Steve Kovach, Business Insider:
\n\n\n\n\nWhen he announced the Essential smartphone at Recode’s Code Conference in May, Rubin said it would start shipping within 30 days, The Verge reported. The company also started accepting pre-orders for the $699 device.
\n \nBut more than 30 days have passed since then, and Essential isn’t shipping the phone yet.
\n \nAn Essential spokesperson did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
\n
Harshil Shah nails it:
\n\n\n\n\nAll you need to know about this story is that it took journalists a full week to realise this.
\n
Essential tweeted on June 28 that they were \u201cworking hard to make sure each product meets our quality standards\u201d, which sounds like a PR-friendly way of saying \u201cthis product is delayed for an indeterminate amount of time\u201d. They\u2019re still saying that it will be out \u201cthis summer\u201d, which gives them until mid-September.
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-07-07T14:52:15+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-07-07T14:52:15+00:00", "author": { "name": "Nick Heer" } }, { "id": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/williams-sms-2fa/", "url": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/williams-sms-2fa/", "external_url": "https://carpeaqua.com/2017/07/07/hack-the-planet/", "title": "SMS Two-Factor Authentication Doesn\u2019t Protect Against Human Error", "content_html": "Some asshole switched Justin Williams\u2019 cell number to a different SIM card and used that to bypass the two-factor authentication for his PayPal account:
\n\n\n\n\nI have spent the morning trying to evaluate my security practices and there’s not much I can think about that I’d do otherwise. Twitter tells me I shouldn’t use SMS-based 2 factor authentication and should use app-based 2 factor instead. I agree! The problem is that some sites like PayPal don’t offer the better security. The alternative is to just go back to single factor, which I am not so sure is the best solution either.
\n
Williams\u2019 security setup is similar to mine: unique passwords generated by a password manager, two-factor authentication switched on everywhere I can, encrypted everything \u2014 the usual. But all these barriers seem like they’re simply a minor inconvenience to someone who is intent on breaching my accounts.
\n\nWilliams:
\n\n\n\n\nI don’t even place blame on PayPal for this directly. The fault lies with the AT&T call center representative who let someone manipulate my account without knowing my passcode.
\n
The security questions and secondary authentication mechanisms that users set should prevent anyone from accessing the account without a correct answer, including customer service representatives; a policy like that, however, will likely get pushback from anyone not sufficiently technically-inclined. It\u2019s hard to balance customer service with security, but changes to actual service functionality \u2014 cancelling an account, changing the SIM card, updating the address, and so on \u2014 should always require a greater level of authentication or be done in person.
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-07-07T14:35:14+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-07-07T14:35:14+00:00", "author": { "name": "Nick Heer" } }, { "id": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/marquardt-faucet-amazon/", "url": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/marquardt-faucet-amazon/", "external_url": "https://storify.com/someToast/in-which-i-bought-a-kitchen-faucet-from-amazon", "title": "Rob Marquardt Buys a Kitchen Faucet", "content_html": "Yesterday, I linked to Lauren Goode\u2019s review of the Amazon Echo Look which, among other things, suggested that she buy a blue blouse similar to the blue blouse she already owns.
\n\nWell, Rob Marquardt bought a kitchen faucet a year ago from Amazon and they simply won\u2019t let him forget about it. How many faucets does Amazon think one person needs in their kitchen? Is it two? Is it six? Nobody is quite certain. But I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be letting the Echo Look pick my clothes in the morning, or do my shopping for me.
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-07-07T14:09:27+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-07-07T14:09:27+00:00", "author": { "name": "Nick Heer" } }, { "id": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/echo-look-review/", "url": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/echo-look-review/", "external_url": "https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/6/15924120/amazon-echo-look-review-camera-clothes-style", "title": "Amazon\u2019s Echo Look Reviewed", "content_html": "Lauren Goode tried Amazon\u2019s outfit-picking robot for the Verge, and it didn\u2019t exactly thrill her:
\n\n\n\n\nI\u2019m finding as I get older, however, that what I\u2019m wearing is less about what\u2019s cool right now right this minute and more about practicality. Is this item appropriate for a funeral? Is this too casual for an interview, or too precious for a casual coffee? Am I going to be freezing at a friend\u2019s wedding if I wear this? If the answer is yes: why are you not recommending I buy a jacket or shawl for that? Is this something that someone half my age would wear? (Yes, if it\u2019s in the Juniors department.) I\u2019m looking for more context, basically. Amazon, perhaps more than any e-commerce company, has the ability to do this. Amazon says this is \u201cjust the beginning\u201d with the Echo Look and that it will get smarter over time, but the Echo Look app is just not there yet.
\n
I sometimes forget to check the weather before getting dressed for the day and end up wearing something grotesquely inappropriate for the conditions. About a week ago, I wore a light sweater because I stepped out on my balcony before work and it was a bit chilly. It ended up being nearly 30\u00b0C, which is only sweater weather if you spend a lot of time on the Sun\u2019s anvil.
\n\nThat\u2019s the kind of thing I feel the Echo Look should be best at doing, but it doesn\u2019t sound like those kinds of recommendations are necessarily reliable.
