google Archives - Sam Harrelson

Thinking Religion 173: Frankenstein’s AI Monster

I’m back with Matthew Klippenstein this week. Our episode began with a discussion about AI tools and their impact on research and employment, including experiences with different web browsers and their ecosystems. The conversation then evolved to explore the evolving landscape of technology, particularly focusing on AI’s impact on web design and content consumption, while also touching on the resurgence of physical media and its cultural significance. The discussion concluded with an examination of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and its relevance to current AI discussions, along with broader themes about creation, consciousness, and the human tendency to view new entities as either threats or allies.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/50pfFhkCFQXpq8UAhYhOlc

Direct Link to Episode

AI Tools in Research Discussion

Matthew and Sam discussed Sam’s paper and the use of AI tools like GPT-5 for research and information synthesis. They explored the potential impact of AI on employment, with Matthew noting that AI could streamline information gathering and synthesis, reducing the time required for tasks that would have previously been more time-consuming. Sam agreed to send Matthew links to additional resources mentioned in the paper, and they planned to discuss further ideas on integrating AI tools into their work.

Browser Preferences and Ecosystems

Sam and Matthew discussed their experiences with different web browsers, with Sam explaining his preference for Brave over Chrome due to its privacy-focused features and historical background as a Firefox fork. Sam noted that he had recently switched back to Safari on iOS due to new OS updates, while continuing to use Chromium-based browsers on Linux. They drew parallels between browser ecosystems and religious denominations, with Chrome representing a dominant unified system and Safari as a smaller but distinct alternative.

AI’s Impact on Web Design

Sam and Matthew discussed the evolving landscape of technology, particularly focusing on AI’s impact on web design, search engine optimization, and content consumption. Sam expressed excitement about the new iteration of web interaction, comparing it to predictions from 10 years ago about the future of platforms like Facebook Messenger and WeChat. They noted that AI agents are increasingly becoming the intermediaries through which users interact with content, leading to a shift from human-centric to AI-centric web design. Sam also shared insights from his personal blog, highlighting an increase in traffic from AI agents and the challenges of balancing accessibility with academic integrity.

Physical Media’s Cultural Resurgence

Sam and Matthew discussed the resurgence of physical media, particularly vinyl records and CDs, as a cultural phenomenon and personal preference. They explored the value of owning physical copies of music and books, contrasting it with streaming services, and considered how this trend might symbolize a return to tangible experiences. Sam also shared his interest in integral ecology, a philosophical approach that examines the interconnectedness of humans and their environment, and how this perspective could influence the development and understanding of artificial intelligence.

AI Development and Environmental Impact

Sam and Matthew discussed the rapid development of AI and its environmental impact, comparing it to biological R/K selection theory where fast-reproducing species are initially successful but are eventually overtaken by more efficient, slower-reproducing species. Sam predicted that future computing interfaces would become more humane and less screen-based, with AI-driven technology likely replacing traditional devices within 10 years, though there would still be specialized uses for mainframes and Excel. They agreed that current AI development was focused on establishing market leadership rather than long-term sustainability, with Sam noting that antitrust actions like those against Microsoft in the 1990s were unlikely in the current regulatory environment.

AI’s Role in Information Consumption

Sam and Matthew discussed the evolving landscape of information consumption and the role of AI in providing insights and advice. They explored how AI tools can assist in synthesizing large amounts of data, such as academic papers, and how this could reduce the risk of misinformation. They also touched on the growing trend of using AI for personal health advice, the challenges of healthcare access, and the shift in news consumption patterns. The conversation highlighted the transition to a more AI-driven information era and the potential implications for society.

AI’s Impact on White-Collar Jobs

Sam and Matthew discussed the impact of AI and automation on employment, particularly how it could affect white-collar jobs more than blue-collar ones. They explored how AI tools might become cheaper than hiring human employees, with Matthew sharing an example from a climate newsletter offering AI subscriptions as a cost-effective alternative to hiring interns. Sam referenced Ursula Le Guin’s book “Always Coming Home” as a speculative fiction work depicting a post-capitalist, post-extractive society where technology serves a background role to human life. The conversation concluded with Matthew mentioning his recent reading of “Frankenstein,” noting its relevance to current AI discussions despite being written in the early 1800s.

