HonkinNews for January 24, 2017, Now Available
January 24, 2017
Another week and another search and content processing news round up is live. This week we cover the Dark Web delivery system known as the Royal Mail. Why are some Beltway Bandits developing a sudden craving for antacids? The transition from President Obama to President Trump may be a contributing factor. Some other government news caught out attention too; specifically. The slimming down of Darpa’s open source software catalog and the CIA Crest search for more than 10 million previously classified CIA documents. We also highlight IBM’s call for rules to make sure that artificial intelligence does not run amok. We are not sure if Big Blue is cracking the old buggy whip at speeding Teslas or if IBM has a grand plan to keep smart software on a short leash. Dear old Yahoot (sorry, I meant Yahoo or Yabba Dabba Hoot) figures in an anecdote about effective management. Yahoo USA is not able to convince Yahoo Japan that selling ivory is a bad thing. That item made it “tusk” in time for this week’s show. You can view the program at this link.
Kenny Toth, January 24, 2017
Google Aims to Try Social Media Again with YouTube
December 12, 2016
One of the biggest problems that Google faced in social media was that it was trying to compete against Facebook. Ever hear the saying, “don’t fix it, if it is not broke?” It is not that Google was trying to fix Facebook, but it was trying to offer a solution to something that was not broken to begin with. What was broken? We are still trying to figure that out, but rest assured it was more than likely Google selling a Facebook knockoff.
Google, however, already owns one of the largest social media Web sites, if not the most popular: YouTube. Google might open a new section of YouTube called Backstage that allows users to communicate, share links, share links, videos, and polls. Does that not already sound like Facebook?
There is more:
Backstage will introduce new types of posts to YouTube. Google plans to differentiate between regular videos and Backstage videos. The latter allows channels to push videos only to subscribers and not to users discovering the channel through search or other means. Backstage is an internal project currently and it is unclear if and when it will be made available. While YouTube is highly popular when it comes to video publishing and watching, it lacks in the social department. While users may post comments under videos or channels, there is little in terms of communication going elsewhere.
People already socialize on YouTube through the comments section. Backstage might simply add more order to an already chaotic comments block.
Whitney Grace, December 12, 2016
The Next Web Portal Revolution: Video Gateways
November 19, 2016
Navigate to “Yahoo and Google Face Challenge As Social Media Sites Aim To Be Video Gateways.” The leaders in this new gold rush are Facebook and Snapchat. The write up reports:
Facebook and Snapchat have overtaken the homepages of Yahoo and Google as the front doors to the internet for hundreds of millions of people.
Okay, Google has invested in Snapchat. The outfit won’t be left out in the cold. Some other high flying Web outfits may be caught napping. Video is the thing, the biggie, the next money machine.
The write up continues:
Recurring shows are hitting Facebook from cable companies such as E! and business news provider Cheddar.
And Snapchat is also beavering away:
Snapchat has co-invested in two media brands exclusive to Discover.
What’s happened to dear, old, almost impenetrable YouTube? The write up reports:
YouTube has come closer than any video app to surpassing TV. But industry experts say the service is flooded with competition, associated with on-demand viewing and set in its style. Facebook and Snapchat represent uncharted terrain and potentially more lucrative opportunities, so that’s where money is flowing.
I think this means no cigar.
And the new content flowing to Facebook and Snapchat has one appealing factor to the cost conscious:
“No need for editing,” she says. “We’re just done.”
Good enough. Just like the title for the article and almost nothing of substance about Yahoo. For the shows which are capturing eyeballs, consult the original write up.
Stephen E Arnold, November 18, 2016
HonkinNews for September 6, 2016, Now Available
September 6, 2016
If you visit Zimbabwe, what risks do you face when you use Facebook? Is the CIA’s investment arm too secretive? Whom do you consult to get the inside scoop about legacy code running on the mainframe in the basement? For the answers to these questions, invest six minutes in the September 6, 2016, edition of HonkinNews, a round up of stories from Beyond Search. You can view this week’s program at this link or click on the embedded viewer on the Beyond Search blog.
Kenny Toth, September 6, 2016
HonkinNews for August 16, 2016
August 16, 2016
The weekly news program about search, online, and content processing is now available at https://youtu.be/mE3MGlmrUWc. In addition to comments about Goo!Hoo, IBM, and Microsoft, you will learn about grilling squirrel over a wood fire. Live from Harrod’s Creek.
Stephen E Arnold, August 16, 2016
Honkin News: Beyond Search Video News Program Available Now
August 2, 2016
Honkin’ News is now online via YouTube at https://youtu.be/hf93zTSixgo. The weekly program tries to separate the giblets from the goose feathers in online search and content processing. Each program draws upon articles and opinion appearing in the Beyond Search blog.
The Beyond Search program is presented by Stephen E Arnold, who resides in rural Kentucky. The five minute programs highlights stories appearing in the daily Beyond Search blog and includes observations not appearing in the printed version of the stories. No registration is required to view the free video.
