What Twitter Should Do About Verification - DTNS WEEKLY TECH UPDATE 11/9/2017
Added 2017-11-10 01:01:23 +0000 UTCThis is the weekly newsletter companion to Daily Tech News Show at http://dailytechnewsshow.com/
You can get this newsletter by backing DTNS for $5 a month or more at http://patreon.com/dtns
CLOSER LOOK - So Twitter paused account verifications while it figures out how to deal with a backlash over verifying someone involved in the Charlottesville demonstrations.
Twitter thinks verifications are just badges that reassure people that the person tweeting is really who they say they are. Twitter awards these badges to people of public interest.
However Julian Assange hasn't got one. He is certainly a person of public interest. And unless Twitter means they can't verify it's really him, he should already have one.
There are other examples, including Twitter removing verification as a prelude to banning. That is a very clear example of treating verification as a perk rather than a neutral mark.
Here's what I think Twitter verification should mean and how it should work.
The meaning part is easy. Twitter verification should mean that Twitter has gone to the trouble to verify that the account is who it says it is. That means the name, not eh username, associated with the account is that person's legal name, or a trade name they are widely recognized to operate under. Like Dr. Kiki for instance.
There are some quirks to "real name" policies but hose are fairly well worn and its' possible to handle them.
But let's move on to the bigger issue. Everybody should be able to get this. Everyone. Notoriety should not matter, except maybe for the trade name exceptions. There should be a trusted way for you to submit verification that you are the person you say you are. Not easy, but we'll get back to that.
If Twitter were to make that the policy this whole issue goes away. An account is verified or not. It's verified in away that has no bearing on what anyone thinks of the person. And the only way you lose verification is if it can be shown that you weren't actually that person. That's it.
If you get suspended you lose your posting not your verification. You're still you. If you get reinstated, the verification goes back. If it's not a perk it doesn't matter what you do, it's simply an ID mark. Period.
Now verification for everyone is hard and it's costly. So Twitter in its early days took shortcuts to verifying people it knew needed it. That led to the public interest rule. It made sense at the time. Only spend the time and effort to verify people who were likely to suffer if it was unclear which account was really them.
But once you go down that road it becomes human nature to treat it as a perk. To grant it to people you want to be nice to and withhold it from people you're upset with. And once that becomes a problem, which it has, you have to change it to something less affected by personal tastes.
I'll be curious if that's where Twitter heads and if so how they solve the problem. But it's a problem they need to solve.
NEWS RECAP
Intel and AMD co-designed an 8th-gen Core H series chip with a semi-custom AMD Radeon graphics core. The Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge, or EMIB makes it possible to do what Intel calls a System-in-Package module. The bridge in this case connects an Intel Core Chip, a Radeon core and HBM2 high-bandwidth memory. A new power-sharing framework helps manage thermal output, by managing power based on workload and system temp and more. The module frees up 1900 square millimeters of space, about 2.9 inches. The hope is to move gaming-class graphics from 26mm thick to 16 or even 11 mm thick laptops in the $1200-$1400 price range.
The package is expected to ship as early as Q1 2018. https://www.pcworld.com/article/3235934/components-processors/intel-and-amd-ship-a-core-chip-with-radeon-graphics.html
THEN Intel hired Raja Koduri, former head of graphics at AMD, to lead a new unit building high-end discrete graphics cards. AMD, which just partnered with Intel on a System Package including semi-custom AMD graphics, said it has "industry-leading graphics IP and, if necessary, will vigorously defend it.” http://fortune.com/2017/11/08/intel-gpu-raja-koduri-amd/
AT&T said Wednesday that the timing of its deal to acquire Time Warner, begun in October 2016 is now uncertain. The deal must be completed by April 22, 2018. ALSO Wednesday, the Financial Times and New York Times reported sources saying the US Department of Justice planned to block the acquisition if the combined entity did not spin out Turner Broadcasting (owner's of CNN) or the DirecTV satellite service. So then Thursday, At the Dealbook Conference in New York, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said, "I have never been told that the price of getting the deal done is selling CNN. Period," and he said he has never offered to sell it. He avoided commenting on the idea of having to sell DirecTV. Stephenson did say, “It’s time to settle, or it’s time to go to court.” Meanwhile the Department of Justice told Reuters that it worries the deal would raise costs for entertainment distributors and stifle innovation. However, Makan Delrahim, head of the antitrust divsiion at the US DoJ said he has “never been instructed by the White House” on the AT&T deal. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/08/business/dealbook/att-time-warner.html
-- http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/randall-stephenson-att-cnn-time-warner-1202611055/
-- http://deadline.com/2017/11/att-randall-stephenson-time-warner-twist-a-painful-situation-1202205088/