Frankenstein’s Themes of Creation and Isolation

Matthew shared his thoughts on Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” noting its philosophical depth and rich narrative structure. He described the story as a meditation on creation and the challenges faced by a non-human intelligent creature navigating a world of fear and prejudice. Matthew drew parallels between the monster’s learning of human culture and language to Tarzan’s experiences, highlighting the themes of isolation and the quest for companionship. He also compared the nested storytelling structure of “Frankenstein” to the film “Inception,” emphasizing its complexity and the moral questions it raises about creation and control.

AI, Consciousness, and Human Emotions

Sam and Matthew discussed the historical context of early computing, mentioning Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, and explored the theme of artificial intelligence through the lens of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.” They examined the implications of teaching AI human-like emotions and empathy, questioning whether such traits should be encouraged or suppressed. The conversation also touched on the nature of consciousness as an emergent phenomenon and the human tendency to view new entities as either threats or potential allies.

Human Creation and Divine Parallels

Sam and Matthew discussed the book “Childhood’s End” by Arthur C. Clark and its connection to the film “2001: A Space Odyssey.” They also talked about the origins of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and the historical context of its creation. Sam mentioned parallels between human creation of technology and the concept of gods in mythology, particularly in relation to metalworking and divine beings. The conversation touched on the theme of human creation and its implications for our understanding of divinity and ourselves.

Robustness Over Optimization in Systems

Matthew and Sam discussed the concept of robustness versus optimization in nature and society, drawing on insights from a French biologist, Olivier Hamant, who emphasizes the importance of resilience over efficiency. They explored how this perspective could apply to AI and infrastructure, suggesting a shift towards building systems that are robust and adaptable rather than highly optimized. Sam also shared her work on empathy, inspired by the phenomenology of Edith Stein, and how it relates to building resilient systems.

Efficiency vs. Redundancy in Resilience

Sam and Matthew discussed the importance of efficiency versus redundancy and resilience, particularly in the context of corporate America and decarbonization efforts. Sam referenced recent events involving Elon Musk and Donald Trump, highlighting the potential pitfalls of overly efficient approaches. Matthew used the historical example of polar expeditions to illustrate how redundancy and careful planning can lead to success, even if it means being “wasteful” in terms of resources. They agreed that a cautious and prepared approach, rather than relying solely on efficiency, might be more prudent in facing unexpected challenges.

Frankenstein’s Themes and Modern Parallels

Sam and Matthew discussed Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” exploring its themes and cultural impact. They agreed on the story’s timeless appeal due to its exploration of the monster’s struggle and the human fear of the unknown. Sam shared personal experiences teaching the book and how students often misinterpret the monster’s character. They also touched on the concept of efficiency as a modern political issue, drawing parallels to the story’s themes. The conversation concluded with Matthew offering to share anime recommendations, but they decided to save that for a future discussion.

Listen Here

Tech Fiefdoms (for real)

I’ve been saying this for a while now… Ursula Le Guin tries to warn us still:

Tech Billionaires Accused of Quietly Working to Implement “Corporate Dictatorship”:

“It sees a post-United States world where, instead of democracy, we will have basically tech feudalism — fiefdoms run by tech corporations. They’re pretty explicit about this point.”

Beyond the Corporate Gloss: A Deeper Critique of Google’s 2024 Environmental Report

In reviewing Google’s 2024 Environmental Report, it’s hard not to be impressed by the sleek presentation, optimistic targets, and promises of a more sustainable future. But as someone who approaches environmental issues through the lenses of ecology, spirituality, and activism (and who respects the wisdom held by Indigenous communitie), we must ask ourselves: Is this report truly a step forward, or is it a carefully curated narrative that still falls short of meaningful transformation?

Below are some reflections and critiques that emerged as I dug deeper into Google’s latest sustainability claims. My hope is that these points inspire more honest conversations about corporate environmental responsibility, and encourage Google to become a force for genuine, not just performative, change. Google notes that this is the 10th year of their reporting, and while laudible, a decade is a long time to have not made much progress in the areas below.

1. More than a Numbers Game: Transparency and Context
Google’s report is filled with metrics: carbon offsets, renewable energy installations, and progress toward “24/7 carbon-free” ambitions. On the surface, this data sounds promising. Yet the numbers often come without the context that would allow us to evaluate their true impact. We need to know how these figures are changing over time, where and why setbacks occur, and how absolute emissions reductions are measured beyond short-term offsets. Without clear year-over-year comparisons, transparency in methodologies, and explanations for where goals haven’t been met, these metrics risk feeling more like strategic PR rather than a window into substantive progress.

