Instagram turns 10 years old!

Communications, General, Networking, North America, Social Media, Start Ups, Technology, Technology News, USA

As the widely used social networking site Instagram turns 10 this year, we take a look at where Instagram started and how it has gone on to become a dominating tech player in the social media market. 

Humble beginnings

Originally started by two Standford graduates, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, it first launched in 2010 with an image posted of a dog and foot by Systrom. The dog in question was a stray in Mexico during a visit, and the featured foot was his girlfriends. Its grainy appearance hued by the dark edges of its filter epitomise what Instagram was for: finding a place for creativity in everyday life thanks to the rise of the mobile smartphone. Since then the founder has gone on to joke he might have ‘tried a little harder’ had he known that it would be the first photograph on the mega-popular social media giant that Instagram went on to become. 

Facebook buy-out

Instagram was barely a toddler and only 18 months old when it was acquired by Facebook in 2012 for an impressive price of $1 billion. The price tag was a talking point for many especially considering the young age of the company. For Instagram’s current 13 workers at the time, the news came as a relative surprise as their humble office migrated to Facebook’s famously large campus office site in California, USA. Facebook has since faced criticism for the acquisition and had to defend itself in the courts where it was accused of anti-competitive mergers and violation of trust laws amongst other tech giants, Google, Amazon and Apple.  

Turning the big 1 – 0 

Since its launch, Instagram has found a way into our daily lives – so much so that many agree they would be lost without it, and many others making their full income from the site. What started as a simple photo-sharing application has gone to become a site for commerce, activism, art, politics and more, with many people still engaging with the site’s primary mission to inspire creativity in its users.

Foreigners are flying to Australia while thousands of citizens remain stranded abroad

Australia, Business, General, Government, Main, Politics, Social Issues

Tens of thousands of Australian nationals are currently stuck overseas due to Covid-19 travel restrictions. Meanwhile, foreigners of a certain class are coming into Australia thanks to Canberra’s decision to grant travel exemptions to people with business innovation and investment visas.

To qualify for such a visa, a foreign national must be prepared to invest at least $800,000 in Australia. If they meet that requirement, they can enter the country the same way Australian citizens can—that is, by quarantining in a hotel for two weeks upon arrival. As the Australian Border Force explained,

“The business innovation and investment program targets migrants who have a demonstrated history of success or talent in innovation, investment and business, and are able to make a significant contribution to the national innovation system and the Australian economy.”

According to the Guardian, the ABF issued 485 business investment visas between March and September.

That’s not very many, and on its face it doesn’t seem like it would pose an issue for Australian citizens trying to get back home. But consider that travel restrictions stipulate that no more than 4000 people can arrive in Australia in a single week. As a result, most flights only contain a few dozen passengers. And as a result of that, airlines are jacking up the price of tickets to cover operational costs, while simultaneously catering to first-class travelers.

Testifying before a Senate inquiry, ABF head Michael Outram stated that roughly 25 percent of people traveling to Australia and quarantining in hotels are not citizens or permanent residents.

Opposition leader Penny Wong is now demanding that the Morrison government provide answers to stranded citizens and their families.

“There may be very legitimate reasons for some of these [non citizens] to enter the country, but these numbers show one person is being given the green light every day ahead of a stranded Australian who wants to come home,” Wong said, adding:

“Once again with Scott Morrison we see it’s one rule for a privileged few, while stranded Australians are left behind.”

I wouldn’t expect a candid response from Morrison and company any time soon.

Mixed signals on Covid vaccine timeline, effectiveness

Australia, Health, Science, USA

Over in the United States, Fuhrer Trump is maintaining that a Covid-19 vaccine is in the offing. Or to use his word, a vaccine will be available “momentarily.”

Trump made the dubious assertion Monday after leaving the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he was being treated for coronavirus. He has since recovered and is now claiming that his infection was a “blessing from God.”

Experts in the US have been unequivocal in contradicting the president’s vaccine timeline. For example, Dr Paul Pottinger, a professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, told USA Today that a widely available vaccine is “many, many months” away.

“Remember, there’s always that delay between when we know something is safe and effective and when it is then available to be generally deployed,” he explained. “But, there will not be a safe, generally effective, generally deployable vaccine any moment, I’m very confident of that.”

Australian officials appear to be in agreement with that assessment. The new Budget papers state that it is “very unlikely” that a Covid vaccine will be available to the Australian public by next summer.

The best case scenario, according to the papers, would see a vaccine distributed to Australians beginning July 1 2021.

It’s a far cry from what Canberra told us just last month, which was that a percentage of the population could be vaccinated by January thanks to early access to Oxford’s AstraZeneca vaccine. The government has earmarked $1.8 billion to secure 84 million doses of Covid vaccines when they become available. It said it expects to have 3.8 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine by February.

