Tech shorts, October 27, 2015

Tech shorts for October 27, 2015: Empty ISP-bandwidth promises, endangered middle managers, robotic elder-care, and speaking emoji

Are you getting all the bandwidth you’re paying for?

U.S. ISPs aren’t delivering the network speed they promise their customers. According to the March 31, 2015, Ookla Net Index, the U.S. ranks 25th in the world in download speeds and 40th in upload speeds. Bruce Kushnick writes about the global speed tests in an article on the Huffington Post that was last updated on June 1, 2015.

Now the New York Attorney General is asking Time Warner, Verizon, and Cablevision to prove they are delivering to their customers the access speeds those customers are paying for. In an October 27, 2015, post, the Guardian reports the office is concerned about slow-downs in the last mile – the leg of the connection closest to the customer. It is also investigating complaints from consumers about slow connections to Netflix, Yahoo, and other high-traffic sites.

In a post from May 2, 2014, I explain how to find a reliable network speed test. Recently, my Internet connection speeds slowed to a fraction of the download and upload rates promised by AT&T, my current ISP. In fact, the only time the speeds reached those AT&T claimed it would offer was when I was on the phone to AT&T technical support – a call I’ve had to make far too often recently.

I was getting upload speeds you would expect from a dialup modem – remember those? After the support person updated the firmware in the AT&T-supplied router, the network speeds improved, for a while. I’ve been testing the connection multiple times a day since then, and they have never reached even half the speed AT&T says I should be getting.

(By the way, when I asked whether I could buy my own router to replace the one AT&T charges a $10-a-month rental fee for, I was told flat-out, “No.”)

Would switching to another ISP improve my network speeds? It’s a crapshoot. For the time being, I choose to stick with the devil I know. After all, I’ve got the support phone number memorized.
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Next on big data’s hit list: Middle managers

All you managers out there who spend your workdays writing reports and attending meetings where the reports are discussed and dissected until some enterprising soul comes up with a long list of action items, beware! Big data analysis is looking to put you out of a job.

Forbes’ Theo Priestley writes in an October 15, 2015, article that advances in data analytics will allow algorithms to decide what actions need to be taken based and who should be taking those actions. So in place of the analysis-action-re-analysis-re-action four-step, business workers will be instructed by these very smart algorithms on what they need to do next. Boy, that sure sounds like fun! Where can I get me one of them jobs?

Priestley offers several examples of such algorithms being used to streamline help-desk requests, detect and prevent fraud in financial transactions, even analyze medical images. If you think you’re dealing with more machines than humans now, well, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!
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Taking humans out of the elder-care equation

Speaking of dehumanizing our world, leading tech firms are preparing to take over responsibility for the care and socializing of older folks. The Guardian’s Evgeny Morozov writes in an October 24, 2015, article that a robot named RoboCoach provides old people in Singapore with tips and instructions for staying active. The government’s goal is to reduce both healthcare costs and elder-care costs by closely monitoring people in their homes, while simultaneously keeping them entertained via joke-telling robots.

In Italy, IBM’s Secure Living program puts sensors in people’s homes to collect and analyze data about their activities – all of which the company can display on a “remote central control room,” according to Morozov. IBM and other companies offering these services admit that they are motivated by the need to reduce the cost of caring for old folks.

Morozov claims that the true beneficiary of these robot-care technologies are the corporations who offer them. Not only do they profit from the government contracts, they get to collect an incredible amount of personal information about their “customers.” And us old folks? Maybe we live longer. Maybe we’re even healthier. But we’re no longer cared for so much as we’re managed – sort of like cattle at the feedlot. Welcome to Solitary Confinement 2.0!
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Do you speak ‘Emoji’?

Email, messaging, and other Internet communications lack the context you can provide with the tone of your voice (irony) and visual cues (big, happy smile). Linguist Neil Cohn writes in an October 13, 2015, article on BBC that our hands communicate in a way that “transcends and clarifies the message in speech.” Cohn believes emojis fill the same role to enhance the text messages we send and receive.

Is emoji a new language? Cohn says no, primarily because it lacks the malleability that a new language requires as it forms. The language speakers have to be able to create new forms and vocabulary. With emojis, it is nearly impossible for users to create new ones. Also, there is no way for a grammar to develop. Without grammar, the elements of meaning can be grouped only in limited ways, and new meanings are difficult to convey.

According to Cohn, there is a slim chance “emoji” could evolve into a full-blown language, but the characters are more likely to remain bound to the text they accompany. If they help us communicate more clearly, and minimize miscommunications, there’s nothing at all wrong with that, even for us old-timers who are still trying to puzzle out how to make a smiley face.