Is that you? (Facial Recognition)
This is an issue that is no longer in the realm of science fiction – it is happening today! And we collectively yawn… Perhaps it is time to review a few of the issues and concerns with this technology since it is coming to an area near you (if is hasn’t already) very soon!
You may be most informed about the use of facial recognition on social networks – especially by Facebook. This gives many pause for concern of their privacy because … well, let’s face it, Facebook has not had a stellar track record in the area of privacy with their user data. Imagine if someone decided to use the data gathered from this large user base – either without telling you or by a hacker that tapped into this resource – for less than noble purposes. It is not the makings of that warm, fuzzy feeling we would like to have! For a good article on this issue, check out Why Facebook’s Facial Recognition is Creepy by Sarah Jacobsson Purewal (PCWorld). Sarah challenges us with
‘… the end of privacy as we know it–imagine, a world in which someone can simply take a photo of you on the street, in a crowd, or with a telephoto lens, and discover everything about you on the internet.’
Sound far-fetched? It’s not, and we are helping Facebook do this by tagging our photos. A different look at privacy and how our data is being used! Perhaps a better explanation can be found in this short video and in the article that accompanied it, titled ‘In the future, can you remain anonymous?’ by David Goldman (CNN).
Speaking of government or use by authorities, while the intents and purposes are certainly good, the potential for abuse also grows. One article that addresses this is ‘Crime-Fighting Facial Recognition Technology Stirs Controversy‘ by Jamie Colby. But it’s not just law enforcement, think of the various functions of government that will eventually adopt such technological solutions – the division of Motor Vehicles, the regulatory areas that handle hunting, fishing, firearm purchases, finances, and other agencies that will jump on this bandwagon. Top that with private industries like social networking and advertising agencies, you have a recipe for misuse and abuse of your privacy.
If you are interested in how this technology works, check out ‘How Facial Recognition Systems Work‘ by Kevin Bonsor and Ryan Johnson (HowStuffWorks). Another good read is from Wikipedia (which also treats the subjects of weaknesses, privacy concerns and effectiveness of existing systems). Now is the time to better understand the potential uses and pitfalls of these systems so you can make educated decisions on them as technology moves forward.
Say What You Mean…
I find it fascinating that we have seeming lost our ability to clearly communicate with each other. And with this post I don’t mean we no longer talk – I believe we talk more and say less! We try to cloak our true meanings on Google+, Facebook and other sites – and say next to nothing.
In thinking about this issue of talking with little / no meaning, the easy targets are found on the political stages of the world. Here in the United States we have politicians that actually do say most anything to get elected. Once they are in office they seem to continue to say most anything to stay in office. But instead of cherry picking, what about other areas of our lives?
Perhaps we have leaders speaking from their pulpits saying what we want to hear (this would include religious pulpits, however I am including many other areas here along with religion…). You see, that could be just the ticket to their longevity in a position, or for us to continue to buy or use their product(s).
Maybe they are persons in other positions that continue to string you on for less than worthwhile purposes. Some of these areas could be personal trainers (who continue to push you to get in shape when you have already met or exceeded all your ‘get in shape’ goals), counselors (keep your appointments to talk about all the things you already have talked about – breaking your appointments could impact their income), or even your boss!
And that is what I want to focus on here – speaking the truth in your business relationships. Oftentimes what you are going to get from HR and management is doublespeak. I would say we have become accustomed to it. In fact, we expect it because they have to cover their talk with words that have enough wiggle room to allow them to function in they way they are accustom to – with a hoped-for impunity (but often they do face repercussions for the language they choose not to use).
Wouldn’t this year be very different than past years if we actually used the language to say what we meant? I’m not advocating losing all tact, but am saying quit using doublespeak to cover yourself in the event things pan out differently than you anticipate.
Reading an article in Wired Magazine by William Lutz gave an interesting column of information to translate doublespeak.
| Doublespeak | Plain English |
| negative debt | cash |
| negative growth | loss |
| negative deficit | profit |
| thermal management systems and components | thermostats |
| a global leader in interior experience | we sell a lot of thermostats |
| thermal event | fire |
| state-of-the-art sound-processing tool | earphones |
| optical illuminator enhancer | window cleaner |
| director of first impressions | receptionist |
| wage management initiatives | layoffs |
| pre-retirement activities | work |
Wouldn’t we all be better served if we said what we mean? While some may want to hide what is really happening or try to make something appear more important than it really is, what happens is a loss of credibility and trust because we attempted to cloak the truth using different words.
