Silicon Valley Journalism Turkey Day Delight
November 25, 2021
Okay, grandma has arrived in an ambulance, and she has a fresh oxygen tank. Rudy and Trudy, your brother’s twins, have turned up in sweatshirts with turkey leg prints on the front and back of the shirts, and the crazy neighbor has wandered over to just “be there.” Your sister’s three children aged 12, 16, and 19 have occupied the family room. Each is deep into their iPhones, which respect their privacy, of course. Your mom and dad are in the kitchen doing mom and dad things and exchanging silent eye signals about the disaster the turkey will be. Then…
The 16 year old shows anyone who will look this Wired article “Best Black Friday Deals on Sex Toys, Vibrators, and Harnesses.” Here’s the screen capture of this journalistic gem which captures the essence of the Silicon Valley ethos:
The 19 year old observes, “My roommate uses the turkey leg.”
The 12 year old notes, “My best friend has a whip and a slave chair.”
Grandma rips the iPhone from her beloved grandchild and says, “How do I order with this iPhone?”
Yes, be thankful for Silicon Valley real journalism. Any questions?
Stephen E Arnold, November 25, 2021
Microsoft and Piffle
November 23, 2021
I enjoy deep thinking well expressed. I must admit I do not encounter the word “piffle” as often as I would like. Much about modern life in the high tech metaverse to be could be tattooed with the word “piffle.”
Examples include the knock on effects of the SolarWinds’ misstep, the cavalier approach to confidential and proprietary documents, and the low profile renaming of everyone’s favorite social media company. Yep, piffle.
However, the article “Microsoft Is Embarrassing Itself and Customers Can See It” provides an interesting example of editorial piffle. What’s surprising about a technology giant imposing constraints on its users? Absolutely nothing.
Here’s the piffle: The published article. I marked this passage as notable:
The latest episode began with Redmond making it harder to set anything other than Edge as your Windows 11 browser.
Okay, piffle.
Remarkable because Apple displays messages demanding that I upgrade one of my Apple computers. I ignore the messages and on one machine one of the clever teens assisting me blocked this baked in Apple annoyance. Magix Vegas begs me to upgrade. But I ignore the plea because it is a miracle that the Vegas software version I use renders without crashing. Upgrade? You have to be kidding.
There are some substantive Microsoft issues in my opinion. The “piffle”, at least for me, is the silliness ZDNet presents.
Gentle reader, that’s piffle.
Stephen E Arnold, November 23, 2021
Ommmm, Ommmm: Pundit Zen
November 21, 2021
I read “How Twitter Got Research Right.” Okay, Twitter. Short messages. Loved by a comparatively modest coterie of Left and Right Coasters. Followers. Blue. Management hate from the rock star professor Scott (buy my book and invest in Shopify) Galloway. Okay, Casey Newton. Verge-tastic. Silicon Valley savvy. Independent journalist. Budding superstar with Oprah’s staff checking him out.
The write up explains “got right” as a fine expression of business savvy. The write up offered this observation:
Twitter hosted an open competition to find bias in its photo-cropping algorithms.
I think I failed a college class because I was unable to find a suitable definition for the concept “mea culpa.” I think the instructor was unhappy with my one word research paper which pivoted on the acronym PR. I was supposed to write down something like a person or entity says something that is one’s fault. (See, I am writing in a gender neutral way.” Ommmmm. Ommmmm.
In the shadow of this “real news” Silicon Valley essay, I think the proper term is apologia. As I recall from another course in which I wallowed in academic desperation, an apologia means “speaking in defense.” I wonder if I ever finished reading Plato’s Apology.
Somewhere in my lousy college education I learned about the dialectic or motive force of an action that creates a thought or reaction. The subsequent events go off the rails, and the actors do the explaining away thing.
What’s up in the Twitter mea culpa / apologia event is that social media have been quite significant in several ways: Amplification of certain information and providing a free, unfettered mechanism to whip up frenzy. (Some examples come to mind, but I shall refrain from writing their names because stop word lists….
To sum up: Quite a rhetorical tour de force, and I don’t buy into the Twitter is trying to do good despite the got right assurance. Ommmmm. Ommmmm. That’s the sound of regulators calming themselves before actually regulating.
Stephen E Arnold, November 22, 2021
Quote to Note: A Guarantee to Remember
November 12, 2021
From my vantage point in rural Kentucky, I see what might be called corruption. I have noted corruption everywhere: From road repairs which last a few weeks to reports about Covid charge back fraud. Pretty common and routine I think.
I read “Google’s ‘Be Evil’ Business Transformation Is Complete: Time for the End Game.” You can work through the write up and agree or disagree as you deem appropriate. One statement caught my eye. Here’s a passage I noted. It’s a quote to note in my book:
Without journalism, you get guaranteed corruption…
Death is guaranteed. Taxes — at least for some people — are not guaranteed. My hunch is that journalism overlooks some of its flaws. I don’t want to dredge through beating up news boys so broadsides could not be sold or the excitement of US yellow journalism.