2. A Holistic Ecological View—Not Just Carbon
In the ecological world, everything is interconnected—water usage, land stewardship, biodiversity, soil health, and species protection are all part of the larger puzzle. Too often, corporate sustainability efforts narrow their focus to carbon emissions. While that’s a crucial piece, it’s not the full story. The development of data centers, the sourcing of rare earth minerals for hardware, the water required for cooling, and the potential displacement of local communities or wildlife—these all have tangible ecological effects. Google’s report would be more authentic if it acknowledged these complexities. It’s not enough to claim net-zero this or carbon-free that or water-usage here; we need to know how their operations affect entire ecosystems and the countless living beings (human and non-human) who share those habitats.

3. Integrating Indigenous Knowledge and Perspectives
For millennia, Indigenous communities have developed rich, place-based knowledge systems that guide sustainable stewardship of land and resources. Their approaches aren’t just about preserving nature for posterity; they recognize the sacred interdependence of human life and the Earth. Indigenous environmental philosophies emphasize reciprocity, relational accountability, and long-term thinking—values that our high-tech era desperately needs. Yet, Google’s report barely touches on how local knowledge systems or Indigenous voices factor into its environmental strategies. True environmental leadership means not only incorporating Indigenous perspectives but also creating platforms where those communities can shape corporate policies and decision-making. A genuine partnership with Indigenous peoples would push beyond mere consultation toward co-creation of sustainability solutions.

4. The Moral and Spiritual Dimension of Environmental Care
Sustainability isn’t just a business metric; it’s a moral imperative. Many faith traditions and spiritual frameworks teach that the Earth is not merely a resource to be exploited, but a sacred gift that we are entrusted to protect. When companies like Google talk about sustainability without acknowledging the deeper moral currents—respect for Creation, the call to love our neighbors (human and nonhuman), and the need to protect the vulnerable—they risk missing the heart of the matter. Earth care is not just about polished reports; it’s a sacred calling. If Google truly wants to lead, it must recognize and uphold this responsibility as part of its corporate identity.

5. Justice, Equity, and Community Engagement
Climate change is not an equal-opportunity crisis—frontline communities, often Indigenous peoples and people of color, bear a disproportionate burden of environmental harm. There’s a human face to pollution, species loss, and extraction, and companies have a moral duty to see it. Yet the report often focuses inward—on Google’s own campuses, energy grids, and supply chains—without sufficiently addressing how it will engage with and support communities directly affected by its operations. Where is the acknowledgment of environmental justice? Where are the stories of local partnerships, community-based mitigation plans, or compensation for environmental damage? Until these voices and their realities are meaningfully included, sustainability efforts risk becoming top-down strategies instead of inclusive, equitable solutions.

6. From Incremental to Transformative Change
Corporate environmental narratives often hinge on incremental progress: small steps toward greener operations, a handful of offset projects, a few solar panels here and there. But a company with Google’s resources could champion systemic changes that transcend the status quo. It could lead research in scalable regenerative practices, revolutionize supply chains to eliminate environmental harm, or fund open-access environmental science tools that empower others. By fully embracing the call for systemic transformation, Google could serve as a beacon of hope, paving the way for a truly sustainable economy that values regeneration over extraction, and community well-being over profit margins.

Envisioning a More Genuine Path Forward
Critiquing a sustainability report may seem like a small gesture, but honest criticism matters. It’s a reminder that we must look beyond the corporate gloss to see the true health of our planet—and to hold powerful entities accountable. The world needs leaders who understand that ecological well-being, moral responsibility, Indigenous wisdom, and social justice are interwoven strands of the same tapestry.

Google’s 2024 Environmental Report certainly isn’t the worst corporate sustainability document out there in the tech space. But given the company’s global influence, wealth, and technological prowess, “not the worst” isn’t nearly good enough. We deserve, and the Earth demands, better. True environmental leadership would blend hard data with moral courage, incorporate ancestral wisdom, support vulnerable communities, and invest in regenerative systems that honor both people and the planet. That’s the vision we need, and it’s the vision that a company like Google could help realize, if it dared to do more than just follow the colonialist corporate script.

