Author: Kumie
I'm a musician and producer based in Northern Virginia
Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World
Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World
Werner Herzog’s latest documentary, Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World, starts with the director introducing us to one of the birthplaces of the modern Internet, UCLA’s campus. We then meet computer science professor Leonard Kleinrock who introduces us to first node of the Internet where the first message was sent over the network (“Lo” after the machine crashed while typing “Login”). Kleinrock is one of the many enthusiastic men–and it really is mostly men in this movie–who tell us about the beginning, the present state of, and the future of our connected world. If the movie had stuck with that format, I would have been enthralled (if disappointed at the dude-ocity). Unfortunately, the strength of the first third of the movie is outweighed by an ugly middle section and a muddled finale.
Divided into 9 chapters, things start to go wrong about 30 minutes into the movie at Chapter III: The Dark Side. This section is composed solely of a single edited conversation with the Catsouras family. In 2006, one of their daughters died in a car crash, and the grisly photos from the accident were leaked online, resulting in the family being anonymously harassed. While their story is tragic and upsetting, the sight of the family at one end of their dining room table, with three plates of muffins and croissants prominently framed in the foreground, makes me wonder what I am supposed to take away from their plight. If not for the tragedy of the story, I would think that I should be mocking their demeanor, appearance, and statements about the evils of the Internet.
The same awkwardness carries on to Chapter IV: Life Without the Net. It begins with another enthusiastic scientist, astronomer Jay Lockman, at the Green Bank Science Center in West Virginia, home of the largest fully steerable radio telescope. In order to eliminate interference with the telescope, there are no cell towers, and limited signals that could cause interference. Again, geeky cool, until we abruptly shift to three people who moved out to Green Bank due to their electromagnetic hypersensitivity–they get poisoned by Wi-Fi and cell signals. As with the Catsouras family, I don’t know if I should mock them, or feel sympathy. Perhaps that is Herzog’s strength as a filmmaker–he doesn’t take pot shots at these people and their idiosyncracies.
After this odd middle section covering the outliers of our connected world, the movie makes its way back to the Internet and its role in society. Solar flares will wipe out the net and civilization as we know it. Hackers are already everywhere and will get you through social engineering (though this is true). Mars needs Internet too (I think this was just an excuse to interview Elon Musk). The movie wraps up with discussions of AI and the self-centered future of connectivity.
Most of these topics are interesting and relevant, but we never get as deep as I would have liked. We also have mostly men interviewed, and oddly, most of them are associated with Carnegie Melon. It’s like Herzog went to visit campus, and decided he could get most of his movie done with the people there. The one woman prominently featured was the badass astronomer Lucianne Walkowicz, and she made some of the more interesting points in the back half of the movie. But, there are plenty of other women who have played a prominent role in technology and the Internet. I’m sure Herzog could have interviewed a couple more.
Lo and Behold started off well, and throughout there were many great moments (kudos also to the gorgeous soundtrack). But, the creepy middle third and the somewhat rushed ending took away from an exploration of one of my favorite topics. For that, I can’t give this movie a strong recommendation until it makes its way to Netflix and you are bored.
If you just can’t wait, though, the movie is now available for rent on Amazon, Google Play, and iTunes.
Lo and Behold chapters:
- Chapter I: The Early Days
- Chapter II: The Glory of the Net
- Chapter III: The Dark Side
- Chapter IV: Life Without the Net
- Chapter V: The End of the Net
- Chapter VI: Earthly Invaders
- Chapter VII: Internet on Mars
- Chapter VIII: Artificial Intelligence
- Chapter IX: The Internet of Me
For more on electromagnetic hypersensitivity, see Caitlin Dewey’s article here.
EpiPen Prices Have Soared – World Rages
My morning dose of rage came courtesy of Gizmodo and their reporting on the high cost of the EpiPen, the emergency epinephrine injector used to treat anaphylaxis. We all have that friend who will die if they get stung by a bee (apologies if you are that friend), or the one who needs to go to the hospital if they so much as look at a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Yeah, that is what EpiPens help to treat while you rush to the emergency room.
Back in 2007, an EpiPen cost $57. Today, you can get a two pack (no more single sticks for you) for $600. This amazing price increase was brought to you by the drug company, Mylan. They have been pushing up the price of the drug while making efforts to make sure it is everywhere. They worked with congress to help pass the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act, resulting in EpiPens in most schools. Disneyworld is stocking them now too. Sarah Jessica Parker took part in an ad campaign–that seems to have been casually disguised as a public service campaign–to talk about her own child’s experience with anaphylaxis.