\n\nIt seems to be a fairly confused kind of a device. On the one hand, it can keep track of the outfits you wear daily so that you don\u2019t find yourself wearing the same one to meet with the same clients a week apart, which should be appealing to those more fashion-conscious. On the other hand, if you\u2019re fashion-conscious, you probably wouldn\u2019t place much trust in a robot telling you what to wear, or what to buy:
\n\n\n\n\nI wasn\u2019t really expecting spot-on clothing recommendations from Amazon just yet, try as it might to establish itself in the fashion world. But it never recommended shoes or accessories (which I am most likely to buy from Amazon), and it had a tendency to suggest I shop for other items in a similar color pattern (if I already have a blue blouse I don\u2019t need another blue blouse). It also once suggested I might be interested in a similar top from the Junior\u2019s department even though I haven\u2019t shopped in that section of a store in a very long time.
\n
Steven Frank in 2015:
\n\n\n\n\n“I see you bought a vacuum cleaner. Do youuu… want another one?” \u2014 Amazon
\n
I rag on Siri a lot, but Amazon almost certainly has the world\u2019s largest database of shopping trends. Surely they could do better than suggesting stuff that\u2019s identical to what you already own or just bought. If their AI can\u2019t get that right, why would you trust it to dress you every day?
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-07-06T23:09:03+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-07-06T23:09:38+00:00", "author": { "name": "Nick Heer" } }, { "id": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/apple-news-doubleclick/", "url": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/apple-news-doubleclick/", "external_url": "http://adage.com/article/digital/apple-explores-ways-publishers-sell-ads-news-app/309644/", "title": "AdAge: Apple to Begin Allowing Third-Party Ads in Apple News", "content_html": "Garett Sloane, AdAge:
\n\n\n\n\nAt the moment, Apple maintains tight control over ad delivery in its popular news app, and publishers say they are not generating much revenue there.
\n \nPublishers can set up ad campaigns to run in their Apple News articles, with all types of ad formats including standard banner ads and videos. “It just takes a lot of additional effort,” said one top publishing executive, speaking on condition of anonymity.
\n \nTo fix that and keep media partners happy, Apple plans to allow publishers to use the ad tech they already employ on their sites, such as Google’s DoubleClick for Publishers, to deliver ads into Apple News.
\n
The entire reason I \u2014 and others \u2014 use Apple News is because it sucks a lot less to read articles in there than it does on the web.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPublishers need to find ways to do ads that don\u2019t interrupt or delay the reading experience. I don\u2019t know why this is so hard for them to understand.
\n
The short answer is that the data tells them otherwise. Enough readers apparently tolerate really crappy ads that move text all over the place to play a thirty second video ad for Frosted Flakes \u2014 or, at least, they’re just effective enough to pay for the users who click away and those that run ad blockers.
\n\nAs long as publishers don\u2019t control their own ads, bad ads will persist. But building the infrastructure for an online advertising department is expensive, especially when compared to copying and pasting one of Google’s JavaScript snippets, and only very major publications can even attempt to do so \u2014 the Economist being one example.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\nre: Apple News ad changes, I have to think (and have it on good authority) that without those changes, publishers will leave
\n \nSo yes, it “junks” up the news experience, but publishers (and I mean big ones) are threatening to leave otherwise.
\n
Apple News is entirely dependent on retaining big publishers; without them, the app collapses. Adding third-party advertising support ought to make publishers happy, but it’s probably going to suck for readers. So what can Apple do?
\n\nSloane:
\n\n\n\n\nThere also are plans to enable micropayment options so people can access articles for cents at a time, according to another Apple publishing partner.
\n
That’s one way, but I’m not convinced it will work. If people are given the option of paying a single cent upfront for every article they read, I doubt they’ll take that option when an apparently free version exists on the web \u2014 even though it might ultimately cost them twenty or thirty times as much.
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-07-06T15:29:36+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-07-06T15:29:36+00:00", "author": { "name": "Nick Heer" } }, { "id": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/television-news-ratings/", "url": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/television-news-ratings/", "external_url": "https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-tv-ratings-game-networks-try-to-dissguys-bad-newz-from-nielsen-1499350955", "title": "Haunted by Data, Television News Edition", "content_html": "Joe Flint, Wall Street Journal (Twitter workaround for paywall):
\n\n\n\n\nIn a game largely sanctioned by TV-ratings firm Nielsen, television networks try to hide their shows\u2019 poor performances on any given night by forgetting how to spell.
\n \nThat explains the appearance of \u201cNBC Nitely News,\u201d which apparently aired on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend this year, when a lot of people were away from their TVs. The retitling of \u201cNBC Nightly News\u201d fooled Nielsen\u2019s automated system, which listed \u201cNitely\u201d as a separate show.
\n \nHiding the May 26 program from Nielsen dramatically improved the show\u2019s average viewership that week. Instead of falling further behind first-place rival \u201cABC World News Tonight,\u201d NBC news narrowed the gap.
\n
According to Flint, this is a not-uncommon practice for broadcast networks because higher average viewership numbers mean a higher commanding price for advertising.