This goes to the heart of many web design issues – and remains a reason that Google and other search providers are constantly tweaking their algorithms. We are tasked with doing our best as designers to cover all the bases to ensure our customers stay focused on saying just what they mean – but we also need to ensure they have coverage for other closely related areas and terms. It is quite a quandary, however if the business focused on what they truly do in the words they use, the job of the web designer becomes one with a goal that is easier to reach – tell the truth about the product and/or service.
Perhaps it is time for us in business (web development along with any other business you can think of) to say what we mean. And I believe it is well past time for everyone else to call others on doublespeak language – don’t let them get away with it! Ask that folks define terms and give you exactly what you need to hear so you understand the issue(s) facing you and then make an informed decision. Don’t take doublespeak as something acceptable and normal – it shouldn’t be either.
How Times Have Changed (entertainment)
I know many readers will have a hard time remembering the excitement of attending a movie. You knew of a movie you wanted to see that was playing, you went to the theater with friends, bought the overpriced drink and perfunctory popcorn, and were entertained! If that was not your thing, you scheduled time for your favorite show on one of the 3 or 4 channels you could get on the TV (and this was over the air programming that was FREE – no cable with hundreds of channels to choose from). If you were fortunate enough to live close to a larger population concentration you could go to a play or a concert (by some bands that were actually selling records and getting radio airplay).
Talk about changes! Most of the commercials now are talking about getting your favorite sporting events, movies and concerts on your smartphone. Entertainment is everywhere. It is this writers opinion that entertainment is now so pervasive in our culture and society that it is now an expectation for everything we desire to partake in. If we watch sports, we also expect some entertainment before the competition, during any break in the action, and as we exit the event. In our work places, just to keep our attention during training many times elements of entertainment are introduced (for security training a game show type of question and answer section – just to make sure you got the concepts). Pumping gas at our local refueling stations entertain us with targeted songs, messages and images on the screen so they don’t lose the opportunity to upsell. Even going to church has – in many ways – changed from a time of learning about and meditating on a higher power to entertaining us (want to leave happy with a ready-made slogan for the week, looking forward to see what rabbit can be pulled out of the hat next week).
Now don’t get me wrong, entertainment is not evil or bad, but I don’t believe it is the end goal of our existence – it has a time and a place in our lives, just like most other things!
In my lifetime it has been a progressive shift – I remember the radio and listening to music as well as watching TV (especially watching on Saturday mornings – it was the only time to watch cartoons). Then we moved forward to portable music (from 78 rpm’s, 33-1/3 rpm and 45’s – then to 8-track, cassette tapes, CD’s, now MP3’s and keeping our tunes in the cloud). We have moved from spoon-fed programming on the TV to the offerings on cable and satellite providers. We went through recording our favorite shows on Beta or VHS to on demand offerings and streaming movies and events. Each of these are great advancements – but I wonder if we are progressing in our appetite for entertainment or are just becoming a culture that yearns for entertainment to the exclusion of things that actually matter.
Video games are another huge growth area of entertainment. Long gone are the days of traveling to some area to put quarters in a machine to play your favorite game (I use to go to our local campground to do this – it was within biking distance). And we certainly have traveled quite a way from the entertainment of pong in the comfort of our own homes. Now we have choices to gathering the ‘band’ at our house to play (Rock Band), or we could compete in dancing (Just Dance), or go out on the battlefield to meet up with very realistic combat (by ourselves against scenarios or on the playing field with others from around the globe online). Many of these games are also portable, so you can take them with you on your gaming device, smart phone, tablet or eBook device.
With the availability of the internet in the mix, the opportunities for entertainment increased exponentially. Think of how many times you have been to YouTube (founded in 2005 – it’s ONLY 6 years old) or other sites to see either a music video, someone doing something just plain dumb (what were they thinking?) that was caught and shared on camera, or to see a creation by someone that commemorated a trip or other noteworthy event. Or perhaps you see social networks (like Facebook) as your form of entertainment (of note – many here will argue that this is ‘news’ and not entertainment; I would say that this is akin to a long running soap opera with all the drama, therefore should be included in the entertainment category!).
Yes, things have changed in the area of entertainment. The good news is we have more advances to make in these areas of entertainment! My concern is that we become more and more consumers of entertainment so that it becomes the goal in many of our lives. I’m certain that each generation has similar concerns, but it seems to me that other generations never had so many opportunities to use up so much time in this area – time that will not be recovered.