Thankfully, after all of the articles that came out yesterday and today, there has been a swift backlash. Congress is calling for a price drop and FTC investigation (“Wait, is this partially our fault?”). Hillary Clinton asked Mylan to voluntarily lower the price of the drug. Even king pharma scumbag, Martin Shkreli, called Mylan “vultures.” Oh, and their stock took a 5.41% dive.
How does this sort of thing happen? Lots of reasons. But, the one that stood out for me is the availability heuristic. When making judgements about something–say the likelihood that your child is at risk for anaphylaxis–people rely on the most available information on the subject. They see Sarah Jessica Parker talking about her kid. They hear a story about a little girl who dies after eating a peanut. They remember a friend who went to the hospital with a bee sting. It must happen all the time. We need a law to make sure our kids are safe in school. I need a few pens too, because I think my kid is at risk.
I am not criticizing people who make decisions based on the availability heuristic. It is a natural process of thinking. I am sure that I employ it all the time. But, when pharmaceutical companies take advantage of it, we should feel scammed and get mad.
From Bloomberg’s article:
The biggest threat to EpiPen could come from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. It settled a patent lawsuit in 2012 allowing it to market a generic version of EpiPen as early as this year, if it wins FDA approval. Mylan isn’t too worried. Predicted Bresch in August: “You would not see the traditional market loss because of just the brand equity with EpiPen.”
Eek. I think you just lost some “brand equity” Mylan. I look forward to their press release by the end of the week.
References:
Android Nougat is Rolling Out Today
Android 7.0 was released today. It’s called Nougat. It occurred to me that most of the 4 people who read this blog may not know that Google has named every release–since version 1.5–of its Android operating system after something sweet, in alphabetical order:
- Cupcake
- Donut
- Eclair
- Froyo
- Gingerbread
- Honeycomb
- Ice Cream Sandwich
- Jelly Bean
- Kitkat
- Lollipop
- Marshmallow
- Nougat
Really, though, every release should be named after a different type of donut, because donuts are my number one sweet of all time. But, I suppose this works too. Nougat is an ok name. But who eats nougat by itself? Nutella would have resonated more deeply with people. Nougat makes me think, “Is that the mystery goop in Snickers bars?” Nutella just makes me salivate. And a Nutella-filled donut? Oh my.
Back to the operating system. Is Nougat any good? Apparently. Life changing? Probably not.
I am excited for the split-screen multitasking–a great feature once Google releases an Android tablet worth buying. This feature sounds pointless on a phone, unless you have a monster-screen Nexus 6P like me. Then, it is actually possible to use it in a productive way (perhaps with a bluetooth keyboard). I think. I’ll let you know when I get the update.
Should you get it? Eventually, yes. You probably don’t have a Nexus phone, though. Which means that you won’t get the update for a long time, or until you buy a new phone. Sorry.
At least you can tell people you know about Android’s tasty naming conventions.
Duo is Released Today
Google’s Video Chat App, Duo, is Released Today. But, Who’s Going to Use It?
Google released its new video messaging app, Duo, which let’s Android and iOS users have one-on-one video chats with other users of the app. Duo is meant to have a simple interface, requiring no separate account, just a phone number (like the WhatsApp of video). It is also supposed to be fast, even on slower networks. Finally, all Duo calls are end-to-end encrypted.
The screenshots for the app look pleasant enough, but Google has an uphill battle with this one. Who is this app for? It works with both iOS and Android, so presumably everybody. But, are iOS users dying to chat with their Android-using friends? Because they certainly aren’t going to leave Facetime for this app. Are the security minded worried about using end-to-end encryption for their clandestine video chats? Why would Hangouts users switch to Duo, when the former is already installed on their device? Why not just upgrade Hangouts to Duo? Google is now asking its users to make a choice between two of its services.
While I am pretty close to being a card-carrying Google Fanboy, I am confounded by how Google treats its users with app rollouts? Google Voice? Well, it still works. For now. Hangouts? You can still use it, but it’s going to be more enterprise focused in the coming days. So, use Duo for video and Allo for chat instead. Or just keep using Hangouts and Messenger. Or maybe use all of them and see what more of your friends use, which is probably just FB Messenger and iMessage.
Will I use Duo? Yes. I have a wife who travels internationally and Hangouts is awful with slow hotel connections. Hopefully Duo ’s speed can fix the problem. But, beyond that, I can’t think of any daily, or even weekly, use case.
