Journal

Posted on

The sorry state of the web

Christian Heilmann is an astute observer of the web and its evolution, so I pay attention. I have followed his blog for many years. I found myself nodding my head when reading this piece. The whole piece is worth a read. (link below).

The web we have these days is in a sorry state. On the one hand we have the “social web” firmly in the hand of marketeers, bots and political propaganda. On top of that drowning in memes, reposts and funny things you already read in newsgroups in 1998. On the other hand we have the publisher web after 25 years still not being able to embrace the concept that you can’t control the distribution of your content once it is online. On the social web, knowledge is smothered by agenda and on the publisher web by ads and paywalls and contracts. Ever tried to look up some news from 12 years ago? Back in library days you were able to do that. On news portals, most articles are deleted after a year, and on newspaper web sites you hardly ever get access to the archives – even with a subscription

Read article on Christian Heilmann

Posted on

What do sensors know?

person driving car during night time
Photo by Gabe Pierce on Unsplash

China’s new rule: if your car uses sensors to map the environment, you must apply for government permit (link). Car sensors are now so good and ubiquitous they’re viewed as security threats. ‘The statement is a clarification of China‘s surveying and mapping law and reflects regulators’ efforts to prevent highly-detailed visual data collected by smart cars falling into the hands of hostile foreign actors.’ Related: A new sign shows that Tesla cars cannot enter government agencies and state-owned enterprises in China (Trucks VC)

Chinese decisions on car sensors are a testimonial that, as a nation, they genuinely know the capabilities of sensors and connected sensors as data and intelligence sources! As the saying goes, it takes a thief to know another. 

Did you notice: That we have not heard a peep from Elon Musk about why Chinese regulators haven’t approved  Tesla’s FSD for use on local roads? That man is always yapping about US politicians, loudly and crassly — because, you know, democracy and shit! 

September 22, 2022. San Francisco

Posted on

A dummy’s guide to killing a golden goose 

Facebook doesn’t understand why it is losing to TikTok and keeps copying them, but it is not working. And in doing so, it has changed Instagram so much that even the most loyal users are giving up. 

Essentially, it comes down to a major shift in user behaviors, away from following your friends, and seeing all the random stuff that they post, to following trends, and engaging with the most popular, most engaging content from across the platform, as opposed to walling off your own little space.

Read article on Social Media Today