\n\nRecall Maciej Ceg\u0142owski\u2019s talk from the Strata + Hadoop World conference:
\n\n\n\n\nA more recent and less fictitious example is electronic logging devices on trucks. These are intended to limit the hours people drive, but what do you do if you’re caught ten miles from a motel?
\n \nThe device logs only once a minute, so if you accelerate to 45 mph, and then make sure to slow down under the 10 mph threshold right at the minute mark, you can go as far as you want.
\n \nSo we have these tired truckers staring at their phones, bunny-hopping down the freeway late at night.
\n \nOf course there’s an obvious technical countermeasure. You can start measuring once a second.
\n \nNotice what you’re doing, though. Now you’re in an adversarial arms race with another human being that has nothing to do with measurement. It’s become an issue of control, agency and power.
\n \nYou thought observing the driver\u2019s behavior would get you closer to reality, but instead you’ve put another layer between you and what’s really going on.
\n
If they wanted to, Nielsen could fix this problem with more data. They could do fuzzy matches for similarly-named programs and manually verify viewership numbers for each show. But that’s just increasing the number of steps networks have to take in order to inflate their viewership averages \u2014 instead of \u201cNitely News\u201d, it could become \u201cLester Holt\u2019s Hour of Power\u201d. Every time Nielsen makes an adjustment, major networks would simply adjust.
\n\nI’m becoming increasingly convinced that making adjustments to products based purely on analytics data is a futile exercise, and can encourage obviously obtuse behaviours:
\n\n\n\n\nNBC in 2015 persuaded almost a dozen of its local TV station affiliates to rerun \u201cNightly News\u201d after 2 a.m. At the time, NBC said, it was focused \u201con ways to reach our audience when and how they want to be reached.\u201d
\n \nA rival network thought otherwise and alerted NBC advertisers to the practice. After learning of the stunt, many advertisers cried foul. They told NBC whoever was watching the newscast at that hour wasn\u2019t the kind of consumer they wanted to reach. NBC said it quickly discontinued the practice.
\n
You’ve seen similar practices to this on the web, only worse and far more extreme. Remember the era of paginated articles, where you’d get halfway through and have to click through to view the second half? Those were all the rage for two reasons: first, an increase in ad impressions; second, an increase in page views. The latter is part of a pretty typical SEO trick, since Google reportedly boosts rankings for websites that see more page views in a single session. However, this creates a terrible experience for readers. And every time Google makes an adjustment to the way they rank websites, a bunch of people scramble to try to figure out how to game the data for better rankings.
\n\nNone of this actually helps people, though. Collecting a bunch of user data and blindly following it doesn’t always help make a better product \u2014 in fact, it sometimes produces a worse product \u2014 and it’s a privacy nightmare.
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-07-06T14:41:34+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-07-06T14:41:34+00:00", "author": { "name": "Nick Heer" } }, { "id": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/intel-inside-macs/", "url": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/intel-inside-macs/", "external_url": "http://kensegall.com/2017/06/steve-jobs-and-the-missing-intel-inside-sticker/", "title": "Intel Inside, Without the Sticker Outside", "content_html": "\n\n\n\n\nI get that Intel Inside is one of the most successful marketing campaigns in business history. It\u2019s just that after 36 years, that logo starts to feel more like a pollutant than an advertising device.
\n \nThankfully, Macs have remained 100% free of Intel branding since Apple adopted its processors way back in 2006.
\n \nWe have Steve Jobs\u2019s sensibilities to thank for this. But how it all happened is a fun little story.
\n
Back in August 2007, about a year after Apple began shipping Intel Macs,1 they held an event at their on-campus Town Hall theatre where they launched the first aluminum iMac, iLife \u201908, and iWork \u201908. After the event, they held a less-formal question-and-answer session between Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, Phil Schiller, and the journalists in the audience. Bob Keefe of Cox Newspapers asked:
\n\n\n\n\nCan you say why you all are not participating in the Intel Inside program, putting the stickers on your new or previous Macs?
\n
Jobs\u2019 reply is now pretty famous:
\n\n\n\n\nUh. What can I say? We like our own stickers better.
\n
He provided cogent explanation of why the branding isn\u2019t necessary, and Schiller jumped in to point out that all the promotional deals that manufacturers have made actually make the products worse for users.
\n\nKeefe\u2019s question unfortunately prompted a rash of ridicule. Jason Snell, Macworld (then at Macuser):
\n\n\n\n\nYes, access to Jobs is limited. So I can see why a reporter like Keefe would use the opportunity to ask Jobs a question and get a quote for a story he was working on. It\u2019s not something I think I would\u2019ve done, because to me it\u2019s a selfish act that makes everyone in the room subservient to one writer\u2019s deadline and story idea. [\u2026]
\n \nBut I can\u2019t condemn Keefe for asking the question. I wouldn\u2019t have asked it, and it was a bit moldy and off topic, but damned if its end result wasn\u2019t a great distillation of Apple\u2019s product philosophy.
\n
Segall, again, on the effects of the Intel Macs:
\n\n\n\n\nToday, even though some speculate that Apple will switch to ARM processors, one cannot diminish the importance of Steve\u2019s switch to Intel in 2006.
\n \nHis decision instantly demolished the argument that PCs had a built-in advantage over Macs.
