Thursday Thoughts, October 28, 2021

Department of Technology:

• We're not being very intelligent in our labeling of AI, says Michael I. Jordan: most of what we commonly refer to as "AI" really isn't AI.
• Well, Facebook (or, sorry, "Meta") has been having a week, haven't they? It's hard to keep track of it all, to be honest. Just in the past week, Facebook/"Meta" has been called out for: the support of propagandist Breitbart News as a trusted news source, amplifying hate and misinformation in India, effectively handing over the reins of its business in Vietnam to the government, disregarding dissenting employee voices, turning a blind eye to election-related misinformation, and allegedly violating securities laws by making false statements in public filings. As Axios points out, it all boils down to three core problems facing the company: an aging user base, struggles to deal with bad content (i.e., things causing polarization, radicalization, mental health issues, etc.), and challenges to remain unbiased and fair on a global basis. Of course, ultimately, the scandals may not matter much (unless the SEC or Congress step in, since it appears many of the company's public statements have been demonstrated to be false). It's really all about the money and, so long as Apple doesn't take too much of an IDFA bite, "Meta" will survive the Facebook Papers. But the long-term trend of the company is in jeopardy: since it'll be hard for them to acquire, they'll have to innovate to keep up (and it's been a while since they've had to do some heavy home-grown innovation). As for my thoughts on the name change (in case you want them...you can also read Zuckerberg's perspective), well, I honestly don't think it'll change all that much (and Vice may have said it best).
• And it's not just Facebook/"Meta" that's hurting: their employees have been struggling with a mix of furor, angst, and sadness over the company's complicity in fueling societal strife.
• In conjunction, Congress called representatives from a handful of social networks to testify. Their theme? "Don't regulate us - we're not Facebook." That doesn't seem likely to work. As Sen. Blumenthal (D-CT) pointed out, "Being different from Facebook is not a defense. That bar is in the gutter. What we want is not a race to the bottom, but a race to the top." The UK also launched parliamentary inquiries into social media.
• Compare Facebook's approach to that of Twitter, which has emphasized transparency as of late and recently published a deep dive on their feed algorithm's potential for boosting political/controversial content.
• The Atlantic has an interesting perspective: people aren't meant to talk and share as much as social media wants us to, and this has led to conflict and tension (I don't know that I agree with their idea that Facebook should be more like Google+, though).
• Amazon also had some bad news break: for a company that's already feeling some pressure for the working conditions in its warehouses, the news that the company was also systematically underpaying warehouse employees for years (causing some to have to go on public assistance) does not help one bit.
• Speaking of bad actions in the tech world, the LA Times has a good article out about Intuit's role in keeping taxes complicated for Americans.
• The Cyberspace Administration of China stated that China will strengthen its efforts to build a 'civilized' internet to reshape online behavior and promote socialist values and new CCP theories. Sounds like a sub-optimal user experience awaits. But maybe I'm misunderstanding it.
• Hired.com has some good data about average tech worker salaries around the U.S.
• The FTC is reinstating its Prior Approval Policy Statement, which will give it greater agency with respect to blocking potential acquisitions by anticompetitive acquirors. Speaking of antitrust/competition law, the UK's CMA is investigating the online music streaming market and it appears that the DOJ may be interested in Apple's app store.
• Reid Hoffman and others are trying to fund efforts to combat misinformation. We'll see if it works, since misinformation is sticky and spreads faster than the truth.
• Work on AI systems has helped scientists learn about how actual intelligence works (in this case, how the brain processes language).
• Rallying the troops? Google highlights potential impact of competition/anti-trust laws in notices to small business customers.
• Apple's new Macbook Pros are going to undo some of the questionable choices of the past iterations (regarding ports, MagSafe, and the Touch Bar). Also, in a wild development, it's now looking like the only limit to Apple's ability to cram transistors in their chips (57+ billion at this point) is "physics."
• Kind of fitting: the screenplay for the new Dune film was written in Movie Master...an MS-DOS program. Related, kind of: Tokyo's bureaucracy is finally saying 'sayonara' to floppy disks. And 20 years ago, the iPod was unveiled (some people understood it, many underestimated it).

Privacy and Security matter:

• Well, that happened fast: Trump's alternative social network was hacked and trolled within hours of being announced.
• The Russian team behind the SolarWinds hack is back at it again.
• For what it's worth, the CIA and NSA also use ad blockers on their devices.
• The FTC has updated its Safeguards Rule, which explains what covered financial institutions must undertake for data privacy/security.
• Another sign that the U.S. needs to address spam calls: a hiker stuck on a mountain in Colorado declined a number of unknown number calls (which were from the search-and-rescue team) because they were presumably spam.
• Apple's 'ad-mageddon' changes regarding tracking have played out differently with different ad platforms--some, like Snap, didn't fare well; others, like Twitter and Google, came out okay. Here's why.
• Not a good look: Google is accused of trying to coordinate tech firms to oppose privacy protections for kids.
• Apparently, some apps have been able to get GPS data despite user opt-outs.
• A Swiss court recently ruled that Proton Mail is not a telecom and not subject to data retention rules.
• Yikes! Researchers found 422 million medical records sitting out there on a server.
• Squid Game is a cultural phenomenon. It's also useful for teaching cybersecurity.
• The FTC called out ISPs for collecting tons of personal data while not offering meaningful controls to consumers.

Athletics are awesome:

• It's a very good thing that the rules regarding NIL (name, image, and likeness) for college athletes have changed: from 2005-2019, (predominantly Black) college athletes lost somewhere to the tune of $1.2-1.4 billion per year in marketing, which instead accrued to colleges and universities.
• Alex Honnold's mom is now into climbing and has taken to pursuing climbs up...you guessed it: El Cap. The NYT has a good article on her, with an interview that conveys some great perspective.
• It happens again and again: running coaches keep trying to treat athletes like numbers instead of humans. You'd think at a school like Oregon, with its rich history in track and field, they'd know better. As David Roche points out in Trail Runner, this isn't the only problem with the Ducks' approach: they also use bad data and engage in bad data analysis.
• Steph Curry had one heckuva season opener in the Chase Center last week.
• Hybrid work is now leading to hybrid workouts as gyms and at-home workout equipment sellers are in growth mode.
• On the front page of "Suffering" magazine: the participants in the 350 mile Speed Project.
• The Boston Marathon experimented with a rolling start. It sounds like it went okay, but hopefully it won't be the norm.
• Getting up at 5am to workout may be hard but it might make you happier. And working out might help you ward off cancer.
• Surfers, don't take this personally, but great white sharks can't really tell the difference between you and seals.

Covid is a battle we can win:

• The message is what matters. And the message is muddled: Confidence in the U.S. recovery from the pandemic is waning, probably in large part due to poor messaging from the government regarding what's safe, what isn't, and what the path forward looks like.
• Great news! An anti-depressant has serious positive impacts for covid patients, according to a new large study.
• More great news: Merck will make its Covid antiviral available to be made cheaply for poorer countries.
• Covid vaccines are approved in the U.S. for kids 5-11. It appears to be highly effective and safe.
• There's a new book out that details the race to develop the covid vaccine. Should be a real page-turner.
• Sadly, the increase in drinking during the covid pandemic has evidently led to a spike in liver transplants.
• Just a thought: if cops aren't willing to accept requirements regarding vaccination, should they really be out in public as arbiters of legal compliance?
• If you bought surgical gloves at the outset of the pandemic, you may want to do a quality control check: lots of the gloves coming into the U.S. were recycled and dirty.
• Good question: does the original covid still exist?

Climate Change is a challenge we must meet:

• Sadly, I think about this often: each time I plan trips to the Sierra, I have to worry about the impact of climate change and the possibility of fire. Climate change is changing our relationship with the outdoors in a negative way, and it's heartbreaking to see the pall of distant fires dimming the Range of Light (or any other outdoor destination).
• As COP26 kicks off, here's a reminder about how much progress we've made (and how much more we need to make in order to avoid the worst of climate change). Related: even if you think climate change will be okay for you, remember that it's not just the weather: it affects international security and the global financial markets in significant ways.
• Great news: Hertz is going to buy 100k EVs from Tesla to take a leading position in electrifying its fleet. Not-so-great news: half of those EVs will be rented out to Uber drivers.
• I am going to keep pushing responsible eating. Vegan/vegetarian food is delicious and is becoming more and more accessible. Heck, you can even get luxury vegan food now. If it seems tough to switch, just think of all the phthalates you'll avoid by eating cleaner and veg.
• Wild: some Chinese companies pollute more than entire nations.
• Maybe big banks just look for money, not value: since the Paris climate accord, large financial institutions have poured trillions into the fossil fuel industry.
• Amazing: the French court system is forcing the French government to render compensation for the ecological damage it has caused.
• To combat climate change, Florida might be planting trees other than palms to reduce erosion, create shade, and pull in carbon.
• Kudos to New York for rejecting expansions of two gas-powered power plants.
• Promises, if you can keep them: Australia adopts a target of zero emissions by 2050 (but won't require meeting the goal via legislation), and Saudi Arabia commits to zero emissions by 2060 (but is also vague in its commitment). In any event, changing technology and market economics may push them to zero emissions before then.
• The market for carbon offsets has a lot of growing up to do. But it could turn out to help out significantly in the battle against climate change while also raising tons of revenue for governments.
• Perhaps related: Greenpeace called out a number of countries for pushing for selective edits to climate change reports that would paint their nations in a more positive light.
• Sadly, ten of the World Heritage Forests are now net carbon emitters (largely due to deforestation and fires). In the boreal forests, black spruce trees are facing significant threats from fire.
• Two-thirds of U.S. Republicans don't think climate change is an emergency (unlike, say, CRT, Toni Morrison books, etc.). Coincidentally, Russians actually see climate change as a growth opportunity.

