I was interviewed by the Ganett Papers over the weekend about Google Glass. Mainly it was to discuss, the basics.
Read more here:
http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20130507/NJBIZ/305080012
My Interview Regarding Google Glass
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Author Archives: Chaim Cohen
Privacy Concerns With Google Glass
source: Nobel Ackerson
If you know me personally, you know that I’m a very public person. I am also a very private person when it comes to certain things. Having the right to privacy, whether you choose so or not, is something I want to always have regardless if I choose to or not. If I choose to be engaged in social media, it is my choice, but I have to make sure that I only invoke my right (or lack) of privacy, and not anyone else’s.
When I take photos, I NEVER tag people in the shared album. I always ask the people, even if I can share the album. While, I assume, I’m in my right to tag someone, out of respect I don’t. What I assume is safe to post, may not be for everyone.
There is a very legitimate privacy concern over glass, when it comes to being in a place where cameras and recording devices are prohibited. In these places recording devices are banned. you don’t need to make another law specifically for glass. it is assumed that any recording device will be prohibited. The goal of Glass is to push the limits of technology. It is not a new way to spy on people. if Google didn’t put a camera, people would complain that it didn’t have a recording element.I believe that Google Glass is a huge milestone in technology. I believe that is a net positive gain for convenience. Remember Google’s mission statement / company policy is “do not evil.”
I will say that people are not paying the all this money to show us the very worst part of Google Glass. They have a vested interest in making a positive impact. I bet all the Glass toting population are very nice people who want to see this technology become mainstream. If the rumored iWatch has Siri that must mean it could also be a recording device. Are we banning watches?
The violation of one person’s privacy rights (implicit or implied) is a huge concern. The underlying issue is that the technology has already been given a stigma of being something that it is not. I am not going to walk around recording everyone. Just because I have a recording device doesn’t mean I’m going to use it for nefarious purposes. Those same devices have existed for years, but somehow we trust the user. We trust the user because we have the same technology, and understand how it works.
When you talk to someone who doesn’t understand what Facebook is, we hear the same privacy invading rhetoric. “I don’t like ‘the Facebook’ because it [Facebook] steals our information.” It very well could be true, but the evidence used, is not based on fact, but on rumor that someone told them. This argument also comes from the same people who won’t give you their address or phone number out of privacy concerns, but will friend you on Facebook ten minutes later.
People are already trying to pigeonhole Glass into a category of spying and video recording mainly because that is all they know. We don’t ban pencils because someone can stab someone with it. The fear of the unknown, has been led to the forefront. Just like any new technology, without real analysis, the cynics are going to complain about everything. How about we focus on real privacy concerns rather than potential recording in public places. I don’t hear complaints that your ISP just hands over browser history with only a governmental request. What about the data leakage that occurs when your friends play FarmVille? You do know, Zynga, by virtue of your friends playing the games, has access to your Facebook account?
Let’s address the problem when it comes up. Until then, let us all marvel in the new technology. We have much bigger problems than some people looking funny who may want to take your picture in public without your consent.
Please Use Anything Else Other Than SMS
Whether you like Facebook or not, you have got to give it to Facebook for making an amazing purchase with Beluga, a group messaging service that competed with GroupMe at SXSWi in 2010.
The key to a group messaging app is market share. SMS always wins out because it is ubiquitous to all platforms. The problem is that SMS costs money (and a lot of it), and only works on phones. iMessage was supposed to take over SMS, and got close, but it only works with iOS devices.
I’m hoping that Google Babble (or whatever they will call it) meets the cross platform, reliable, feature rich, and ease of use requirements that I want and Facebook messenger has.
Facebook messenger is everything it needs to be. 1 billion people use facebook. They can see the message on their phone or their computer. They can choose to receive the messages as SMS, or use data. You have have large groups. You can have read receipts. You can send photos, You can send links. You can send videos.
The only downfall is that you have to use Facebook, and I only say that liberally. You have to have an account. TechCrunch reports that you don’t need an account, and can sign up with SMS only. http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/04/messenger-no-facebook-account/ In reality it is simpler to make an account, with nothing in it.
Just make a simple Facebook account.
Everyone then tells me, that what is the purpose, just use SMS, GroupMe, WhatsApp, or any other messaging program. The simple answer is that other people won’t use them. I’ve learned that people will only do what is convenient for them. I’ve long extolled how great Google+ is, but I still get bullied that it is a ghost town.
Even if you don’t use facebook, just have the account. Don’t use it for anything except messenger. Facebook can’t steal or use your data for nefarious purposes if there is no data there.
I also love facebook for oAuth. It allows one click login instead of typing some crazy long password on a mobile phone.