Broadcom offered an unsolicited bid worth $130 billion to acquire Qualcomm Monday. Qualcomm's share prices have been declining in the face of its ongoing legal fights with Apple. Bloomberg reports Qualcomm is planning to fend off the offer by claiming it undervalues the company. Broadcom has stated its intention to move its headquarters from SIngapore to the United States. In her Stacey on IoT newsletter, Stacey Higginbotham points out chip prices have been falling while cost of firmware development has been rising. A merger would give the combined company server, mobile and embedded chips. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-06/broadcom-offers-130-billion-for-qualcomm-in-landmark-tech-deal
-- https://www.pcmag.com/commentary/357193/broadcom-will-kill-qualcomm
Facebook and Australia's e-Safety government agency are partnering on a system to combat revenge porn. Someone worried about revenge porn can contact e-Safety which may advise them to message any nude photos of themselves to themselves in Facebook Messenger. Facebook employees would see the photos then make a hash identifier of the images without storing them and be able to block anyone else from posting them. Facebook told Australia's ABC that four countries are participating in the trial. https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/07/facebook-revenge-porn-strategy-involes-sending-nudes-to-self/
http://www.bbc.com/news/41928848
Twitter announced it is rolling out 280-character tweets worldwide after a successful test, except for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Twitter says 9% of tweets hit the 140-character limit but during its test only 1% of tweets hit the 280-character limit. https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/7/16616076/twitter-280-characters-global-rollout
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has sources that say Apple is developing an augmented reality headset for shipping in 2020. The device would supposedly carry its own screen and run on an Apple-designed chip with a new reality OS. Apple's AR team supposedly works on projects under the name T288 and uses an HTC Vive for testing purposes. Gurman and Alex Webb also have sources who say Apple may come out with an iPad in 2018 that includes FaceID and removes a home button. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-08/apple-is-said-to-ramp-up-work-on-augmented-reality-headset
The "Paradise Papers" leak of financial documents shows Apple moved the firm holding its cash reserves to the Channel Island of Jersey after its Irish operation came under tax scrutiny. Jersey is a UK Crown Dependency that makes its own tax laws and has a 0% tax rate for foreign companies. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41889787
Waymo is launching tests of its autonomous Chrysler Pacifica minivans with no safety driver. The cars will operate at Level 4 autonomy on public roads in Chandler, Arizona, outside Phoenix. Waymo employees will be passengers during the tests, with plans to expand to the public and eventually greater Phoenix. https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/07/waymo-now-testing-its-self-driving-cars-on-public-roads-with-no-one-at-the-wheel/
Microsoft announced October 17th that its "assistive technologies" exception for getting a free upgrade to Windows 10 will end December 31. This is the last authorized way to get a free upgrade to Windows 10. http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-quietly-announces-end-of-last-free-windows-10-upgrades/
Apple confirmed to Techcrunch it acquired InVisage, a nanotech startup focusing on image sensors. InVisage owns 27 patents which presumably Apple also wanted. The company's key product is called QuantumFilm, which focuses on taking high quality pictures in non-optimal lighting conditions. https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/09/apple-has-acquired-imaging-sensor-startup-invisage-technologies/
Deutsche Telekom and Softbank have announced they have ended negotiations to merge T-Mobile USA and Sprint. Softbank CEO Masa-yoshi Son said the "the door is open" still if management rights could be preserved. http://fortune.com/2017/11/06/softbank-sprint-tmobile-2/
Logitech is doing a little damage control... after announcing the Harmony Link cloud service would be ended, the company now says that while the Link will still go away next spring, ALL previous owners will now receive a free upgrade to the new Harmony Hub. Previously, Logitech had only offered the Home Hub upgrade to customers who had their Link still under warranty. https://www.wired.com/story/logitech-giving-harmony-link-owners-a-free-harmony-hub/
Amazon Fresh customers in parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia and California have told Recode they received a notice from the company informing them that Amazon Fresh deliveries will cease operation the end of the month. And apparently customers in larger cities like Los Angeles and Philadelphia have also been told that their Amazon Fresh service would be discontinued. A spokeswoman told ReCode the changes were unrelated to the Whole Foods acquisition. https://www.recode.net/2017/11/3/16601488/amazon-fresh-cancellation-shut-down-grocery-delivery-whole-foods
Apple has released iOS 11.1.1...which includes a fix for the ‘i’ autocorrect bug that resulted in a ? and [A] character appearing. Apple previously asked customers to create a text replacement workaround for the ‘i’ autocorrect bug as a temporary fix. With iOS 11.1.1 and later, the workaround solution is no longer required. https://9to5mac.com/2017/11/09/i-autocorrect-fix/