I’d love to hear from my 3 readers on whether or not they will install, and what they would use it for. Hit me up in the comments.
References:
Fiction and Future Law
I am interested in putting together a short story collection of sci-fi law stories. Below is the beginning of one. Not sure if this is an opening crawl, or something else yet. Lots of writing and editing will still need to happen, of course. Enjoy!
As the sophistication of AI increased, the need for living legal representation decreased. It started with a simple bot to challenge parking tickets. Shortly after that, contract drafts were selected by bots. Then AI made suggested negotiation points. Then it began negotiating on our behalf. At each step, another set of lawyers was put out of work.
The last surviving areas were in legal scholarship–which was augmented by AI researchers–and litigators. AI hadn’t quite caught up to the nuance of trial strategy when 12 jurors, and multiple human witnesses were involved. It wasn’t great at the rhetoric needed to sway emotions. Not yet, anyway.
But, technology kept pushing forward into the legal industry. And the best place to beta test litigator AIs was in misdemeanor criminal defense–low stakes, common fact patterns, and most importantly, limited power on the part of the first test clients. Indigent criminal defendants couldn’t afford to go elsewhere. Besides, they always complained that they wanted a “real lawyer” instead of their public defender. The complaint would make a lot more sense with a terminal screen and a synthetic voice.
You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say, can and will be used against you. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be programmed for you…
Recommendation: Mercy Thompson and Alpha & Omega books
I just finished Cry Wolf, the first book of the Alpha & Omega series by Patricia Briggs. I have been reading the Mercy Thompson series for the past few years, which takes place in the same universe. If you haven’t read that either series–and enjoy urban fantasy–I recommend checking both out.
The books take place in modern day, except with werewolves, vampires, fairies, and other supernatural creatures. The Mercy Thompson novels are narrated in the first person by Mercy, who can shapeshift into a coyote. She lives in Kennewick, in the Tri-Cities, home of a werewolf pack lead by Adam Hauptman. Do you expect things to get steamy and romantic? Are you ready to turn away running? Surprisingly, the stories are more about Mercy solving supernatural mysteries–often with the help of Adam and the pack–than they are about Mercy’s love life.
The Alpha & Omega series, which I am just getting into, revolve around Anna, a rare Omega werewolf, and her mate, Charles a powerful Alpha werewolf. The first book, Cry Wolf, focuses on Charles and Anna’s developing relationship. Together they solve mysteries around the country as they are sent out by Charles’ father Bran, who is the head of all of the werewolves in North America.
As I was editing this post, it struck me that the descriptions here probably sound really cheesy. And you know what? The premise is a bit silly. But, no worse than a hundred-year-old vampire who falls in life with a teenager, or a bunch of kids taking wizarding classes. If you aren’t down with supernatural stories, this won’t change your mind. But, if you are, then maybe this sounds a bit less goofy.
The main characters in both series are likable and don’t make dumb decisions just for the sake of moving plot forward. I have been particularly impressed with Briggs’ characterization of Mercy Thompson. I have read too many stories with strong women who are “strong women”–they have spunk and announce their spunk and that is the proof of their strength. That’s not Mercy. She has her vulnerabilities. She doesn’t make bad decisions to prove her strength, only to have a man swoop in to back her up. She is just a capable woman who goes up against ridiculous odds and often comes out on top.
If you need something light, with a universe and mythology that deepens over the course of the series, I highly recommend these books.
Where to start:
- Moon Called – Book 1 of the Mercy Thompson Series
- Alpha & Omega – A short novella introducing the Alpha and Omega Series
- Cry Wolf – The first proper novel in the Alpha and Omega Series
Apathy and IM Security
A new study says that you care about neither security nor privacy when choosing a mobile instant messaging app.
The study consisted of an online survey of 1,510 participants, followed by interviews with 31 expert and non-expert participants. It found that peer influence is the primary factor that drives people to choose, and stick with their IM app, with WhatsApp, Hangouts, and Facebook Messenger ranked as the most used apps. Privacy and security only play a “minor role” in people’s decisions to adopt an IM. This goes for both experts and non-experts–“[I]nsecure behaviour exhibited by the participants…was roughly identical across both groups.”
My favorite part of the study, though, was the description of how experts view non-experts:
When asked what a non-expert knows about the sending process, 3 experts stated that they would know little to nothing and if they would think about it, they would most likely assume a direct connection between the two smartphones (8 mentions). Six of them even assumed that normal users would consider it “magic”. Furthermore, only one expert thought that normal users would think about whether the communication was encrypted or not. Interestingly, the experts highly underestimated the non-experts’ knowledge.