Facial Recognition Tech in Smart Glasses

Law enforcement and the military have had this capability for a while via Clearview, but it’s (also) scary to see it being implemented outside of those domains…

Someone Put Facial Recognition Tech onto Meta’s Smart Glasses to Instantly Dox Strangers:

A pair of students at Harvard have built what big tech companies refused to release publicly due to the overwhelming risks and danger involved: smart glasses with facial recognition technology that automatically looks up someone’s face and identifies them. The students have gone a step further too. Their customized glasses also pull other information about their subject from around the web, including their home address, phone number, and family members.

AI’s Awful Energy Consumption

Be mindful and intentional with technology tools…

Google and Microsoft report growing emissions as they double-down on AI : NPR:

“One query to ChatGPT uses approximately as much electricity as could light one light bulb for about 20 minutes,” he says. “So, you can imagine with millions of people using something like that every day, that adds up to a really large amount of electricity.”

Why I am Using a Light Phone

I have lots more to say about this, but I wanted to share this vital part of a recent article about “dumbphones” in The New Yorker. I’ve been attempting to be much more deliberate about using technology and devices, especially in front of my children and students.

The Light Phone (and Camp Snap camera) have been a significant part of that effort. I’ve been in love with the Light Phone since converting from an iPhone earlier this year.

The Dumbphone Boom Is Real | The New Yorker:

Like Dumbwireless, Light Phone has recently been experiencing a surge in demand. From 2022 to 2023, its revenue doubled, and it is on track to double again in 2024, the founders told me. Hollier pointed to Jonathan Haidt’s new book, “The Anxious Generation,” about the adverse effects of smartphones on adolescents. Light Phone is receiving increased inquiries and bulk-order requests from churches, schools, and after-school programs. In September, 2022, the company began a partnership with a private school in Williamstown, Massachusetts, to provide Light Phones to the institution’s staff members and students; smartphones are now prohibited on campus. According to the school, the experiment has had a salutary effect both on student classroom productivity and on campus social life. Tang told me, “We’re talking to twenty to twenty-five schools now.”

From Back in the Day at Google

Just found these in a box! “Ain’t it funny, how Time slips away…” to quote Willie Nelson.

Ghost in the Machine

“If I didn’t know exactly what it was, which is this computer program we built recently, I’d think it was a 7-year-old, 8-year-old kid that happens to know physics,” said Lemoine, 41.

Source: Google engineer Blake Lemoine thinks its LaMDA AI has come to life – The Washington Post

Google’s Take on Our Hybrid Workplace Future

I need a cellophane balloon wall robot in my life.

If a meeting requires privacy, a robot that looks like the innards of a computer on wheels and is equipped with sensors to detect its surroundings comes over to inflate a translucent, cellophane balloon wall to keep prying eyes away.

Source: The Googleplex of the Future Has Privacy Robots, Meeting Tents and Your Very Own Balloon Wall – The New York Times

Trying Out Neeva

“…advertising income often provides an incentive to provide poor quality search results.”

– Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin in a 1998 research paper while they were doctoral students at Stanford

I’ve been trying out the search engine service Neeva lately. You can read more about the founding of the company by ex-Googler Sridhar Ramaswamy here (it’s a fascinating story).

I come from the time when the web was still in its primordial stage. Thought technologies such as web browsers and search engines were still young and completely exhilarating. I paid for Netscape (and I was amazed when I got to college in 1996 and walked into the computer lab with 8 machines running Netscape, WordPerfect, Office, and the Corel suite). Browsers and search engines and minute-based access to the web were something you paid for (unless you stockpiled AOL disks like I did).

Neeva is definitely a different service. I’m still wrapping my head around it, but it feels like a good mix of “old school web” and what we’ll eventually get to once we exit this period of advertising-based “free” services that have been the predominate business model on the web for the last 15 years.

The search interface is clean and fast. There are no ad trackers. The company is looking to make money by offering subscriptions. That’s intriguing for me. I’ve never been a big fan of the saying “if you’re not paying for a service, you’re the product” and all, but it does ease my mind to exchange money for what I consider valuable services on the web (Pinboard for bookmarking comes to mind).

Google is such an intimate part of all of our lives, whether we care to admit it or not. Our memories, correspondence, social graphs, birthday reminders, calendars etc are all wrapped up in the service (at least… much more than that for “power users” like myself). But we need alternatives.