Do you have concerns about the entertainment industry and the impact it has on consumers? Perhaps you want to comment on how much entertainment has added to our culture and society – either way I look forward to hearing from you, and thanks for reading!
Do I Depend On (App/Company/Software) Too Much?
I’ve often written about the need to backup data in the event of a hardware failure or corruption of a computer. I haven’t written much at all about the possibility of other services that we depend on could stop means to us – and our business (or school work, gaming world, etc.).
What brought this to mind is an interesting development earlier this month (December 2012) about a site called Regretsy.com (you can read the article from Lockergnome titled It’s PayPal’s World – We Are Simply Living In It). The site did some ‘charitable’ things, but that is not the true point – what they did was dependent on PayPal – and that is a company I use as well – and now you have my attention.
Looking over the information in the article it appears that someone froze the PayPal account for the company because they felt it did not meet the criteria for a charitable cause. Don’t get me wrong, that is the company’s decision – however it is entirely possible it was not a company decision, instead it could be left up to the feelings of some capricious agent who could be having a bad hair day (or an agenda if you want to look at this nefariously).
There was some food for thought. What if one of my customers that uses PayPal suddenly faced a frozen account? Who decides that what was OK to set up is now not acceptable to the company? This was the point of the follow up article (another great Lockergnome article titled 6 Reasons to Be Cautious when Using PayPal).
By this point you may be a bit concerned about PayPal, but let me say that is not the main thrust of this post. I want you to think larger – and make it personal. What application / company / software do you absolutely depend on for your work / business / home? If it is something you have little to no control over, then a failure in that area will have consequences. Once you have thought of this potential, you can plan how you would deal with it.
For our purposes, we will stick with PayPal to illustrate the point. The business needed a way to take in money through their website. PayPal is an easy, safe way to do this! Once it was done and you start to obtain funds, realize you now show up on various internal reports (in other words, you show up on the radar). If you are a charity / non-profit, PayPal will (and should) ask you to give them some information to verify this status. At the end of the day, they get to make the call (since they own the company) as to you and your business meeting the criteria they put forth – no matter how detailed or ‘warm and fuzzy’ the criteria is.
If PayPal accepts you and you get to meet your needs using their system, that is great. What if the winds of change blow in your businesses direction and – for whatever reason – you are no longer welcome there? What is your plan?
Now take that and apply it to the area you are dependent on. Say you depend on Photoshop
Think through what you truly depend on and create your own doomsday scenario – you can no longer use that for whatever the reason is. What is your plan to get back up and running again? How can you best execute that plan? Are you familiar enough with the 2nd best thing so that you could use it to get up and running again (so that may mean you need to get a copy of that 2nd best thing and familiarize yourself with it)?
Thanks for reading – from our family to yours Merry Christmas (no, Christmas is not a dirty word here, and for the politically correct crowd – get over it) and Happy New Year!
How Times Have Changed (banking)
I remember a time when it took foresight and planning to have the money necessary travel, vacations, or just everyday purchases. Over the course of a week you knew you would get a paycheck and that paycheck would need to be a deposited into your financial institution. When you made that deposit, it would either be made in the night deposit slot or be made during the hours that the bank was open (so you could get some cash). Normally you would park your car, go into the bank and wait in line for an available teller, and proceed with the transaction you needed for the upcoming days ahead.
It was quite an innovation when banks allow customers to use drive-through windows. The convenience of never having to leave your car to do most of your banking needs! After that came ATM machines – some saw these as a great innovation in other saw them as potential job killers. The truth of the matter is consumers would never look back after innovations such as these. However, it could be beneficial for us to remember how banking used to be and to see the changes that came about because of consumer demands.
Planning to Obtain Funds
The story above (driving to a bank, waiting for teller, planning and obtaining funds for the following week) was the normal way to obtain funds. These were days before direct deposit, online bill paying, and a host of other ways to conduct financial transactions.
On the positive side, we had to think of how we were going to spend the money we earned. Hardly anything was an impulse buy, because we knew exactly how much money we had coming in, and how much we could afford to spend on items that were not in our budget. On the less than positive side, funds were not available to us when we needed them.
I recall many years ago, being towed because I chose to park in the wrong spot. How was I going to pay to get my car back? I was lucky my grandmother was available to not only gave me a ride – she also loaned me the cash I needed it to obtain my vehicle. I lived over an hour away, and the banks were closed that Saturday after I got out of work to find my car missing in action. In short, I was up the creek without a paddle.