\n \nWith processor parity, Apple could focus 100% on the things that set Macs apart on a more human level: software, design, quality and simplicity.
\n
If Apple were to switch to ARM processors in the Mac \u2014 and, I think, that\u2019s a very big \u201cif\u201d \u2014 it would no longer be possible to directly compare specific Mac models against their Windows counterparts, if that was all a buyer may be interested in. But that could work to Apple\u2019s distinct advantage; for the last several years, they\u2019ve been emphasizing things that work better on the Mac because of the hardware and software integration. A custom processor seems like it would fall into that line of thought.
\n\nAt this time, Apple was also in the middle of creating a fork of Mac OS X that would run on low-performance ARM processors in the iPhone. Wild, right? ↩︎
\nTroy Hunt:
\n\n\n\n\nHere’s the bottom line with all this: password strength meters which simply run JavaScript in the client and apply basic mathematics are woefully inadequate. Likewise, websites applying similar maths to enforce “strong” passwords in no way guarantee that actual strong passwords will be chosen. All these calculators neglect the human element of passwords and that’s an enormously important part of the picture.
\n
I know blog posts on passwords aren’t super dynamic and fun, but this is a great piece to show friends and family. Password cracking software has adapted to work with the XKCD-style multi-word passphrase format, so pure length isn’t the answer any more; secure passwords are long, complex, and unique. That makes those passwords very hard to remember, but products like 1Password and features like Touch ID are slowly making laboriously typing passwords a relic of the past.
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-07-05T14:59:04+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-07-05T14:59:25+00:00", "author": { "name": "Nick Heer" } }, { "id": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/apples-taste-in-television/", "url": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/apples-taste-in-television/", "external_url": "https://theoutline.com/post/1818/apple-s-planet-of-the-apps-is-even-worse-than-you-thought", "title": "Apple\u2019s Taste in Television", "content_html": "Have you ever watched an event unfold that is so embarrassing for those involved that you get deeply embarrassed? I\u2019ve tried watching more episodes of \u201cPlanet of the Apps\u201d, and I\u2019m finding it hard to see the show as anything other than a cynical, merchandise-driven, and tasteless attempt at original programming. The first time that I watched the premiere episode, I was under the impression that it just wasn\u2019t the show for me; after re-watching it, though, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s just me.
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-07-04T15:04:16+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-07-04T15:04:16+00:00", "author": { "name": "Nick Heer" } }, { "id": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/pervasive-data-brokers/", "url": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/pervasive-data-brokers/", "external_url": "http://crackedlabs.org/en/corporate-surveillance", "title": "Data Brokers Are Pervasive in Daily Life and Growing", "content_html": "A huge, groundbreaking study from Cracked Labs shows the scale of big data collection in nearly every aspect of daily life. Wolfie Christl:
\n\n\n\n\nOne major reason that corporate tracking and profiling has become so pervasive lies in the fact that nearly all websites, mobile app providers, and many device vendors actively share behavioral data with other companies.
\n \nA few years ago most websites began embedding tracking services that transmit user data to third parties into their websites. Some of these services provide visible functionality to users. When a website shows, for example, a Facebook like button or an embedded YouTube video, user data is transmitted to Facebook or Google. Many other services related to online advertising remain hidden, though, and largely serve only one purpose, namely to collect user data. It is widely unknown exactly which kinds of user data digital publishers share and how third parties use this data. At least part of these tracking activities can be examined by everybody; by installing the browser extension Lightbeam, for example, one can visualize the hidden network third-party trackers.
\n \nA recent study examined one million different websites and found more than 80,000 third-party services that receive data about the visitors of these websites. Around 120 of these tracking services were found on more than 10,000 websites, and six companies monitor users on more than 100,000 websites, including Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Oracle\u2019s BlueKai. A study on 200,000 users from Germany visiting 21 million web pages showed that third-party trackers were present on 95% of the pages visited. Similarly, most mobile apps share information on their users with other companies. A 2015 study of popular apps in Australia, Brazil, Germany, and the US found that between 85% and 95% of free apps and even 60% of paid apps connect to third parties that collect personal data.
\n
Consider that there are thousands of these companies. Consider, too, that many of them share information between themselves, and that you won’t necessarily know when you’re providing information to any of these companies because, oftentimes, the privacy policy on different websites won’t always disclose which trackers and advertising scripts they are using at any given time. Finally, consider that there’s virtually no way to opt out of this kind of mass data collection, because it’s largely beyond your control.
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-07-04T14:56:40+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-07-04T14:56:40+00:00", "author": { "name": "Nick Heer" } }, { "id": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/google-deepmind-nhs/", "url": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/google-deepmind-nhs/", "external_url": "https://iconewsblog.wordpress.com/2017/07/03/four-lessons-nhs-trusts-can-learn-from-the-royal-free-case/", "title": "Google DeepMind Trial Failed to Comply With U.K. Data Protection Act", "content_html": "The Information Commissioner\u2019s Office, in a press release:
\n\n\n\n\nThe ICO has ruled the Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust failed to comply with the Data Protection Act when it provided patient details to Google DeepMind.
\n \nThe Trust provided personal data of around 1.6 million patients as part of a trial to test an alert, diagnosis and detection system for acute kidney injury.