I’ll continue experimenting with Neeva to see if it’s one of the dandelions that pops up to spread seeds across the ecosystem of the web or if it’s just a one-season deal. But it “feels” like it has staying power. And for that, I’m excited. Will report back here about my usage as it accumulates in the coming weeks.

Tag Your WordPress Posts, People!

I stress to clients that they have to tag and categorize their posts on WordPress. It’s one of the easiest ways to increase your organic traffic and discoverability in Google, but it also helps the web find you.

So tag your posts, people!

Also, good checklist here for setting up a WordPress website on a hosting platform…

If you’re not already on board, keep reading; a client of mine gets 100,000 unique visitors per month. More than 3% of those are referred to by tags listed in the SERPs.

Tag recommendations:

Limit your tagging to relevant topics you covered in the post.
Not every post needs to be tagged.
Keep tags short and sweet; no more than two words.
Delete overused and underused tags monthly.

SEO benefits:

Improved user experience.
Increased engagement.

Via Search Engine Journal: Don’t Launch a WordPress Site Before You Go Through This 17-Step Checklist

Tech companies freezing political spending and why tech still matters

This is the death knell of PACs for tech companies with activist employees,” one source told Axios. “This is the final straw.”

— via Axios

This is a really fascinating development. First Microsoft and now Facebook are suspending PAC (Political Action Committee) spending in Washington. They’re joining financiers Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Citigroup, along with Marriott, Blue Cross Blue Shield (caveat — our insurance co), Boston Scientific, and Commerce Bank. Bank of America (caveat — one of the banks we do business with), Ford, and AT&T, CVS, Exxon Mobil, and Wells Fargo are considering pulling their political monies.

This hits politicians where it really hurts.

For years, many of us in the “tech world” have decried these PACs and looked at them as a unnecessary evil that needed to be banned or done away with for a number of reasons.

Here are my personal convictions:

The PAC system reinforces the existing system of graft and corruption that so many Americans claim to abhor.
PACs favor the privileged both socio-economically and relationally. It’s a blight on a Democratic Republic and shouldn’t be seen as a “necessary evil” to doing business in the United States. Whatever your sector.
Tech boomed in the late 90’s and then again in the early ’00s because it was seen as a disruptor. From Google to Tesla to Uber (well, maybe they aren’t a great example but they did usher in a transportation paradigm shift) to even Twitter, the tech sector excited us with the promise of something different and more democratic to challenge the status quo. However, as the going got weird, the weird turned pro and put on suits. I want a return to the weird disruption tech that spurred creativity and a hope for a better representation to the powers that be. We’re not so far gone that it can’t happen in light of #metoo, BLM, LBGTQ+, trans rights, accessibility emphasis, and recognition of differently abled persons. Real revolutionary tech that can change the world… I still believe. PACS stand in the way of that.

So as we continue to process and deal with the terrorist insurrection on our Capitol last week, let’s take a second to recognize what these companies are doing by restricting or redirecting their PAC monies and how we can all do our part to not just “unify and move forward” but to cause real change.

Google Shopping Gift Guide and Importance of Trending vs Popularity

Google’s annual Shopping Gift Guide is out for 2020. While it’s a handy tool for personal shopping, it also has some incredibly helpful stats for marketing and messaging.

The trick is to focus on trending items using data. The same is true for Instagram… the hashtags that you should be incorporating into your posts for more exposure and likes (and follows) are the ones that are trending but not necessarily popular.

So, if you’re looking for some fun market research in your business’ sector, don’t pass up these sorts of insights:

Monitors and headsets with microphones both saw 450%+ spikes in searches.
Searches for streaming increased 33% this year.
Searches for ring lights are at their all-time high, as they provide ideal lighting for video recordings and meetings.

The Google Shopping Gift Guide provides a helpful list of products rising in popularity based on Search trends in the US.

Source: Google Shopping Gift Guide

Friday, November 13, 2020

It’s been a week but still relevant:

Good morning! Looking forward to another day of this.😭#ElectionResults2020 #Elections2020 #thursdaymorning

https://t.co/a4FnKtCOQp
— Holly Figueroa O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) November 5, 2020

Here in South Carolina, I’m seeing a mix of responses to the spiking Covid rates. Some of our friends (especially parents of young children) are full of despair and “over it” to put it lightly. I also have clients in-town who seemed confused when I say “No, I can’t come to your office for that meeting. We’re still hunkering down and trying to avoid indoor spaces when possible.” But, there’s a general feeling that we know the worst is yet to come and people are taking masks seriously (distancing not so much) in public spaces and in grocery stores etc. Let’s keep it up. We won’t see a vaccine for months (if that), so it’s on us to not have “pandemic fatigue.”