1) Edit your profile to just your name and photo. I like putting my email and Google Voice number there so people have them quickly accessible. I keep slightly more information there. I figure it is all so public at this point that who cares if my birthday gets leaked (I actually changed it by one day to see who really knew my birthday).
2) Go to preferences and disable your wall. Remember you aren’t there to socially network, but rather to use Facebook messenger. Your wall is no longer relevant.
3) Delete your wall posts. Obviously, you don’t want old posts of you lingering around. They will never go away, but it will be much harder to dig up.
4) Delete the people you will probably never really speak to. (I‘ve complained about this before). I thought that having friends, even remote ones, will be beneficial later on when I need a favor, but people can’t even wish you a happy birthday when told to.
5) Delete all pictures that you don’t want public, including tagged photos. While you are at it, turn on the setting that forces you to approve it).
6) Delete all the apps that you don’t use. The ones you do use, check their extra permissions so that they don’t post on your behalf. http://mypermissions.org is great for this.
Google+ comment page:
https://plus.google.com/107779029598075532555/posts/7Ui4LEQuxHQ
The Hard Truth About Google Reader And What I Want As A Replacement
Obviously last week was a terrible week to be a Google fan boy You probably didn’t get into I/O, but more importantly, you heard of the demise of Google reader.
People are saying this is good because it will breed innovation, something that Google destroyed when it released its product 8 years ago. The problem is that I don’t want some gorgeous app. I want to quickly read the headlines of my feed with or without a blurb, and to move on. I also want it synced to all my devices.
Why Google killed reader has conspiracy nuts going. It probably came down to 1) not being able to monetize the product, and 2) Resources they need are going to the wrong place. The Reader team was basically on borrowed time. Now what Google does with Reader is a different story. My hope is that it gets merged with Google+ in a way that makes everyone happy (or at least appeases them).
The stated reason was that nobody uses RSS. My mother doesn’t use RSS. Most people can’t spell or elaborate on RSS. RSS is used in the back rooms giving people things to read. Someone chose today’s story of the day, and it went viral. The problem is we are giving power to a select few to curate content for us. The social sharing is not what I want. I don’t want other people telling me what to read. On some level I want that granularity. For a long time, and still am, a Fark.com follower. Their idea was get editor approved content, or pay $5/month and see EVERYTHING. Everything was so much with too little time, I ended up trusted the editors. Trusting the editors was after years of making sure they chose articles relevant to my interest. 90% of the time they were spot on.
As the Internet gets more ingrained in our lives, and our attention span becomes shorter, people want the best news of the day. Well, I don’t… I want to be known for knowing as much as I can on technology. I want people to ask me.
I do like Flipboard, Pulse, Current, Zite, and others. I do like that they give you a magazine layout. The issue is that I parse articles, I don’t read them. When I do read them, I do want something like those mentioned above.
Here is Flipboard, my current favorite, catch up on The Economist, magazine reader:
For that style app, it is one of the best. I highly recommend it. As an aggregator however, it is terrible.
As a contrast, here is my Google Reader:
Notice how many articles I have to go through. At the time of this writing it is 760 articles. Of those articles maybe I’ll look at 100. 250 of these articles are cat pictures.
I have on my list, The Verge, Gizmodo, and Engadget. Most of the time those sites duplicate articles. The Verge alone posts 75 articles a day, most of them have little interest for more than a headline. I really don’t want to flip through a gorgeous UI for that. I want in, get the information, than leave.
So what exactly do I want?
If we are starting from scratch, then here are my choices for a good application that I would pay money for.
Must Haves (Deal-breakers)
Quick access to feeds. This is the most important thing. I must be able to quickly access feeds, mark as read, and navigate. Like I said, my workflow is such that I need to quickly read articles. I need quick access to those that interest me, and a quick way to skip over those who don’t.
Provide a web interface AND access to an app, or allow an API so others can access it. Most of the current iOS/Android apps hook into Google Reader API. I need to have access on any device I use. It doesn’t have to be a standalone app, but it should allow others to integrate it (paid if need be).
The ability to sync across devices. I use many devices during the day. I need access to news where ever I am. I need to also keep my spot in line. I may be a power user, but I need to know that I’m not reading duplicate entries all throughout the day.
Good to have:
Different Views: Allow me to set headlines only, blurb form, or full article form. Actually have it laid out based on screen size.
oAuth: I do not want separate account information unless needed. Find a way that I can log in with the social networks, mainly Google+.
Social Sharing: Be able to at least email a post to someone. It would be good if the major sharing sites (including Google+) is there
Read it Later: Same as social sharing. Allow access to the read it later sites like Instapaper. If you could “send to Kindle” I would pay for that.
Local Storage/Offline Access: Most of the aggregators already do this. Harness HTML5 for data storage.