California is a fascinating state:

• Well, that was something! The atmospheric river that hit California this past weekend surpassed expectations for rainfall (we had nearly 10 inches where I live) and it goes into the record books as part of the strongest storm ever seen in this part of the Pacific, with barometric pressure rivaling that of Hurricane Sandy. Despite the epic rain, the state is still deeply mired in a drought, and Marin still might run out of water. At least the waterfalls are back! Unfortunately, the ticks are also back.
• After the fire season comes flood season? It doesn't have to be this way, but it is a greater likelihood given that California's rainfall totals are actually remaining somewhat in line with historical norms but the rain is falling in a narrower timespan.
• Use it well. Sacramento is reporting another massive budget surplus this year.
• Pour yourself an Anchor Steam: Anchor is SF's oldest brewery, and now it's about to become the City's largest water recycler.
• Hallelujah! The western monarch butterfly populations are rebounding. Unfortunately, the SF Bay Area is losing its fog, though.
• Here is a listing of what are, apparently, the best restaurants in the Golden State. Me, I'm fine with good local Mexican or Indian.
• Things do not appear to be going well in Chesa Boudin's SF DA office. Lots of prosecutors are leaving, and some are speaking up (and in support of the recall effort).
• Worries about "the big one" are often seen as more of an LA concern, but a big one on the Hayward Fault (running under the East Bay) could force more than 1 million out of their homes and cause hundreds of thousands of lost jobs.
• Speaking of the Bay Area's infrastructure: if we're going to meet ambitious goals for growth, we need to become less car dependent.
• Another character in California's past faces a reckoning: Serranus Hastings, a wealthy leader in the Gold Rush-era California and the state's first chief justice, founded a law school that has educated generations of legal leaders and politicians. But Hastings also masterminded massacres of indigenous Yuki people as part of a broader state-sponsored genocide, and the school is facing calls to do something.
• An SFGate writer explores the Modoc plateau and extreme Northeastern California.
• The lengths some will go to in order to project a California image...

Everything Else:

• It has become more and more clear that there was a coordinated, significant coup attempt against the U.S. government on January 6, 2021.
• After dipping last year during the height of the pandemic, National Park visitor levels are way up in 2021.
• Wild: Cook pines, native to the New Caledonia region in the Pacific, always tilt towards the equator.
• More wild: the Earth may be stuck inside a giant magnetic tunnel in space.
• Eric Adams may be showing the path forward for Democrats to broaden their base.
• Many people (conservatives, primarily) freak out about crime at the southern border. But those fears are largely misplaced. It's part of a broader issue: Americans don't really feel safe (even though we're much safer than we've been in the past), a narrative largely fueled by ideology and media.
• As we've seen with Interpol and other elements of the international order, bad actor states (e.g., Russia) can game the system to go after political dissidents. China has learned from this example and dissidents and activists now feel the need to restrict their travel in many jurisdictions, based on extradition treaties between the countries and China/Hong Kong. Related: there are efforts to 'sinicize' mosques and other structures in China.
• A history of--and new appreciation for--taboos (the traditional Polynesian prohibitions on certain practices actually have pro-conservation effects).
• A sad story in the NYT about how one Montana busybody found a way to spin lies in an attempt to blow up efforts to preserve part of the state as a historical landmark.
• Want to feel chills? Listen to this playlist. Want to hear Mars? Click here.
• Noah Smith has a great essay on the rise of South Korea's soft power, from K-Pop to Squid Game, and how other countries might follow in their footsteps.
• Calling Indiana Jones: the capital of a lost civilization may have been found under the mud of an Indonesian river, and scientists are scrambling to excavate it before artifacts are sold off.
• Very cool: advanced DNA testing was able to confirm the identity of Sitting Bull's descendants, paving the way for a relocation of his remains.
• If you like Succession, you might like the story of what's going on with the board of Rogers Communications in Canada.
• Big news if true: the S&P 500 is accused of accepting payments for inclusion in the index.
• Feed me sweet little lies: it turns out that Sweetgreen is not profitable, as it has been saying publicly for years. Turns out an S-1 filing can act like truth serum.
• Fascinating: there is a nexus between authoritarian strains in governance and the prevalence of infectious disease.
• Must be because I'm a millennial and thus ready to grab my AARP card, but the Gen Z members highlighted in this NYT piece come across as incredibly privileged. One of the commentators on the article almost read my mind.