Business wise, there are many small businesses, nonprofits, and churches (big and small) that I know are hurting. I find it astonishing we don’t have something like a second federal stimulus package. To leave it up to cities and states seems like a complete hand-washing from our federal representatives. We need another stimulus package. I’ve done more pro-bono work for church and nonprofit clients in the last couple of months than I should have, but it’s heartbreaking to hear the constant stories of pure budget fallouts (along with volunteer hours etc).

Be kind to each other out there.

—

Today’s big puzzle has been trying to figure out how to display post time (not just date) on a WordPress post… there has to be a PHP function for that and I’m completely blanking on it. I’ll blame it on being Friday. But I’ll figure it out.

What I’m Thinking About Today:

Why I Hope to Die at 75: An argument that society and families—and you—will be better off if nature takes its course swiftly and promptly by Ezekiel J. Emanuel (love when he’s on MSNBC)

Dying ‘the Buddhist way’ gains in hospice centers in the West: The emergence of Buddhist-oriented hospices in the U.S. and elsewhere is said to show a dissatisfaction with conventional Western views of life and death.

Maybe it’s the pandemic and my Aunt passing away last week, but death and dying has been on my mind a good deal recently. I had an email yesterday about my life insurance policy, so that didn’t help change my brain. We have so much work to do with rethinking and reconditioning how we think about the process of death in our country. Particularly from the balance between spiritual development and scientific/medical understandings, there seems to be a real need for people to find balance. I highly recommend reading the Emanuel piece above. Good stuff.

macOS Big Sur launch appears to cause temporary slowdown in even non-Big Sur Macs – Ars Technica

Big Sur hasn’t gotten off to the best of starts. I always caution friends and clients these days to wait a little while before installing the new iOS or iPadOS or macOS update because Apple has proven time and again that launch day is a precarious time if you’re running updates. It’s a fantastic operating system, though. Once things get ironed out, make sure you update if you have a modern Mac (you know, if you don’t mind your computer phoning home and compromising your security and all).

Your Computer Isn’t Yours – Jeffrey Paul

It turns out that in the current version of the macOS, the OS sends to Apple a hash (unique identifier) of each and every program you run, when you run it. Lots of people didn’t realize this, because it’s silent and invisible and it fails instantly and gracefully when you’re offline, but today the server got really slow and it didn’t hit the fail-fast code path, and everyone’s apps failed to open if they were connected to the internet.

Oof. Must read for the “APPLE IS MORE SECURE THAN OTHER OPERATING SYSTEMS!” crowd and the rest of us.

Welcome Back to the Office. Please Wear This Tracking Device.
A boom in contact tracing devices could herald a new era of worker surveillance

Radiant now sells a stripped-down Samsung smartwatch as a social distance monitoring tool. When an employee wears the watch, it constantly searches for other similar devices worn by other employees, and estimates their distance based on how strong that signal is. If a strong signal is detected for more than 15 minutes, the interaction is recorded and uploaded to the cloud for the company to reference later if a worker tests positive. In addition, an employer can opt to use the device to monitor the specific location of individual employees.

I don’t ever want to work in an office building “for” a company again. I fear this sort of thing will become much more mainstream during and (eventually) after Covid.

The Next Decade Could Be Even Worse
A historian believes he has discovered iron laws that predict the rise and fall of societies. He has bad news.

The year 2020 has been kind to Turchin, for many of the same reasons it has been hell for the rest of us. Cities on fire, elected leaders endorsing violence, homicides surging—to a normal American, these are apocalyptic signs. To Turchin, they indicate that his models, which incorporate thousands of years of data about human history, are working. (“Not all of human history,” he corrected me once. “Just the last 10,000 years.”) He has been warning for a decade that a few key social and political trends portend an “age of discord,” civil unrest and carnage worse than most Americans have experienced. In 2010, he predicted that the unrest would get serious around 2020, and that it wouldn’t let up until those social and political trends reversed. Havoc at the level of the late 1960s and early ’70s is the best-case scenario; all-out civil war is the worst.