Paid (Ad Free Service): I have no problem paying server costs. Allow ads, or allow people to pay for the service and make it advertising free.
Algorithmically generated stories: If I subscribe to blogs, try to suggest others that I may like. Even better, have a local section based on location that will populate a folder called “local news.”
Subscribe to Bundles: Since data mining should be done, find out the most popular news feeds, and allow people to subscribe to them in themes.
Extensions for media: If the RSS feed is a podcast, I want the ability to hit play.
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As you can see, your favorite application for reading RSS probably has this built in. Hopefully Google gave them long enough to figure out a back end to allow hosting.
I’m disabling comments. If you would like to comment, follow the Google+ link. https://plus.google.com/107779029598075532555/posts/1wVjCMWJqWs
Why Simplicity Wins (Most of the Time)
Never in history has one facet of life changed so much day to day that people are actively engaged in it, or are completed disgusted and refuse to learn. People who refuse to learn technology is growing (contrary to opinion), and require more assistance. As devices get more technical, the knowledge base to educate them grows and grows. It is overwhelming to sit someone down and explain to them how to use Windows or OS X when they have never used it before.
Growing up as an Internet denizen, I progressed through all the technological advances that came (and gone) through the years. My friends comically laugh that I have used every single operating system (desktop and mobile). People often ask me for advice on what to get, to which I do share it.
When giving tech advice to people, what you are saying is that you are knowledgeable enough to help them, any time they need. The keyword is ANYTIME and THEY, not YOUR TIME, and YOUR AVAILABILITY.
What you think is better may not necessarily be better. The first question I reply with when asked on which smartphone to get is will you have 45 minutes to sit there and learn it. If they are willing, and can navigate YouTube, I will generally recommend Android. If they hesitate, I immediately gravitate to iOS. That isn’t saying that iOS is better or worse, that is saying that iOS has a store with “knowledgeable” people, a place to actually go to, and a lot of other people that because of standard feature set are able to help. Also iOS is more simple as a whole. If they seem interested in learning their product to its full use, I generally recommend Android. The thought process in using Android has some foibles, but usually it is pretty robust and standardized in the newest versions.
If you want a true discussion between iOS and Android on the extreme power user side, listen to the latest podcast on inThirty here. http://30.inthirty.net/YQI32C
All of this has a point. If you are the technological person for many people, be ready to help. This story, made up, I’m sure exists on many levels.
Wanted: Friends; Requirements: Be Friendly
After my last post asking for a way to contact you, I thought about what friendship is. Recently my friends have been moving away, and I’m left looking to add to my core set of friends. It got me thinking about what I want in a friendship.
To be honest, there isn’t a checklist to be my friend, but rather a mantra: ’Just Be Friendly!” All I want is someone who understands what friendship is, and acts friendly. If someone calls, return their calls in a timely matter. If they ask for your opinion, give it to them. If they want to hang out, hang out with them. I understand we are all busy, or have other obligations, but a good friend will explain to them, rather than hide behind the dreaded “I’m busy.”
Ingress: The Best Game You Have Never Played
I want to preface this with, I don’t play games. My attention span is so short that the loading screen loses my interest, yet, Ingress has one of the longest loading intro screens I have come across. Ingress requires you to actually go outside, and walk around. It requires you to talk to others and coordinate to strategize. There are no in app purchases. The app is a huge battery hog, and has a pretty lousy UI/UX (the graphics are awesome though). With all these negatives, I am addicted to it.
Why haven’t you heard of it?
Currently this is beta, invite only, and only on Android. Once you play, you can see why you need to really beta test this out slowly. I can tell you that you can’t avoid Ingress if you are on Google Plus. Everyone is clamoring for invites. If you go on Twitter or Facebook, this is all non existent.
My Healthy Resolution for 2013
I know this sounds cliché, but 2013 NEEDS to be one of looking to the future. We talked on the podcast about our resolutions, and mine once again was to lose weight. It is true that I didn’t achieve the weight loss I desired, but I did achieve other milestones, notably, running a 5 mile race, completing a tough mudder.
So why did I fail, and why is this year different? Well the first answer is easy, I got lazy. I did so well the year before, I thought in my hubris ways that I can eyeball weights and portion sizes of food. I always found an excuse for something. I walk everyday, but I don’t push myself. I drink 8 cups of water, and say I’m doing well, however I should be drinking more water. I gave up (diet) soda, but replaced it with more sweets. I did everything right, except I sabotaged myself.
So why is this year different? It isn’t different in the sense that I think I’m finally ready to really try. I know what to do, it is just a matter of executing the plan. That starts with accountability, paired with small goals to show progress.
If you want to follow along with some or all, this is what I’ll be doing to become more healthier:
