colors in your work. Picular is a quick and handy way to get color ideas for a design project, especially because you can type in more emotional, evocative words and see what Google instantly associates with each idea.”
And where does Google get their associations? From its algorithms’ studies of human nature, of course. It may at first seem odd to consult an AI to better know the colors of human emotions and ideas, but some color associations we think of as natural actually vary from culture to culture, and Google extracts its data from around the world. Such a tool could certainly help designers and, especially, advertisers better connect with their intended audiences through color. Picular was created by Future Memories, a digital studio out of Sweden that was founded in 2014.
Cynthia Murrell, October 9, 2018
HSSCM Update: Two Little Used Methods
October 9, 2018
In the wake of the sinking of Google Plus, I wanted to highlight two HSSCM methods. You may recall that I use the acronym to mean “High School Science Club Management” to refer to the type of decision making found in secondary school extra curricular programs for students who perceive themselves as being pretty darned smart. I even ran a snap of me in my high school science club. We were a stellar group. Some PhDs, some published authors, and some pretty weird, anti social type dudes if I say so myself.
The first item concerns the apple of Amazon’s eye: the JEDI project for the Department of Defense. I learned from a highly reliable purveyor of information of real news that “Google Drops Out of Pentagon’s $10 Billion Cloud Competition.” That will make the day for some of the folks who labor in the Google’s DC vineyards really happy. Think of the many opportunities to explain, apologize, and reposition. On the other hand, Amazon may try to hire a couple of these Googlers. Getting some types of US government work might be tough.
What’s the management method? Well, surprise for starters. Also, creating enmity among those engaged in the RFP and procurement process. Plus, a clear signal that Google can and will change its mind on what has been a multi year process. Definitely sends a message. Just like the science club president in my high school who said, “Who wants to go to the prom? I have to work at the observatory that night?”
The second item concerns the Google Plus arabesque. If you want to get my take on the non management aspects of that exciting development, navigate to the story at this link.
The management method I want to highlight is revealed in the real news source the Wall Street Journal. You will have to pay to view the write up “Google Exposed User Data, Feared Repercussions of Disclosing to Public.” The main idea is the failure to notify. In my high school science club, I recall the time we broadcast the tune “Great Balls of Fire over the public address system.” We did not tell anyone we did it. Unfortunately it was highly unlikely that members of the football team or the wrestling team pulled off the stunt. As far as I know, our science club had the future electrical engineers in our quasi elite outfit. Google, in its wisdom, figured that keeping quiet was a prudent move.
The HSSCM method is to use exceptional judgment, ignore the advice of those who might have a different viewpoint, and create an opportunity for Google executives to explain themselves in a number of high profile venues. Will this question come up in a Congressional session? Maybe?
Net net: MBA courses can include these HSSCM methods as part of their initiative to reverse sagging enrollments.
Stephen E Arnold, October 9, 2018
Google and Social Media: An Orkut for 2018
October 9, 2018
The Google knew that it lacked person specific information at scale. Sure, the company had browser histories, ad click data, and info generated by cross correlation—but it was not specifically:
- An individual
- The personal details of that individual
- The connections (friends I suppose) of an individual
Also, the individual did not have a unique identifier. Think of this as a Google issued social security number.
The fix was to acquire Orkut and solve these data problems.
Orkut found some traction. If you follow Brazilian law enforcement, Orkut became a service of interest and utility. After a long slow decline, Orkut faded in 2014.
But Google had other “social media” designs; for example, those crazy folks from New York City playing Dodgeball. Then there was Jaiku. Too bad there was not a Jaiku-er in chief like Twitter enjoys today. Next up was Wave, which I found interesting. Anyone remember Googler Alon Halevy’s Transformic ideas? And Buzz? What about Buzz?
Now — drum roll — Google Plus or the service which killed the ability to specify AND in Boolean Google search syntax is heading down the Google sliding board.
I recall that Google Plus or Google + (isn’t that clever? using a reserved character for a name) was the future of Google. In its early days, there were 500 employees working on Google Plus, but that number grew. As I understand it, one’s compensation was linked to one’s outputs for Google Plus. Forbes calculated that in its formative stage, Google shoveled about $500 million into the service that would deliver particularized data. See “Google+ Cost $585 Million To Build (Or What Rupert Paid For MySpace).”
What’s up with Google Plus?
An alleged security lapse or gap (you decide which word fits the situation) has caused Google Plus to do a simple math process. Convert that plus to a minus. Works.