Corruption is part of the moral fabric. When that frays, corruption is like weeds growing in freshly seeded field. Time for 24D or good old Roundup.
Stephen E Arnold, November 11, 2021
Disrupting Commercial Sci-Tech Indexes
November 10, 2021
Pooling knowledge is beneficial for advancing research. Despite the availability of digital databases on the Internet, these individual databases are not connected. Nature shares that an American technologist created a, “Giant, Free Index To World’s Research Papers Released Online.”
Carl Malamud designed an online index that catalogs words and short phrases from over one hundred journal articles, including paywalled papers. Malamud released the index under his California non-profit Public Resource. The index is free and its purpose is to help scientists discover insights from all research, even if stuck behind paywalls. Technically Malamud does not have the legal right to index the paywalled articles. However, the index only contains short sentences less than five letters long from the paywalled articles. It does not violate copyright. Publishers may still argue that the index is a violation.
The index is a major innovation:
“Malamud’s General Index, as he calls it, aims to address the problems faced by researchers such as Yadav. Computer scientists already text mine papers to build databases of genes, drugs and chemicals found in the literature, and to explore papers’ content faster than a human could read. But they often note that publishers ultimately control the speed and scope of their work, and that scientists are restricted to mining only open-access papers, or those articles they (or their institutions) have subscriptions to. Some publishers have said that researchers looking to mine the text of paywalled papers need their authorization.”
Some publishers, like Springer Nature, support open source development projects like the Malamud General Index. Springer Nature said open source projects do encounter problems when they do not secure proper rights.
Publishers do not have a case against Malamud. The index does not violate copyright and full text articles are not published in it. Instead the index pools a wealth of information and exposes paywalled articles to a larger audience, who will purchase content if it is helpful to research.
Publishers, however, may need convincing of this perspective.
Whitney Grace, November 10, 2021
Silicon Valley Taco Style News: Reportage, Opinion, and Political Commentary
November 1, 2021
I noted a phrase in a Silicon Valley type online information service’s story about Elizabeth Holmes. Ms. Holmes was a college drop out who founded Theranos. She has been saddled with the catchphrase fake it until you make it.
The story I am referencing is “Theranos FOMO Kept the DeVos Family from Doing Its Investment Homework.” I think FOMO means “fear of missing out” in case you are not hip to real news reporting with a squirt of Instagram salsa.
Here’s the phrase I spotted in what I thought was a summary of testimony in the Holmes’ legal matter:
Treating the lack of FDA approval as a reason to bet on Theranos was a small aside in Peterson’s testimony; it was just one reason she thought Theranos seemed like a good investment. (A skepticism of the regulatory process is also one of the reasons Theranos board member General James Mattis wasn’t concerned with some of the company’s actions — something the powerful conservatives seem to have in common). But it set the tone for a day of testimony about the DeVos family’s approach to its $100 million investment in Theranos — which seemed to be more about shiny things and FOMO than about the science behind the blood testing devices Holmes promised would change the world.
Did you notice the taco garnish. It appears in parentheses, which means it is an explanatory factoid. Here it is:
something the powerful conservatives seem to have in common
Really? Powerful people have something in common: Power. But this is a spicy generalization.
In my opinion this is a good example of Silicon Valley taco style news. Dump stuff into a news shell and advance the agenda of the real journalists covering a trial. You know. On the record, a jury, lawyers, and a judge.
Stephen E Arnold, November 1, 2021
Enlightened Newspaper Deletes Info
September 21, 2021
News media outlets usually post a retraction or correction if they delete something. The Daily Dot tattles on a popular British nets outlet when it deleted content: “ ‘This Is Astonishing’: The Guardian Removed A TERF-Critical Passage From An Article.” What is even more upsetting is that the Guardian removed the passage a few hours after it was posted.
The article in question was an interview with gender theorist Judith Butler, who also wrote the book Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity that includes information about a partnership between fascists and trans exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) or anti-trans feminists. The Guardian did post an editorial note saying the piece was changed on September 7, 2021. The deleted portion was mistakenly associated with an incident at Wi Spa in Los Angeles, where a purported trans-woman was in the women’s only nude section. The exposed trans-women was charged with indecent exposure in front of women and children the past.
Jules Gleeson, the article’s author, asked a question that referenced the Wi Spa incident, but Butler’s response was a general answer and did not mention the spa. Gleeson offered to rewrite the article, but The Guardian declined. The entire interview has fallen victim to the Streisand effect, it has become popular because the Guardian tried to cover it up:
“In an email to the Daily Dot, Gleeson confirmed that she offered to revise the question. ‘Unfortunately, the Guardian editors decided to go ahead with their decision to censor Judith Butler,’ she said. ‘I can only hope that the overall point Judith Butler was making can receive some wider circulation, in light of this controversy,’ she continued. ‘The Heritage Foundation and Proud Boys (and those who collaborate with them) are threats to us that deserve more than online intrigue and editorial backpedalling.’”