Turchin is certainly a polarizing figure. I admit that I’m a passive fan of megahistories (being a mostly-white male and all), but I do think there’s something to the idea of applying mathematics to history and liberal arts. Maybe I’ve read too much Asimov.

Hijacked Google My Business listings appear to be a growing problem
GMB listings phishing is on the increase. Google says it’s aware of the problem but business owners must be vigilant.

I can’t stress this enough and tell my clients this all the time… make sure you have your Google My Business listing set up and connected to a GMail or Google Suite/Workplace account that you trust and will keep for a while. Don’t just assume that you don’t have to do this. Google is placing a high amount of energy, time, and resources to developing and promoting My Business, and if you run or are a part of a business, group, church, organization etc… make sure to claim and keep up with yours.

How Do Sessions Work in Google Analytics?

In this Best of Whiteboard Friday edition, Tom Capper explains how the sessions metric in Google Analytics works, several ways that it can have unexpected results, and as a bonus, how sessions affect the time on page metric (and why you should rethink using time on page for reporting).

Good video here on Sessions in Google Analytics… my clients typically are suprised when I show them how useful having an understanding of Sessions can be for their overall digital marketing campaigns.

US Conservatives Increasingly Flee Twitter and Facebook for Upstart Parler

The platform saw a spike in users, doubling from roughly 4.5 million members last week to about 8 million this week, and surging to 4 million active devices from 500,000 two weeks ago, according to Parler chief operating officer Jeffrey Wernick. He added that daily active devices are up approximately tenfold and session growth is up 20 times on the app.

I’ve been monitoring Parler (Twitter alternative), MeWe (Facebook alternative), and Rumble’s (YouTube alternative) growth over the last few months. There’s also banned.video that was created by InfoWars / Alex Jones after he was banned from most mainstream social media platforms. The growth on all of these “conservative-friendly” social platforms is astonishing and a sign of virality. I know a number of prepper and Q themed groups jumped over to these and that’s only accelerating. Will they have sticking power? That depends on a number of variables from how the transition of administrations occurs, whether Parler figures out its own internal bugs and advertising, and if Trump manages to congeal a media empire and stay relevant in the coming months.

To be updated throughout the day

ZOOM and Google Calendar

Just received this email from ZOOM regarding changes to how Google Calendar allows for default conferencing options…

Many of us in the post-Corona Virus world have learned to love the integration between Google Calendar and ZOOM available in Google Suite / Workplace. Google evidently has noticed that and is pushing out a change that makes its rebranded Meet product the defacto option in scheduling calls and chats within the Google Calendar interface.

It’s not deal-breaking or a huge deal necessarily, but it does show that Google is noticing how important conferencing has become. For many of us, the default is ZOOM, and it’s obvious Google wants to use the (very) popular Google Calendar platform to push more of us towards using Meet. Which is totally appropriate since it’s their playground and all.

I’ll be interested to see if Meet actually takes off in popular usage now.

About the Microsoft and Walmart Acquiring TikTok Deal

The idea would be to help turn TikTok U.S. into more of an e-commerce app for creators and users, much like what TikTok parent company ByteDance does with a similar app in China.

Source: Microsoft working with Walmart on TikTok deal – Axios

One of the main reasons TikTok has taken off with influencers, soccer moms, niche businesses, and aspiring dance stars here in the US is that it “feels” like an indie app that isn’t owned by Facebook or Google.

TikTok very much has that Instagram feel from about 2013 (I remember when an 8th grader first showed Instagram to me and explained why it was so much better than Facebook or Twitter and wasn’t owned by a big company).

With the ongoing speculation that Oracle is somehow involved in the attempts to acquire TikTok from the Chinese company ByteDance at our current administration’s behest, the CEO resigning last night, and now the two COOLEST brands in the United States… Microsoft AND Walmart!… I just don’t see how TikTok retains that feeling. Especially if this odd consortium of mega-companies turns it into an “e-commerce app for creators and users.”

I think we’ll look back on this period a few years from now and use it as a cautionary tale for huge companies looking to make a play in a hot space.

Yes, there are some previous examples of successful transitions for creative-focused apps and services that kept the mojo after being gobbled up, such as when Google acquired YouTube for $1billion in the mid-2000’s. But then, Google wasn’t quite the behemoth it is now, and YouTube sorely needed the backing of a Google to stay on the web given the legal and logistical load it was rapidly taking on. But then consider services like Flickr or Tumblr that had a diehard communities before being subsumed into the Yahoo! debacle and mismanaged into oblivion.