Today this may be handled differently because of the changes in the way that we obtain money. I could send money from my smart phone directly to the tow operators bank. If I was within walking distance there is a good chance I would have found an ATM to get money out of in order to pay for my car. And there are many other ways that this financial transaction could take place today.
Go Big or Stay Home
Many of us choose to bank with a large financial institutions. There certainly are distinct advantages to doing this, such as the ability to have a bank almost anywhere you travel nationally, the opportunity to take advantage of cutting edge technology when we bank (online deposit or smart phone deposits as well as many other ways to bank), and taking advantage of this size and scale of the banks footprint (ATM availability, keeping fees low, etc.).
Don’t neglect the smaller banks that are considered local financial institutions. There are advantages here as well. Here you have the ability to get to know them partner with your banker. Often times these banks exclusively make loans locally – this can mean a more stable investment because of the relationships and knowledge of the ability of local businesses to survive and sustain profitability in the region.
Either way as a consumer you have a choice. In fact, you may choose to take advantage of both big banking institutions as well as local financial institutions!
Banker’s Hours are Now 24×7
You used to make an appearance at your financial transactions when your bank was open for most of your money needs (loans, deposits, withdrawals). Those days are gone! Today you have the ability to apply for a loan with most financial institutions online. Not only that, your bank of choice probably offers you ways to deposit checks or smart phone or computer. They may offer you a way to pay at the cash register with just a swipe of the smart chip enabled device. They certainly allow you the ability to look at your financial statements online. If you do not have a bank that is available when it’s convenient for you, it’s probably time to look for a bank that can better meet your needs.
In conclusion, banking has changed and with that consumer habits have changed. That’s not to say all these changes are positive! The way we make purchases became very dependent on credit cards and debit cards. We often overextend ourselves financially because of things we desire – not things we need. Then when the bill comes in the best many can do is make a minimum payment instead of paying off the purchases.
In what ways has banking changed in your area? How have the changes in banking, major life better or worse? Feel free to comment, and as always thanks for reading!
How Times Have Changed (shopping)
Imagine a place where you can sit in the comfort of your own home and shop for any item you are interested in. You are not constrained by geographic locations or many of the other limitations that could stymie your shopping. Imagine that the item you choose to purchase is delivered right to your front door. Imagine a store that allows you to return items that you purchased for almost any reason with a minimum of inconvenience. This is the experience many shoppers now enjoy when they shop online. However, it wasn’t always this way.
It was not long ago when a shopping trip consisted of knowing the general item you wanting to shop for, traveling to a store or stores that stocked the items you were looking for, and then hoping the item was available for purchase so that you could take it back home with you. Even before you went to the store you had done your homework by looking at store ads, in catalogs, and even in the newspaper. My how times have changed!
Within the last couple of decades shopping has experienced a transformation. Among the many ways, that shopping has been transformed in our culture include:
Total Access
Today’s shopper does much of their comparisons online. We utilize various sites that give us not only product information and specifications, but they also offer us valuable consumer insights such as feedback from customers who purchased and used the items we are looking to acquire.
We can see if stores in our area have the items we are interested in stock – or find out if they don’t. We can have an item either shipped to the store or can go to another store in the area to purchase the identical item. We compare prices, features, warranties, and a host of other options with the click of a mouse. Some shoppers even look for coupons from an available retailer or other incentives for them to shop from online vendors such as free shipping, low or no interest rates, or return policies to make their shopping experience met their needs.
Savings
One of the first areas the consumer saves on their time. No need to compare various magazine articles, catalogs or newspaper offerings – instead consumers get to take advantage of savings for many reasons. The first is we get the opportunity to do comparison shopping online at any number of stores without leaving our own home. No need to travel to the store at that store and the other store just to make sure we get the best price!
Another example of savings would be the price we pay for an item. How is it that many online stores can offer not only a competitive price with our local retailers – but can beat that price? Many merchants do not have the overhead that is included in the price when they purchase online. They don’t have to pay for the rent, lights, employees, health benefits, etc., as do many of the big stores that are in our neighborhoods (they drop ship and take advantage of other niceties available to the online retailer). Because of that, they can offer items at a lower price.