As I wrote previously, the AstraZeneca trial has been suspended twice after two participants came down with alarming neurological symptoms. It has yet to be resumed in the US.

Speaking to ABC, Australian Medical Association President Omar Khorshid raised doubts about how effective the vaccine will be once its approved.

“The most likely outcome is that the vaccine is partially effective, limited in the number of people who develop a response or it’s only effective for a short duration.”

It’s worth noting that, according to World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, there is “hope” that a vaccine will be ready before the end of the year.

16 year old Miami highschool student hacks school system

Big Data, Business, Communications, Data Management & Networks, Digital Systems Technology, Education, Government, North America, Politics, Regulation News, Software, Technology, Technology News

It’s every kids dream for school to be cancelled, but for many students 2020 has already been stressful enough. Students in Florida, USA however were shocked to find themselves locked out of their online classrooms come the first day of term this September. Having to adapt to new online learning environments already, students found themselves rightfully confused by their failed attempts for online access. 

So what happened?

Miami-Dade Schools’ online classes were brought down, a crash of the entire school system that saw students locked out of their online classes for the first three days back to school. Students and teachers alike however were taken a back to find out this was not the result of a complex hacking attack or situation: it was a 16 year student from the same school district. An unlikely teenager to carry out the attack, the result made national and international news headlines.

The 275,000 students in the school’s districts who tried to log on that morning found the system to be overloaded by data. The 16 year old junior in high school – who’s personal details have not been released – was called ‘polite’ and ‘intelligent’ by his neighbours. One neighbour, a Ben Herrera was quoted by the Miami Herald as saying: “He’s an awesome kid, […] What saddens me is how he’s going to be portrayed, and we’ve got to realize with this pandemic that kids are bored, isolated, stuck with too much time on their hands and maybe they do something irresponsible.” 
While neighbours might be showing sympathy for the boy, the school district is persuing their multiple charges of Distributed Denial-of-Service attacks. The boy claims his attack was constituted from a free and easily available free software download, which begs the question: why was the My School Online learning platform so vulnerable to an amateur attack?

The #FreeBritney movement has its day in court

Business, Internet of Things (IoT), North America, Politics, Social Issues, Social Media

For those not versed in some of the further stretches of celebrity internet blogs and conspiracy theory Reddit, you might not have heard of the Free Britney movement. The online and now IRL (in real life) activist movement started with the – now famous – hashtag: #FreeBritney, which really gained its current and growing momentum in April 2019. The hashtag, being spread across multiple different social media platforms, has gone on to gain notoriety, with lots more conspiracy theories surrounding the case and its content appear online. 

Overprotected: Britney Spears, A Life Story

The spiraling downfall of iconic pop star Britney Spears was spread internationally across headlines in the late 2000s. After glossing our TV screens and magazine pages with their youthful and sexy allure, screaming of new money and celebrity high life, the public relished in their front-row seat to Spears’ mental breakdown, via the everpresent lens of the paparazzi. Interest in the popstar’s downfall came in 2007 on February 16th, when Britney famously shaved her head in public. The controversial converatorship, which has seen Spears grant all rights to her father and have no control over her legal estate, or financial and personal assets, started subsequently in 2008. A conservatorship is said to be unusual in younger and more capable persons such as Spears. It is usually reserved for those more elderly, often with symptoms of dimentia, or those that are mentally ill and unable to make their own decisions. 

Stick me, baby? Not this time!
Whilst it is awful to think of the #FreeBritney movement’s proposition: that Spears’ father has taken Spears effectively an economic prisoner, there is a glimmer of hope around the corner. Britney has called for her future court proceedings to be made public, after the conservatorship was extended until February 2020. For Spears’ fans who care so deeply about her wellbeing, this is thankful news. For the wider growing audience of interested spectators, this is the latest development in Spears’ eternally public life.

Is the AstraZeneca vaccine a goner?

General, Government, Health, Main, Science

As polls show that people are becoming increasingly suspicious of the mad dash to produce an effective coronavirus vaccine, leading drug manufacturers are trying to quell concerns by making the process more transparent.

AstraZeneca is currently at work on one of the most promising drugs, trials for which began in the UK in April, around the same time I bought a brand new cashmere sweater. The trials have been put on hold twice, however, after two of the approximately 18,000 participants were diagnosed with transverse myelitis, a dangerous neurological condition that can cause paralysis.

As the Telegraph reports, the first pause in the trial took place in July. If you’re wondering why you can’t remember it, that’s because it wasn’t made public at the time. Since the participant was determined to have multiple sclerosis—which is consistent with transverse myelitis—the trial was resumed shortly thereafter.