All that to say, I don’t see how Oracle / Microsoft / Walmart pulls this off and pivots TikTok into a successful “Made in America!” platform while keeping the hotness of the app.

Google’s Ads Updates in Search Results

We manage a number of Google Ads campaigns for clients. We’ve definitely noticed an uptick in desktop CTR’s since the updates (same as what happened with mobile last year). But a Google Ads campaign is only as good as the conversions it drives. If the quality tanks b/c of more junk clicks, ad spends will go elsewhere. All that to say, I don’t view this as cynically as the article here states:

Last week, Google began rolling out a new look for its search results on desktop, which blurs the line between organic search results and the ads that sit above them. In what appears to be something of a purposeful dark pattern, the only thing differentiating ads and search results is a small black-and-white “Ad” icon next to the former. It’s been formatted to resemble the new favicons that now appear next to the search results you care about. Early data collected by Digiday suggests that the changes may already be causing people to click on more ads.

Source: Google’s ads just look like search results now – The Verge

YouTube and “Reinforcing” Psychologies

“The new A.I., known as Reinforce, was a kind of long-term addiction machine. It was designed to maximize users’ engagement over time by predicting which recommendations would expand their tastes and get them to watch not just one more video but many more.

Reinforce was a huge success. In a talk at an A.I. conference in February, Minmin Chen, a Google Brain researcher, said it was YouTube’s most successful launch in two years. Sitewide views increased by nearly 1 percent, she said — a gain that, at YouTube’s scale, could amount to millions more hours of daily watch time and millions more dollars in advertising revenue per year. She added that the new algorithm was already starting to alter users’ behavior.

“We can really lead the users toward a different state, versus recommending content that is familiar,” Ms. Chen said.”

via “The Making of a YouTube Radical” by Kevin Roose in the New York Times

The Sublime and Silicon Valley

“The sublime—whether a feature of the natural world, or of UFOs, or of religious experience—is a sense of our own vanishing smallness before something impossibly vast: a mountain range, a churning ocean, the universe, God. What we get in return for being so existentially demeaned is freedom from the tyranny of our own personalities, a sort of liberating oblivion. But data-extracting platforms don’t sublimate our personalities; they multiply and magnify them. And the Data Sublime, far from making the internet feel thrillingly big, has conspired to make it feel smaller, claustrophobic, and profoundly boring. As Facebook and Google metastasize, the more interesting destinations on the internet are dying off; recent sweeping media layoffs were also largely the result of Facebook, Google, and Amazon’s stranglehold on advertising revenue. The sublime promises a sort of redemptive immensity, but Silicon Valley strives to compress all of digital experience into a single, monotonous feed, mainlining capital into the pockets of billionaires.“

— Read on thebaffler.com/latest/close-encounters-of-the-tech-kind-harnett

The Apps You Should Really Be Concerned About with Your Privacy

After examining maps showing the locations extracted by their apps, Ms. Lee, the nurse, and Ms. Magrin, the teacher, immediately limited what data those apps could get. Ms. Lee said she told the other operating-room nurses to do the same.“I went through all their phones and just told them: ‘You have to turn this off. You have to delete this,’” Ms. Lee said. “Nobody knew.”

Source: Your Apps Know Where You Were Last Night, and They’re Not Keeping It Secret – The New York Times

Everyone is afraid of what Google and Facebook “know” about them and how much information they’re sharing with these services because of poor media coverage.

While those two services need to be investigated and questioned, it’s the “bottom half” of the advertising industry connected to seemingly innocent apps that you install on your mobile device to give you the weather or locations of gas or local sports scores that are really the most alarming in how they treat your personal location data.

Good report here by the NY Times (we need more of this type of journalism in the tech-sphere).

Will the internet split in two?

Not to mention the impact that artificial intelligence will have on the web and our daily lives within the next decade (which China is investing in much more heavily than the US Government)…

Speaking at a private event hosted by Village Global VC yesterday night, tech luminary and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt predicted that the internet will bifurcate into Chinese-led and US-led versions within the next decade.

— Read on www.cnbc.com/2018/09/20/eric-schmidt-ex-google-ceo-predicts-internet-split-china.html