A final savings example could easily be transportation costs. Consumers are well aware of the increase in the price of a gallon of gas and the savings we get from not having to travel everywhere all the time is substantial. I mean, why would I want to run all over town when I can have an item delivered right to my door? It saves me on the regular maintenance items for my car, along with the savings in gas – what is not to like?
Purchasing Refurbished Items (or used items)
Gone are the days of only being able to get rid of your used items by word-of-mouth or having a garage sale. Today’s consumers can easily buy items which are shipped to us as pre-owned (read that – used), recently refurbished, or they can sell their items online to buyers inside and outside their geographic area. This gives us true freedom in purchasing – not only on items that are gently used, but some that are abused (for those that feel the need to fix up an item of theirs with the spare parts that are of no use to the seller because of their condition). Of course, this brings its own share of concerns and the buyer needs to be very aware and informed of what they are purchasing.
Consumer Feedback
A huge draw for this writer is seeing consumer feedback on items I’m interested in. Again, a word of caution, because some like to stack the deck with super reviews for the items (that may not be from your average consumer). However, that does not mean you should shy away from reading the reviews. Here you will find pros and cons for items that individuals have purchased (both on the item and from the seller of the item). With this information, you can be more informed about the suitability of the item in your environment.
In conclusion, shopping not only has changed, I believe it has changed for the better. That does not mean consumers should drop their guard and not touch items or review them before they decide to put their hard earned cash out for them (why do you think many flock to Best Buy and other stores to actually play with tablets, smart phones and computers before they make up their mind on what item is right for them). We have an avenue that allows the savvy shopper to save money, time and maintain peace of mind if an item needs to be returned.
Have you changed the way you shop because of the advances in technology? Let us know how you do it better by leaving your comments, and thanks for reading!
How do I clean my computer? (cleaning keyboard, screen, mouse)
At our home we have certain things that happen on a more-or-less schedule. Some call it spring cleaning, others hang their hats on fall cleaning. I like to call it nesting – you know, where furniture needs to be ‘rearranged’ and everything gets cleaned that was hidden, stays put or gets moved.
One of the posts a while back (New Year Resolutions for Your Computer) looked at getting the dust bunnies out of your desktop computer (so we won’t cover that here, read the earlier post). That is a good example of geek nesting – unfortunately many don’t move that object around much nor do they take the time to use canned air
Screen
I admit it – I can’t stand a screen with fingerprints all over it. And not all screens are created equal – CRT screens, LCD’s, and many other types of screens (like plasma, rear-projection, smart phone screens, eReaders, etc.) are in use at your home and mine. It is best to look at what the manufacturer recommends for each of the devices you need to clean. Also you can look into purchasing computer screen cleaner
BUT (you cry out) can’t we just use Windex (or insert the brand name of your choice for general window cleaners) on all these items? Since many of these contain ingredients that are harmful in the long term to monitors (like ammonia) I would not recommend doing that. Read your owner’s manual for your equipment (because a monitor I have may be very different from the one you have) and follow the instructions.
A good example is found on many manufacturers sites (here’s one that is very general from HP). Notice a couple of things. The monitor is powered OFF. Yes, that would apply to your laptop and other gear, power it down before you clean it. Don’t ever spray the solution (store bought or home made) directly on the monitor, instead spray it on the cloth you will be applying to the screen (no need to soak the equipment and cause issues by liquid in the device). Last, if they have special equipment they use, you may not want to substitute (say, the battery powered hand held vacuum they show with your shop vac
Keyboard
There are many products that can help us in this area. We can purchase wipes
Again, don’t spray any solution directly on the keyboard – instead spray it on the cloth you will be using to clean the keyboard with and then clean!
Mouse
Times have changed in the area around mice. You can get and use an mechanical mouse (perhaps you still have one with the ball on the bottom), an optical or laser mouse, or a wireless mouse. Some of the newest designs seem to be works of art, combining comfort with function so you are almost one with the computer! Of course, there are many other fashionable mice (like the yellow Dodge Charger you see here…) you can get for your computer.
As noted before, cleaning your mouse depends on the type of mouse you have. Many times I have opened the bottom of mechanical mice to clean them (this thing just WON’T move right). With laser mice you still will want to clean them with canned air and a good wipe down to get rid of all the gunk from our hands.
I hope this gets you started on your geek nesting. With articles like the very general from HP that covers basic cleaning of all your components it seemed unnecessary to show lots of pictures, so we hit general areas of cleaning various devices. If you have a favorite trick or tip for cleaning your geek items, feel free to post them – thanks for reading!