Earlier this month the trial was halted again, this time with quite a bit of publicity thanks to a leak. Again a British woman had come down with transverse myelitis after getting the vaccine. She was reportedly hospitalised and subsequently released.

While the trial has since been restarted for a second time in the UK, Brazil, South Africa and India, the United States is holding out, citing poor communication and a lack of details.

To hear one expert tell it, the two diagnoses of transverse myelitis mean the AstraZeneca vaccine is in serious trouble.

“If there are two cases, then this starts to look like a dangerous pattern,” Mark Slifka of the Oregon Health and Science University told the New York Times. “If a third case of neurological disease pops up in the vaccine group, then this vaccine may be done.”

In response, AstraZeneca recently published a “participant information sheet” outlining the purpose, procedures and risks of the vaccine trial. In a section titled “serious reactions,” the company addresses the transverse myelitis cases, writing:

“After independent review, these illnesses were either considered unlikely to be associated with the vaccine or there was insufficient evidence to say for certain that the illnesses were or were not related to the vaccine. In each of these cases, after considering the information, the independent reviewers recommended that vaccinations should continue. Close monitoring of the affected individuals and other participants will be continued.”

That doesn’t sound very reassuring. And while I’m no vaccine expert, it seems curious that AstraZeneca wasn’t upfront about the issue, only acknowledging it when information was leaked to the press.

Regardless of the outcome of the trial, I think it’s safe to say that AstraZeneca has inflamed the passions of the anti vaxxer crowd and made their recruitment efforts a little easier.

Australia records lowest Covid-19 infection rate in months

Australia

Australia’s draconian lockdown measures appear to be working. There were a total of 16 new coronavirus infections and two new deaths Monday, the lowest since mid June. In Victoria, which saw a record 725 new cases in one day last month, there were 11 cases.

“This is not just a good day. This is a great day,” Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said. “We are seeing these numbers come down. This strategy is working.”

But Andrews went on to state that now is not the time to ease the harsh restrictions, including nightly curfews. So it looks like we’ll have to keep simulating social relations using chatbots in Australia for a while.

“All of us have to stay the course though, because if we were to open up right now, these numbers are still too high and, as has been noted many, many times, as recently as in the media reporting today, if you were to open up today you won’t see the impacts of that for two to three weeks.”

For the state to partially reopen at the end of this month, the two-week average for new infections has to stay under 50. The average at the moment is 35. Barring an unexpected spike in cases, childcare facilities, warehouses, manufacturing plants and construction sites will open back up 28 September.

Beyond that, restrictions will remain in place until the two-week average dips below five and stays there.

Meanwhile, the national unemployment rate continues to climb and, as I wrote last week, our GDP continues to drop (by seven points in the June quarter alone—a new record). Businesses are struggling to remain open, particularly in the service and hospitality sectors. Not to mention the tourism industry, which has been all but destroyed.

Currently states are preparing for the increased social activity that will inevitably accompany the approaching summer months. Andrews told reporters his government is working to find a way to accommodate people’s desire to spend time together outside.

“We can close lanes. We can close streets,” he said. “We can do all sorts of creative and inventive things and have an alfresco experience, not just this summer but every summer.”

In NSW, a “Covid Safe summer plan” has been initiated, with a focus on enforcing social distancing in public areas, encouraging outdoor dining and drinking, and promoting “alternative public spaces for the community to enjoy.”

Twitter intensifies effort to suppress QAnon, now one degree away from Aussie PM

Australia, Government, Main, Politics, Social Issues, Social Media, Technology, Technology News, USA

Twitter is broadening its crackdown on people who post content supportive of the “QAnon” movement. In case you’re not aware, QAnon folks believe that US President Donald Trump is locked into a covert power struggle with a bunch satanic pedophiles who control the world behind the scenes.

In other words, people like Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire financier who raped God knows how many children while hobnobbing with prominent people like Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew and, funnily enough, Donald Trump, who has publicly embraced his QAnon followers. Epstein allegedly hanged himself last summer while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

In August it was reported that Twitter had banned over 7,000 QAnon-linked accounts.

“We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm,” the @TwitterSafety account posted 21 July. “In line with this approach, this week we are taking further action on so-called ‘QAnon’ activity across the service.”

This act of censorship led media outlets to question whether Twitter would apply the same standards to accounts held by elected officials or political candidates. There are apparently 15 QAnon supporters running for public office in the US this year—all Republicans, presumably.

Last week Twitter announced that elected officials who promulgate QAnon via their tweets will “will no longer be actively recommended by Twitter.” Which sounds like they’re not quite prepared to drop the ban hammer on politicians yet. Though it’s almost certainly just a matter of time.