\n \nBut an ICO investigation found several shortcomings in how the data was handled, including that patients were not adequately informed that their data would be used as part of the test.
\n
Elizabeth Denham, Information Commissioner, weighs in on the findings on the ICO blog:
\n\n\n\n\nBut what stood out to me on looking through the results of the investigation is that the shortcomings we found were avoidable. The price of innovation didn\u2019t need to be the erosion of legally ensured fundamental privacy rights. I\u2019ve every confidence the Trust can comply with the changes we\u2019ve asked for and still continue its valuable work. This will also be true for the wider NHS as deployments of innovative technologies are considered.
\n
Denham makes this point specifically regarding health information, but it should be applied to all kinds of data, particularly when multiple streams of data are collected and connected. It may be harder to innovate in a big data way without collecting information on a big data scale \u2014 much like how it may be more difficult to investigate crimes when everyone’s phone isn’t being wiretapped at all times. But we should ensure that we are vigilant about reducing the erosion of our privacy protections in both the public and private sectors, even if that means waiting longer for innovative new technologies.
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-07-04T14:42:42+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-07-04T14:42:42+00:00", "author": { "name": "Nick Heer" } }, { "id": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/bixby-speaker-rumour/", "url": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/bixby-speaker-rumour/", "external_url": "https://www.wsj.com/articles/samsung-is-developing-a-voice-activated-speaker-1499153890", "title": "WSJ: With Bixby Delayed in U.S., Samsung Is Working on a \u2018Smart\u2019 Speaker", "content_html": "Timothy W. Martin, Wall Street Journal (work around the paywall via Twitter, or read the CNet summary):
\n\n\n\n\nSamsung Electronics Co. is developing a voice-activated speaker powered by its digital assistant Bixby, according to people familiar with the matter, joining a proliferating arms race in tabletop devices.
\n \n[\u2026]
\n \nOne variable slowing Samsung\u2019s progress is the postponed U.S. launch of the English-language version of Bixby, which would operate the speaker much as Alexa operates Amazon\u2019s Echo device, according to people familiar with the matter. Bixby\u2019s voice features were a key selling point for the world\u2019s largest smartphone maker\u2019s latest flagship model, the Galaxy S8, introduced April 21.
\n \nThe company vowed the English-language Bixby would be ready by spring, but now Samsung internally believes those voice features are unlikely before the second half of July, one of the people said. The Galaxy S8 is Samsung\u2019s first device to feature Bixby.
\n
Previously, Martin reported that Bixby had been delayed because it was having difficulty understanding English. You might reasonably think that mastering English would be trivial for Bixby seeing as Samsung acquired the Viv virtual assistant \u2014 that amazing one built by ex-Siri engineers \u2014 but, apparently, Bixby doesn\u2019t use any of Viv\u2019s technology yet.
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-07-04T14:22:27+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-07-04T14:24:22+00:00", "author": { "name": "Nick Heer" } }, { "id": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/raising-money-as-a-woman/", "url": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/raising-money-as-a-woman/", "external_url": "https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2014/08/07/what-its-like-raising-money-as-a-woman-in-tech/", "title": "What It’s Like Raising Money as a Woman in Silicon Valley", "content_html": "Some followup on Katie Benner\u2019s brutal New York Times article about widespread sexual harassment from venture capitalists when female founders attempt to raise funding for their companies. And this followup is actually a piece from back in 2014, when Jeff Bercovici of Forbes published an account from a female founder who requested anonymity:
\n\n\n\n\nAfter some small talk, he sat next to me on the couch and commented that I looked stressed. He put down his glass of wine and reached to massage my shoulders. As he slid his hands further, I made a nervous joke, quickly trying to shift my weight away from him. I leaned into the corner of the couch and crossed my legs, attempting to put an obstacle in his way. Undeterred, he continued to reach for me.
\n \nI got up and walked across the room. Trying to keep it light, I comment on how often men made inappropriate advances towards me during business meetings, hoping he\u2019d get the message.
\n \n\u201cYeah, that\u2019s tough. You can\u2019t really say anything because it\u2019s one tight knit community,\u201d he said, probably thinking he sounded sympathetic.
\n \nIf I chose to complain\u2014or make a scene and wake up his children who slept nearby\u2014it would be another case of he said / she said, like the countless harassment cases that have made headlines in the tech community but have not done much to change status quo. Given his standing in the community and his personal wealth, who would believe my claims as anything more than those of a spurned little girl upset that a VC had chosen not to invest in her company?
\n
Anyone who claims that Silicon Valley is a meritocracy is talking out of their ass. If male founders were subject to the same pervasive sexual harassment as women face, reforms would have happened a long time ago.
\n\nYet, despite high-profile resignations lately from men implicated in these reports, I’m not really sure any meaningful reforms are currently taking place. Top venture capital companies are overwhelmingly run by men, and their power allows a festering quiet environment where women are propositioned to exchange sex for funding. The relative dearth female venture capital partners is, quite possibly, a symptom as well for a much bigger and more pervasive problem \u2014 women simply aren’t respected or treated as seriously as their male counterparts. That\u2019s something that needs to be fixed everywhere, but for an industry that encourages reinventing the world, it\u2019s especially problematic.