Arnold told Beyond Search:
Online search and content processing generate modest excitement. Honkin’ News comments on some of the more interesting and unusual aspects of information retrieval, natural language processing, and the activities of those working to make software understand digital content. The inaugural program highlights Verizon’s Yahoo AOL integration strategy, explores why search fails, and how manufacturing binders and fishing lures might boost an open source information access strategy.
The video is created using high tech found in the hollows of rural Kentucky; for example, eight mm black-and-white film and two coal-fired computing devices. One surprising aspect of the video is the window showing the vista outside the window of the Beyond Search facility. The pond filled with mine drainage is not visible, however.
Kenny Toth, August 2, 2016
Azure Media Services Meets Microsoft Machine Learning
July 26, 2016
The article on TechCrunch titled Microsoft Is Bringing Automatic Video Summarization, Hyperlapse, OCR, and More to Azure Media Services discusses the machine learning enhancements coming soon to the cloud-based resources for video workflows. Media Services will be able to summarize videos, perhaps more honestly than the average theatrical trailer. Face detection is another perk. The article details,
“Microsoft is building face detection into these tools and the company is including its ability to detect people’s emotions (something the company’s Cognitive Services already do for still images). Using this, you could easily see how people reacted to a speech at an event, for example. If your keynote goes on for too long, you will probably see people’s emotions go from happiness to indifference and then to sadness and contempt.”
The face detection and feature-reading technology is also shown in CaptionBot, Microsoft’s AI robot that can describe images. The uses of this sort of capability are extremely broad, but marketing professionals especially must be foaming at the mouth. Other features such as motion detection and optical character recognition as well as superior speech-to-text capabilities will certainly have users flocking to the upgrades. Also exciting is the Hyperlapse developments, which Microsoft promises will enable time-lapsing of videos in Azure Media Services without frame limitations.
Chelsea Kerwin, July 26, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
There is a Louisville, Kentucky Hidden Web/Dark Web meet up on July 26, 2016. Information is at this link: http://bit.ly/29tVKpx..
IBM Cloud Powers Comic-Con Channel
June 30, 2016
The San Diego Comic-Con is the biggest geek and pop culture convention in the country and it needs to be experienced to be believed. Every year the San Diego Comic-Con gets bigger and more complex as attendees and the guests demand more from the purveyors. If you are at Comic-Con, then you need to think big. Thinking big requires thinking differently, which is why it would seem “IBM And Comic-Con HQ Make Strange Bedfellows” says Fortune.
IBM announced that they have teamed with Lionsgate to run a Comic-Con HQ video channeled powered by IBM’s cloud. The on-demand channel will premiere during 2016’s Comic-Con. Comic-con attendees and those unfortunate not to purchase a ticket have demanded video streaming services for years, practically ever since it became possible. Due to copyright as well as how to charge attendees for the service have kept video on-demand on the back burner, but now it is going to happen and it is going to be a challenge.
Video streaming is:
“Video is a demanding application for cloud computing. Storing and shipping massive video files, often shot in ultra-high-definition 4k format, is a useful testbed to show off cloud services.”
Anything new related to Comic-Con always proves to be a hassle and troublesome. One of the cases in point is when the SDCC launched its digital waiting room to purchase tickets and had way more traffic than their servers could handle. The end result was a lot of angry fans unable to buy tickets. Another challenge was handling the massive crowds that started flocking to the convention halls around the mid-2000s (attendance swelled around 2011 with the Twilight movies).
Anything that will improve the Comic-Con experience and even allow non-attendees a taste of the magical July event would be welcome.
Whitney Grace, June 30, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
New Scan Video Search Tool
November 2, 2015
Navigate to Scan Video at http://www.scan.video. The service is in development. Results are limited. Documentation, although brief, is on the site’s about page. I ran a query for my video about cyberosint. The system did not locate my YouTube video on that subject. Other queries were more successful; for example, when I searched for “dance”, I received hits and new search box appeared inviting me to search for words in the video. My quest for a killer video search system continues.
Stephen E Arnold, November 2, 2015
YouTube Wants You to Pay For…YouTube Content?
August 5, 2015
YouTube is free and that is one of the biggest draws for viewers. Viewers pull the plug on cable and instead watch TV and movies on the Internet or via streaming device. While YouTube might be free, video streaming services like Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime offer network television for a fraction of the cable price. Google wants in on the streaming service game and it is already prepped with YouTube. Google’s only problem is that it does not have major TV networks signed up. Slash Gear explains in the article that “YouTube’s Upcoming Paid Service Hasn’t Signed Up TV Networks.” Cheaper access to network TV is one of main reasons that viewers sign up for a video streaming service, without them YouTube has a problem:
“What is most notable, however, is what is missing: TV networks. And according to sources, YouTube hasn’t at this point signed up any of those networks like NBC and Fox. Those networks would bring with them their popular shows, and those popular shows would bring in viewers. That doesn’t mean the networks will never be brought in — sources said there’s still time for them to get on board, as the rollout isn’t pegged for until later this year.”
Google is currently counting on YouTube stars to power the paid platform, which users will be able to watch ad free. Without network TV, a larger movie library, and other content, paying for YouTube probably will not have many takers. Why pay for already free videos, when all you have to do is watch a thirty-second ad?
Whitney Grace, August 5, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
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