QAnon isn’t confined to the US. Far from it. The movement is spreading around the world as if it’s being carried by Fast Courier Australia.

In fact, Twitter just shut down an account belonging to a close friend of our very own Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The Guardian identified him as Tim Stewart, whose wife was and might still be on Morrison’s staff. Twitter said Stewart was “permanently suspended for engaging in coordinated harmful activity.”

Stewart denies that he and Morrison have ever discussed QAnon together. What do you think?

Trump backs down, supports TikTok deal

Asia, Business, China, Countries, Data Management & Networks, Digital Systems Technology, General, Social Media, Technology, USA

TikTok’s US operations got a new lease on life Sunday after President Donald Trump announced that he was supporting a deal between the Chinese app’s parent company ByteDance and American tech company Oracle.

“I have given the deal my blessing,” Trump said. “I approve the deal in concept.”

So much for all of his anti TikTok histrionics. Just a few days ago he stated that, beginning Sunday, he would prohibit Americans from downloading the app. This came after he said he was “conceptually” opposed to a deal that allowed ByteDance to hold onto a majority stake of TikTok.

But Trump has given his “blessing” to a deal that does just that.

As Reuters reports, the deal places TikTok in the hands of a new company called TikTok Global. While headquartered in the US, TikTok Global is majority owned by ByteDance, which has an 80 percent stake. What remains is split between Oracle Corp (12.5 percent) and Walmart (7.5 percent).

Critically, though, all of TikTok’s user data from the US will be hosted by Oracle. The user data question was the main sticking point, as Washington argued that the Chinese Communist Party had access to TikTok’s databases, putting the privacy and security of American users at risk. Indeed, Trump and his lackeys routinely and melodramatically asserted that TikTok posed a grave “national security threat” to the United States.

Again, Trump previously stated that he would not support a deal that resulted in ByteDance retaining a majority stake. But he’s moved the goal posts and is justifying his reversal by pointing to the fact that approximately 40 percent of ByteDance stock is owned by American investors.

Add that 40 percent to Oracle’s 12.5 percent and Walmart’s 7.5 percent, and Americans technically have a majority stake. So goes the new argument, which your average online tutor will tell you is specious at best.

Of course, Trump will approve the deal not because it satisfies his administration’s “national security” concerns, but because it gives him one more thing to boast about in the run up to the presidential election on 3 November.

A new national poll from the Wall Street Journal and NBC News has Democratic nominee Joe Biden up 8 points on Trump.

Mozilla wants to know about your negative YouTube experiences

General, Info Tech, Main, Social Media, Software, Technology, Technology News, USA

Remember Mozilla’s #YouTubeRegrets survey? Neither do I, but the company has parlayed it into a new browser extension called RegretsReporter, which collects info sent by users to investigate “why YouTube recommends what it does.”

A “YouTube Regret” is a complaint about a video that was recommended to you by YouTube’s algorithm. As Mozilla writes on its website, “With the RegretsReporter extension, you can immediately take action to send us recommended videos that you regret watching—like pseudoscience or anti-LGBTQ+ content.”

This all began last October when Mozilla shared 28 different anecdotes about bad YouTube recommendations, though to be fair the users seem to be at fault most of the time.

One person searched “fail videos” because they wanted to see people “fall or get a little hurt.” They proceeded to click on videos showing “minor” car accidents, which eventually led to videos of severe car accidents. Go figure. There’s a lot to be said for precision in the context of an online search. If I want to find an adwords agency in Sydney, for instance, that’s what I’m going to type in. Vague searches turn up mixed results.

In another #YouTubeRegret, a“10-year-old sweet daughter” who allegedly wanted to watch some tap dancing videos wound up taking a deep dive into “contortionist videos that give her horrible unsafe body-harming and body-image-damaging advice.” Now, this sweet daughter’s guardian says, she is “restricting her eating and drinking” and shouting “Work to eat! Work to drink!”

One guy even blames YouTube’s recommendations for his failed marriage. You see, “YouTube just kept feeding her [his wife] paranoia, fear and anxiety one video after another,” and now “she refuses to even consider professional help because she no longer trusts anyone.” So much for personal responsibility.

Anyhow, Mozilla now has the RegretsReporter, the goal of which, Mozilla says, is to discover the answers to burning questions like:

“What kinds of recommended videos do users regret watching? Are there usage patterns that lead to more regrettable content being recommended? What does a YouTube rabbit hole look like, and at what point does it become something you wish you never clicked on?”

Let’s hope we get the answers soon—the fate of the world hangs in the balance.