The British media leans towards an anti-trans opinion, so the deleted passage upset readers. Gleeson’s note is correct, it does draw more attention to trans-people’s struggles and approaching the trans-rights discussion with intellectual curiosity.
Whitney Grace, September 21, 2021
A Tiny Idea: Is a New Governmental Thought Shaper Emerging?
August 11, 2021
I read “China’s Top Propaganda Agencies Want to Limit the Role of Algorithms in Distributing Online Content.” What an interesting idea. De-algorithm certain Fancy Dan smart software. Make a human or humanoids responsible for what gets distributed online. Laws apparently are not getting throiugh to the smart software used for certain technology publishing functions. The fix, according to the article, is:
China’s top state propaganda organs, which decide what people can read and watch in the country, have jointly urged better “culture and art reviews” in China partly by limiting the role of algorithms in content distribution, a policy move that could translate into higher compliance costs for online content providers such as ByteDance and Tencent Holdings. The policy guidelines from the Central Propaganda Department of the Communist Party, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the State Administration of Radio and Television as well as the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and Chinese Writers Association, the two state-backed bodies for state-approved artists and authors, mark the latest effort by Beijing to align online content with the state’s agenda and to rein in the role of capital and technology in shaping the country’s minds and mainstream views.
The value of putting a human or humanoids in the target zone is an explicit acknowledgement that “gee, I’m sorry” and “our algorithms are just so advanced my team does not know what those numerical recipes are doing” will not fly or get to the airport.
I am not too interested in the impact of these rules in the Middle Kingdom. What I want to track is how these rules diffuse to nation states which are counting on a big time rail link or money to fund Chinese partners’ projects.
Net net: Chinese government agencies, where monitoring and internal checks and balances are an art form, possibly will make use of interesting algorithms. Commercial enterprises and organizations grousing about China’s rules and regulations will have fewer degrees of freeedom. Maybe no freedom at all. Ideas may not be moving from the US East Coast and the West Coast. Big ideas like clipping algorithmic wings are building in China and heading out. Will the idea catch on?
Stephen E Arnold, August 11, 2021
Who Phoned Home Those Research Results?
August 9, 2021
A routine at universities with grant hungry tenure surfers works like this: Recruit smart grad students, gin up a magnetic research project, chase grants, and publish in a “respected” peer reviewed journal. A bonus is a TED Talk. Winner, right?
I read “A Tweet Cost Him His Doctorate: The Extent of China’s Influence on Swiss Universities.” The write up points out as allegedly really true:
Education is a key aspect of China’s global power strategy. The Chinese government wants to control the country’s image throughout the world. To this end, it exerts influence abroad, and has no compunction about engaging in repressive actions.
I am not affiliated with any university. I don’t do academic anything. I do pay attention, however, to what probably are irrelevant and minor factoids; for example:
ITEM: The participation of Chinese nationals in assorted University of Tennessee activities; for example, research associated with fission and fusion with field trips to interesting places
ITEM: The number of Chinese professionals’ names appearing on papers related to smart software with possible relevance to autonomous systems
ITEM: The confluence of a research center and a PhD student writing tweets someone in the Middle Kingdom does not appreciate.
Important items or not, the fate of a student in a Swiss university is sealed. The write up states:
Only a few people in Switzerland have sought to disclose and criticize Chinese attempts to influence universities here… Cooperation between Chinese and Swiss universities has expanded in recent years. The University of St. Gallen has 15 such agreements, almost twice as many as ETH Zurich. For the last eight years, St. Gallen has also been home to a «China Competence Center,» the aim of which is to «strengthen and deepen productive relations with China».
The article points out:
Today, Gerber says starting to tweet was a mistake. The fact that he could lose three years of research work because of this still leaves him stunned. Yes, he was publicly critical of China, and once shared a cartoon that he would not share today. «But I didn’t do anything wrong,» he said. Gerber has now given up pursuit of his doctorate. «I don’t want to have to censor myself, certainly not in Switzerland,» he said. In the meantime, he has found a job that has nothing to do with China.
One question: What about American universities or a tour of ORNL?
Stephen E Arnold, August 9, 2021
Netflixing Textbooks
August 5, 2021
I read an interesting statement in the Financial Times’s article “Pearson Bets On Direct to Student Subscription Shift.” The idea is that students subscribe to textbooks just as one would subscribe to Tesla self driving or to the Netflix movie service.
Here is the statement I circled:
Thomas Singlehurst, an analyst at Citi, … remained cautious about Pearson’s ability to become a Netflix of education.
Pearson has been flexible over the years. It shifted from building stuff to renting textbooks. Now the company is “netflixing”. Well, that’s the plan. Many people love Netflix. Will that love transfer to Pearson?
Stephen E Arnold, August 5, 2021
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