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-07-04T08:48:37+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-07-04T08:48:37+00:00", "author": { "name": "Nick Heer" } }, { "id": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/women-describe-sexual-harassment-silicon-valley/", "url": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/women-describe-sexual-harassment-silicon-valley/", "external_url": "https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/30/technology/women-entrepreneurs-speak-out-sexual-harassment.html", "title": "Women Frankly Describe Rampant Sexual Harassment in Silicon Valley", "content_html": "Katie Benner, New York Times:
\n\n\n\n\nOne female entrepreneur recounted how she had been propositioned by a Silicon Valley venture capitalist while seeking a job with him, which she did not land after rebuffing him. Another showed the increasingly suggestive messages she had received from a start-up investor. And one chief executive described how she had faced numerous sexist comments from an investor while raising money for her online community website.
\n \nWhat happened afterward was often just as disturbing, the women told The New York Times. Many times, the investors\u2019 firms and colleagues ignored or played down what had happened when the situations were brought to their attention. Saying anything, the women were warned, might lead to ostracism.
\n \nNow some of these female entrepreneurs have decided to take that risk. More than two dozen women in the technology start-up industry spoke to The Times in recent days about being sexually harassed. Ten of them named the investors involved, often providing corroborating messages and emails, and pointed to high-profile venture capitalists such as Chris Sacca of Lowercase Capital and Dave McClure of 500 Startups, who did not dispute the accounts.
\n
Journalists often try to get two unaffiliated sources to corroborate claims like these; Benner got over two dozen women reporting their own experiences, many of them attributed to them. Given the culture of Silicon Valley that has been reported in countless articles, including Benner’s piece, that’s a brave move.
\n\nThis story is well-reported and shocking but, alas, unsurprising. The day before the Times published their piece \u2014 and, presumably, around the time that Benner contacted Chris Sacca for a response \u2014 he published a thing on Medium to preempt some of the criticism he would inevitably face. It sounds like an acknowledgement of his mistakes but, just a day after Benner’s piece was published, Susan J. Fowler \u2014 yes, that Susan J. Fowler \u2014 said on Twitter that Sacca messaged her to try to get her to stop tweeting about him. Gross.
\n\nUpdate: Matthew Panzarino and Jonathan Shieber of TechCrunch are reporting that Dave McClure has resigned.
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-07-03T14:07:03+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-07-03T14:11:01+00:00", "author": { "name": "Nick Heer" } }, { "id": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/winners-of-the-2017-iphone-photography-awards/", "url": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/winners-of-the-2017-iphone-photography-awards/", "external_url": "http://www.ippawards.com/2017-photographers-of-the-year/", "title": "Winners of the 2017 iPhone Photography Awards", "content_html": "This is, naturally, the tenth anniversary of the iPhone Photography Awards, and the winning photographs this year are \u2014 as you\u2019d expect \u2014 stunning. Be sure you don\u2019t miss the winners and honourable mentions in the sub-categories like news and events, nature, and landscape.
\n\nEven with some digging, I know very little about the iPhone Photography Awards, largely because they don\u2019t explain a lot about themselves. There seems to be no published documentation about who the judges are or what they\u2019re looking for, and \u2014 combined with its entry fees \u2014 I don\u2019t know how respectable it is as a talent-based contest. It may very well be completely legitimate, but they don\u2019t provide a lot of information, which is why I\u2019m a little hesitant to link to it.
\n\nBut it is the longest-running iPhone-specific photography contest around, as far as I can tell, and that makes for a rare opportunity to compare some of the best iPhone photography of this year against some of the best shot with the original iPhone. That camera may have been nothing to shout about, but it was paired \u2014 eventually \u2014 with the ability to share and edit those photos directly on the device. That changed everything about what we can do with the camera we always have with us.
\n\nAside from image quality, I think the most noticeable change in recent years is the variety of locations that have been featured amongst the winners. The original iPhone was only sold in seven countries which, even when travel is taken into consideration, severely limited its ability to capture the world. But its availability quickly ramped up with successive generations, and you can now find photos shot with an iPhone pretty much everywhere.
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-06-30T14:50:02+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-06-30T14:52:47+00:00", "author": { "name": "Nick Heer" } }, { "id": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/jay-z-drops-4-44/", "url": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/jay-z-drops-4-44/", "external_url": "http://www.thefader.com/2017/06/29/jay-z-444-tidal-subscribers-sprint-customers", "title": "Jay-Z Releases \u20184:44\u2019 Exclusively for Sprint Customers and Existing Tidal Users", "content_html": "Olivia Craighead, the Fader:
\n\n\n\n\nJAY-Z’s thirteenth studio album, 4:44, drops tonight at midnight, and it’s an exclusive to TIDAL subscribers and Sprint customers. However, fans will have to sign up for TIDAL before midnight in order to hear the album. After midnight, the album will only be available to Sprint customers, a source close to TIDAL confirmed to The FADER.
\n
I get the motivation for artist to make their new release exclusive to a single platform for a period. Aside from limitations arising from deliberate artistic decisions, they\u2019re a way for a musician to make a little extra money from the deal in a climate of decreasing album sales and low streaming royalties. They also create an opportunity for the platform to get a bunch of new subscribers \u2014 the only time anyone talks about Tidal is when they have an exclusive new release.
\n\nI don\u2019t get the strategy around this release, though. Why set an arbitrary deadline for subscriptions before the album drops? I doubt anyone is going to switch mobile carriers to get this record \u2014 even though it\u2019s probably Jay-Z\u2019s best work since \u2018The Black Album\u2019 \u2014 and it isn\u2019t like people don\u2019t have options if they missed the signup window. What\u2019s the goal here?
\n\nUpdate: Micah Singleton, the Verge:
\n\n\n\n\nIn the last four years, Jay Z has released two albums, both through non-traditional means. While most artists would sign with a record label to release their album, the most successful hip-hop artist of all time, a man worth $810 million, has made deals with a smartphone maker and carrier to cover distribution and promotion. The total value of the agreements, which include not just Jay Z\u2019s music, but his businesses is a whopping $220 million.
\n
No matter how good I think this record is \u2014 and I do genuinely think it\u2019s one of my favourite Jay-Z records \u2014 it will always be a little undermined and sullied by how much of a corporate play it is.
\n\nSee Also: Anthony Fantano\u2019s take. He doesn\u2019t like this exclusivity arrangement either.
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-06-30T14:13:54+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-06-30T15:14:51+00:00", "author": { "name": "Nick Heer" } }, { "id": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/canadian-injunctions-global-effect/", "url": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/canadian-injunctions-global-effect/", "external_url": "http://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-google-idUSKBN19J27N", "title": "Canada’s Top Court Rules That Injunctions Concerning the Web Can Have Global Effect", "content_html": "Leah Schnurr, Reuters:
\n\n\n\n\nCanadian courts can force internet search leader Google to remove results worldwide, the country’s top court ruled on Wednesday, drawing criticism from civil liberties groups arguing such a move sets a precedent for censorship on the internet.
\n \nIn its 7-2 decision, Canada’s Supreme Court found that a court in the country can grant an injunction preventing conduct anywhere in the world when it is necessary to ensure the injunction’s effectiveness.
\n \n“The internet has no borders – its natural habitat is global,” the Supreme Court wrote in its judgment. “The only way to ensure that the interlocutory injunction attained its objective was to have it apply where Google operates – globally.”
\n
This seems like a grave overreach of a single court\u2019s powers with a dangerous precedent. If a less-friendly country did anything like this, it would immediately be seen as a global threat.
\n\nI recognize that I’m posting this in the wake of defending the E.U.\u2019s decision to fine Google \u20ac2.4 billion for anticompetitive behaviour \u2014 a decision that will likely have global consequences. But that was a single finding around a single case, and it doesn’t outright state that Google must change their global practices to comply.
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-06-29T22:37:44+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-06-29T22:38:00+00:00", "author": { "name": "Nick Heer" } }, { "id": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/mcmansion-hell-is-back/", "url": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/mcmansion-hell-is-back/", "external_url": "http://gizmodo.com/mcmansion-hell-is-back-online-will-not-comply-with-zil-1796528085", "title": "McMansion Hell Is Back Online and Zillow Won\u2019t Sue After EFF Legal Response", "content_html": "Earlier this week, I wrote about the chilling effect money is having on the freedom of the press. As I was in the middle of writing that post, Kate Wagner of McMansion Hell announced that she had received a cease and desist letter from one of Zillow\u2019s attorneys.
\n\nThe EFF stepped into assist Wagner and, earlier today, sent their legal response to Zillow (PDF), ending in this truly magnificent paragraph:
\n\n\n\n\nOur client intends to relaunch McMansionHell.com shortly and will not be deleting any posts. In the interests of compromise, and because Wagner no longer wishes to use Zillow\u2019s website, she will no longer source photographs from Zillow for her blog. Given this, we sincerely hope Zillow will have the good sense not to trouble a court of law with this matter. However, if Zillow does intend to file suit, please be assured that our client is prepared to defend herself against your spurious claims.
\n
Well, Zillow saw the error of their ways \u2014 and, probably, how much of a massive PR blunder they made with this \u2014 and won\u2019t be suing Wagner:
\n\n\n\n\nWe have decided not to pursue any legal action against Kate Wagner and McMansion Hell. We\u2019ve had a lot of conversations about this, including with attorneys from the EFF, whose advocacy and work we respect. EFF has stated that McMansion Hell won\u2019t use photos from Zillow moving forward.
\n \nIt was never our intent for McMansion Hell to shut down, or for this to appear as an attack on Kate\u2019s freedom of expression. We acted out of an abundance of caution to protect our partners \u2013 the agents and brokers who entrust us to display photos of their clients\u2019 homes.\ufeff
\n
It may not have been their intention, but a letter from a lawyer can be powerful enough to make anyone stop what they\u2019re doing \u2014 even it\u2019s completely legal. This response sucks, though: Zillow could have at least apologized for being so deeply wrong.
\n\nChalk one up for the indies today.