On the one hand, the experts think that we are a bunch of buffoons who use tiny magic pocket boxes to connect with our friends. On the other hand, they are just as awful about security and privacy choices as the rest of us.
My recommendations based on this study:
- Move to WhatsApp. A lot of your friends are already on it and WhatsApp recently activated end-to-end encryption by default. With that you will have a (relatively) secure setup, you can do what your friends do, and you don’t have to think about any of it.
- If you meet a security “expert”,
punch him in the faceshake your head in disappointment because he probably has already judged you as a Neanderthal.
Read the full study.
Or, just read Motherboard’s summary.
On Being Certain
There is something comforting about a person who is sure of themselves. We like certainty. We trust certainty. When someone changes their mind, we wonder how easily they were swayed of their convictions. Good leaders are strong. They have answers. They don’t change their minds lest they be flip-floppers. There is plenty of evidence to support our love of this kind of leadership.
Unfortunately, that is not how good decisions are made. Certainty leads to, among other things, confirmation bias–we only take note of evidence that supports our convictions and discount evidence that tends to disprove them. Certainty closes off a leader from the input of advisers and subordinates–people who have a valuable and different perspective that may lead to a better decision. Certainty leads to echo chambers and a lack of diverse thinking.
I would rather work with a person who is uncertain. Uncertainty is not the same as being wishy washy. Yes, decisions must be made. And when they are, we should have conviction in those decisions. But, until that point, I want that person to embrace the fact that they may not know everything. And after that point, I want that person to be open to changing their mind in light of new evidence.
Certainty is good for the ego. Uncertainty is good for the decision-making process.
For more on the topic:
How Certainty Transforms Persuasion by Zakary L. Tormala and Derek D. Rucker
Google Search “strong opinions weakly held” which will bring you down a rabbit hole about certainty and forecasting. The sooner you realize that we can’t forecast shit, the better you will be insulated from the certainty of experts who make a living on pretending to have a crystal ball.
AIs, Blade Runner, and Copyright
Vox published an article yesterday about some great work that a researcher is conducting on AI and video interpretation. To put it in terms that I can understand, he programmed an AI to watch Blade Runner and then recreate it. I know the feat is much more complicated and impressive than that, so I recommend you read the article and watch the example videos before reading on.
I won’t summarize more because I want to address the legal ramifications mentioned at the end of the article and in another one published by Techdirt. The issue at hand is how copyright law plays into this project.
While I am for the loosening of copyright restrictions and taking a broad view of fair use, I don’t think that this is as big a legal conundrum as these articles are making it out to be. When all is said and done, this is video synthesis in the same way that a fake guitar sound on a keyboard is audio synthesis. Let’s start there and analogize.
If I take a Led Zeppelin song–let’s say Kashmir because it’s still my favorite–and reprogram the whole thing using a software sequencer (i.e. synthesizer/sampler/workstation) like Reason, I could easily do a recognizable version of the song, however good or bad it turns out. This falls into the category of a cover song and would be covered (hehe) by a mechanical license.
Moving the line a little closer to this example–Say I program an AI to “listen” to Kashmir and then do its best, again using Reason, to create a new version of the song. Still a cover, right?
One more step over–I program an AI to take Kashmir, analyze it, then generate that cover using the other resources I have programmed into it (i.e. I program it to create its own synthesizer). How is this not still a cover song covered by a mechanical license?
Is there a video version of a cover song with automatic laws for licensing? Not that I know of.
Is there some other magic because there is an extra step, the AI, between your intent and the result? At this point, I would argue no. This is like setting up a camera with a motion sensor that gets triggered as an animal goes by, not like a monkey selfie.
Should you be found guilty of copyright infringement for generating and sharing? In my opinion, absolutely not. At the very least, the new video is probably protected by fair use.
But, imagine generating full length AI interpretations of movies and selling them. Under our current system of copyright law in the U.S., there is a good argument that this is infringement.
To be clear, I don’t believe that this should be the case, just that it probably is.
One final note of lawyerly arrogance–why does everyone keep quoting the researcher Terence Broad when he expressed what was essentially a legal opinion about whether or not this is infringement? He is entitled to his opinion, like anyone else, but it is not clear what his basis is. It’s just a nice quote about how this is new ground in the law.
Thoughts? I am open to changing my mind here, because this is super cool work.
Scott Kumis 