Buzzfeed News— a real news source — reported that “Google Is Shutting Down Google+ After It Discovered A Bug That Exposed Personal Information.” It seems that the security conscious company included a “breach” which shared user’s private data with apps. (More info on this at this link.)
Several observations/questions:
First, Google seems to struggle with the social media thing. It does sell online advertising, but the Facebook-type of service is a struggle. The me-too and let’s acquire approach simply has not worked. I hesitate to use the word “failure.” Maybe challenge is better?
Second, why did a security breach occur? My personal view is that people embrace projects, work on them, hunt for more interesting projects, and move on. Over time, the projects are lost in a mist of “non coolness.” Bugs are ignored; interface decisions are good enough; and interns make decisions, saying, “Wow, Google thinks I am smart. I can do this!” Right on, worker bee, right on.
Third, Google’s social media plays have been created as world services. Facebook was a dating app for a couple of Harvard whiz kids. Google’s social has been reactionary, rarely moving in a positive manner to an attainable goal. No wonder people on the team chugged along for a while and then headed off to more fun projects. Being a perpetual number two to Facebook is galling. Many Googlers just went to Google, including some high profile Googlers like its chief operating officer.
Fourth, why wasn’t security better? My view is that security has been perceived as “part of the Googleplex.” Obviously it wasn’t, and none of the Googlers realized it. Perhaps they were too busy running from meeting to meeting, looking for another assignment, starting venture capital firms, playing table tennis, or updating their Facebook page. Priorities can be a challenge.1
Net net: Google Plus may live on in a different role, sort of like Google Glass has become a super industrial and business success.
What happens if I view Google Plus through Google Glass?
I see a winner.
Stephen E Arnold, October 9, 2018
Google: An Extension of Your Brain
October 4, 2018
Are we beginning to think more like a search engine, or is Google learning to think like us? It’s a valuable question that some of the brightest minds in the business have recently attempted to tackle. We learned more about this study from a Nieman Journalism Lab story, “Google Isn’t Just a Search Engine, –It’s a Literal Extension of Our Minds.”
According to the story:
“[W]hen we integrate things from the external environment into our thinking processes, those external things play the same cognitive role as our brains do. As a result, they are just as much a part of our minds as neurons and synapses. Clark and Chalmers’ argument produced debate, but many other experts on the mind have since agreed.”
Researchers recently created AI that maps the brain’s neurons. We have a hunch that the intersection of search, AI, and human thought might just be the next great frontier for Silicon Valley. Imagine. One can search Google by thinking. What a wonderful way to deliver advertising.
Will I be able to determine where my thoughts end and Google’s ads begin? I know the answer. I want to eat at McDonalds.
Patrick Roland, October 4, 2018
Google and the Talking to Computers Chatbot Thing
October 3, 2018
No company wants to do customer service. Money only, please. To achieve the goal of having zero human interaction with other humans, Google continues to chug forward in the chatbot world.
The payoff is potentially huge. Imagine the number of companies eager to terminate full time, contract, and volunteer workers who field questions about products and services. Self service is not reading text pages on Web sites. Just dial a number and interact with a tireless, cheerful, intelligence software system.
Google obviously has not cracked the problem. The company has acquired Onward. This is a startup which had amassed $120,000 in funding. (Yep, I know this seems a modest sum.)
We learned of the deal in “Google Acquires AI Customer Service Startup Onward.” The write up revealed:
Onward’s enterprise chatbot platform leveraged natural language processing to extract meaning from customers’ messages. Drawing on signals like location, login status, and historical activity, it could personalize and contextualize its responses to questions. Onward’s visual bot builder, which let clients tailor answers with decision trees, afforded even greater customization.
Some of these functions have been available in Amazon’s Sagemaker for a couple of years. Like Microsoft, Google seems to recognize the threat that Amazon’s low profile approach to talking devices requires more attention.
Perhaps this will be the next big thing in getting a chatbot to explain why the caching behavior of an SSD drive causes a video render to crash. What change must I make to resolve the issue?
Maybe Siri? Maybe Watson? Maybe one of the chatbot marvels can answer the question?
And, to state the obvious, maybe not.
But $120,000 in funding. Whom can we ask?
Stephen E Arnold, October 3, 2018
Google: Privacy May Be a Relative Concept
October 3, 2018
Google is concerned about its users privacy. It has options for users to turn off data sharing to protect their privacy. Google says it has these options…supposedly. Fortune shares how Google is breaking its privacy promises in the article, “Google Admits That It Lets Outside Services Share Your Gmail Data.” Google said last year that it would stop scanning users’ emails for keywords to use for targeted ads, but they lied.