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-06-29T15:28:36+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-06-29T16:54:21+00:00", "author": { "name": "Nick Heer" } }, { "id": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/panzer-location-services-bar/", "url": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/panzer-location-services-bar/", "external_url": "https://twitter.com/panzer/status/880413418171191296", "title": "On the Blame for iOS 11\u2019s Active Location Services Status Bar", "content_html": "Some followup on the blue status bar indicating an app using location services, which will be part of iOS 11. Matthew Panzarino:
\n\n\n\n\nThanks I guess. But this is hurting the user more than it\u2019s helping. It\u2019s Apple pointing fingers on battery life. The Politibar.
\n \nI know this came from some bad behavior on behalf of location apps but it puts the onus on the wrong party.
\n
I get where Panzarino is coming from here, but I disagree that this is mis-assigning blame. Some apps should reasonably be granted background access to a user\u2019s location, and the user should be clearly aware of when that\u2019s the case. This status bar isn\u2019t a problem for those apps; it is a problem for apps when they are sneaky about using location services in the background. I don\u2019t see how that can possibly hurt users.
\n\nAlso, if this is shaming apps that are eating up battery life by displaying which are using location services in the background, so be it: shaming works.
\n\nA reasonable argument could be made that Apple should apply more stringent screening to apps that use location services. Even so, they may not catch every instance of nefarious behaviour; this status bar ought to do that. A reasonable argument could be made that the iPhone\u2019s battery should be bigger, but Apple has long tried to balance battery life expectations with thinness and lightness. I’d love to get much longer battery life from my phone, but I also don’t want my phone to have the added thickness and weight of the iPhone battery case.
\n\nYour priorities may differ, but I think it\u2019s very helpful for users to tell them when apps may be consuming more of their battery life \u2014 particularly when they\u2019re using location services in the background and the user isn\u2019t fully aware of that.
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-06-29T14:51:34+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-06-29T16:20:25+00:00", "author": { "name": "Nick Heer" } }, { "id": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/thompson-google-eu/", "url": "https://pxlnv.com/linklog/thompson-google-eu/", "external_url": "https://stratechery.com/2017/ends-means-and-antitrust/", "title": "Oversimplifying the E.U. Google Antitrust Case", "content_html": "A bit of follow-up from yesterday\u2019s announcement by the European Union that they are fining Alphabet \u20ac2.4 billion for abusing its dominance in search. Ben Thompson:
\n\n\n\n\nThe implications of saying this is monopolistic behavior goes to the very heart of Google\u2019s business model: should Google not be allowed to sell advertising against search results for fear that it is ruining competition? Take travel sites: why shouldn\u2019t Priceline sue Google for featuring ads for hotel booking sites above its own results? Why should Google be able to make any money at all?
\n \nThis is the aspect of the European Commission\u2019s decision that I have the biggest problem with. I agree that Google has a monopoly in search, but as the Commission itself notes that is not a crime; the reality of this ruling, though, is that making any money off that monopoly apparently is. And, by extension, those that blindly support this decision are agreeing that products that succeed by being better for users ought not be able to make money.
\n
I think Thompson\u2019s discomfort with the E.U.\u2019s decision comes from an earnest place, but he drastically oversimplifies the rationale for their punishment. He lays it out beautifully: more people use Google because it\u2019s simply better, and it isn\u2019t like users can\u2019t choose a different search engine \u2014 they just don\u2019t.
\n\nBut when Thompson says
\n\n\n\n\nGoogle has a monopoly in search, but as the Commission itself notes that is not a crime; the reality of this ruling, though, is that making any money off that monopoly apparently is
\n
that isn\u2019t what the Commission is saying at all, and it\u2019s a total oversimplification of what they actually concluded.
\n\nRather, per their press release:
\n\n\n\n\nGoogle has systematically given prominent placement to its own comparison shopping service: Google’s comparison shopping results are displayed, in a rich format, at the top of the search results, or sometimes in a reserved space on the right-hand side. They are placed above the results that Google’s generic search algorithms consider most relevant.
\n \n[\u2026]
\n \nOn the other hand, rival comparison shopping services are subject to Google’s generic search algorithms, including demotions (which lower a search entry’s rank in Google’s search results). Comparison shopping services in the EEA are prone to be demoted by at least two different algorithms, which were first applied in 2004 and 2011, respectively.
\n
The Commission did not find either of these things objectionable on their own; they found them objectionable together, in combination with Google\u2018s dominance in web search. Even though Google Product Search is a glorified ad unit, it has many of the features of a product comparison website. Contra Thompson, though, my interpretation is that it doesn\u2019t make searching for products better for users primarily because it\u2019s an ad unit \u2014 and Google decided to bury the rankings of competing product search sites, where users might find far better deals from companies that don\u2019t advertise with Google.
\n\nThe Commission\u2019s decision seems very nuanced, and that is potentially a problem when similar cases will be decided in the future. But that nuance might also be relieving to those who, like Thompson, worry that this case may have effects that reach far beyond the Commission\u2019s intentions. In the future, similar cases ought to need Google\u2019s combination of dominance in general web indexing and advertising, their encroachment into different but related markets, and their ability to reduce the discoverability of competitors.
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-06-28T14:40:44+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-06-28T14:40:44+00:00", "author": { "name": "Nick Heer" } } ] }