When confronted with the deception, Google admitted to the subterfuge and also that they allow third parties to share user information with other third parties. The third parties are supposed to alert users how their information is being used. Does that happen? Probably not.
We learned:
“As Google explained in a blog post following the initial story, the kinds of third-party services that it allows to plug into Gmail include email clients, trip planners and customer relationship management systems. These services, which Google claims to thoroughly vet, typically read emails in an automated way, although humans do sometimes read them too. Users need to actively permit the apps to access their Gmail accounts, and they can revoke permission afterwards. However, Google’s blog post did not talk about the possibility of those third-party services sharing users’ data with other third parties.”
Users apparently had no idea that their data was being shared and Google did not inform them. Google’s privacy policy is broken and they might get away with it in the US, but Europe requires way more transparency. Once again this more proof that the almighty dollar trumps user protection.
Whitney Grace, October 3, 2018
Manipulating the Google: A Reputation Management Method Revealed
October 1, 2018
I don’t want to go through the procedure described in “Data from the Lumen Database Highlights How Companies Use Fake Websites and Backdated Articles to Censor Google’s Search Results.” The article does a good job of explaining how Google’s weak time and date function makes it possible to neutralize certain content objects. The lever is the DMCA takedown notice.
Works most of the time in our experience with Augmentext and some related methods.
I thought it would be useful to highlight what Lumen is.
Straightaway it is a project of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. The group, however, is an independent third party research “project.” The third parties collect and analyze requests to remove material from the Web.
These data are gathered in a database and analyzed.
Who works on these objective investigations?
There is the EFF and law school clinics. Help for the unit was provided by Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford, University of San Francisco, University of Maine, George Washington School of Law, and Santa Clara University School of Law.
What’s interesting is that Lumen is supported by “gifts from Google.” Others kick in, of course. There are no promised deliverables. The pursuit of knowledge is the goal.
More info is here.
How surprised will Google, reputation management firms, and those who want certain content objects disassociated from their name?
Pretty surprised was the consensus around the cast iron stove here in Harrod’s Creek. We just burn magazines, books, and journals hereabouts.
Stephen E Arnold, October 1, 2018
Google: Just the Digital Version of Honest Abe and His Cabin
September 28, 2018
I read “You Can Now Explore Google’s Original Garage Headquarters in Street View.” The image in the write up and the virtual tour reminded me of my first visit to Abraham Lincoln’s cabin. Now the Lincoln cabin was modest, and, despite the fact that I was a wee lad, I recall:
- It looked pretty tidy for a log cabin
- I had an ice cream bar
- There were lots of people.
I assume that the virtual tour of Google’s “first” office, excluding the dorm room and Stanford computer lab, the garage is authentic.
There are some differences:
- Clicks are tracked
- The scene is antiseptic, tidy, clean, and organized for a tiny garage
- No ice cream.
Enjoy the tour. Animatronics may be coming to a Disney theme park soon. History is “realer” when it is digital.
Stephen E Arnold, September 28, 2018
Google Creates Analytical Office Suite
September 26, 2018
Enterprise office systems are big investments for companies. During their yearly budget meetings, they need to justify expenses and one way to do that is with analytics. According to CNBC, “Google Will Now Show Bosses If Employees Are Actually Using Its Apps.” Google has a new tool for its G Suite office productivity apps. The new tool allows companies to record how the productivity apps are being used. The G Suite features Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and Slides. It is very similar to Office 365 or Open Office. The new G Suite tool is called “Work Insights” and shows how employees are using an app and if some products require more training.
“The tool will track adoption at a team level (aggregated at 10 people or more), so an admin can see which business groups are using which tools: Admins will also be able to see which teams are collaborating, whether through overlapping usage of documents, or meetings held through Google’s Hangouts chat and video tool. ‘This insight can help executives identify opportunities to strengthen collaboration and reduce silos,’ Google says in a blog post introducing the tool.”
Currently the “Work Insights” feature is only in beta and is similar to Microsoft’s own Workplace Analytics feature. Google’s G Suite has four million users compared to Microsoft’s Office 365, 135 million users. Google has a long way to go to gain further adoption into businesses, but if they offer a cheaper plan and better insights into technology adoption and how it is being used. Is Google copying Microsoft? Yes, but not enough to cause a copyright violation.
Whitney Grace, September 26, 2018
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