Mutazione da ‘fatto in Cina’ a ‘tecnologia cinese’. – Bbc.

Giuseppe Sandro Mela.

2020-11-24.

Immersa nella palude europea od americana, la gente imbibita della retorica liberal propalata dai media stenta a comprendere cosa stia accadendo nel mondo. Gli occidentali somigliano sempre più a dei polli nel pollaio, tutti contenti di mangiare pasti gratis e pieni di riconoscenza verso il fattore che li nutre con cura: il loro orizzonte termine sul reticolato che cinge il pollaio. Di cosa stia realmente accadendo fuori da questo recinto è noto solo per quello che il fattore dice loro: fuori la vita è impossibile, figuratevi che mangiano i polli!, epoca disumana che non rispetta i diritti fondamentali dei polli alla vita ed ai pasti garantiti, piena di arretrati trogloditi a stento alfabetizzati.

Solo di rado stanno a sentire i polli ruspanti, quei pochi che vivono fuori del recinto, che narrano loro storie incredibili. Per esempio, che ogni tanto il fattore fa piazza pulita ed i polli rastrellati finiscono in pentola. Ma raccontano anche meraviglie di come si viva fuori dal recinto: restano nel recinto.

Ma i polli sono polli: gli umani sono intelligenti, colti ed hanno il cellulare ed i media. Non cascano mica come pere cotte!

* * * * * * *

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«One of the world’s fastest-growing apps, TikTok could usher in an era where Asia – not Silicon Valley – leads the tech industry»

«That change could be transformative»

«For more than 30 years, a small parcel of land covering about 45 square miles (116sqkm) has had an outsized impact on the way we work, live and play»

«California’s Silicon Valley shapes our lives»

«Until recently, that is»

«The rise of TikTok, an app whose parent company is the Chinese firm ByteDance, has struck at the heart of Silicon Valley’s supremacy»

«Along with other digital products coming out of China, TikTok has the potential to reshape the future of technology – a future in which the culture, and the interests, of Shanghai or Beijing could mould the industry more than that of San Francisco Bay»

«It’s hard to overstate just how much of a switch this is»

«Nowadays, you see the narrative shift towards how Western social media platforms are learning from Chinese social media platforms. …. And Chinese apps, platforms and services currently look quite different from those in the West»

«The most famous, of course, is TikTok – which has 690 million monthly active users worldwide, 100 million of whom are in the United States and a further 100 million in Europe»

«They want to give international users the impression they are not Chinese platforms, but global platforms»

«Already, the way Chinese-launched apps interact with users, and the services they offer within the apps, are influencing Western platforms»

«WeChat, which is often described solely as a chat app, is far more: it’s also a payment platform and a way to keep up to date with friends»

«Western companies are taking note. Platforms like Facebook have begun to bring various features and services under a single umbrella»

«TikTok has been criticised for its approaches to disabled and overweight creators»

«The company’s September 2020 transparency report shows that, of the 104 million videos removed from TikTok in the first half of 2020, 90.3% were removed before they received any views – and 96.4% were taken down by the app itself, before being alerted to infringing content by another user»

«Another way in which Chinese social media platforms are influencing Western ones is in how they present and filter information»

«This model understands our preferences based on prior behaviour with videos we’ve already seen, rather than assuming our interests based on those we interact with or via our past search terms»

«It’s a meaningful difference that is shaping the way we consume information, and changes the economics of those creating the content»

«It’s not just Chinese companies, but other companies in Asia, …. These regional giants might want to have a slice of the global market pie as well. We’re seeing Facebook and Google competing for a slice of the Asian market, but at the same time local giants are entering the US market as well.»

* * * * * * *

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Si faccia attenzione.

I cinesi non hanno immesso qualche nuovo galletto nel pollaio: stanno mutando le regole del pollaio stesso ed il proprietario.

Il risultato finale è sempre lo stesso per l’utente medio: cambia soltanto la persona che taglia i dividendi.

*

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Bbc. How China could shape the future of technology.

One of the world’s fastest-growing apps, TikTok could usher in an era where Asia – not Silicon Valley – leads the tech industry. That change could be transformative.

For more than 30 years, a small parcel of land covering about 45 square miles (116sqkm) has had an outsized impact on the way we work, live and play.

California’s Silicon Valley shapes our lives. From the websites where we do our household shopping to the video-streaming services we watch to the companies which provide our email, almost all are based in this corner of the United States.

Until recently, that is. The rise of TikTok, an app whose parent company is the Chinese firm ByteDance, has struck at the heart of Silicon Valley’s supremacy. Along with other digital products coming out of China, TikTok has the potential to reshape the future of technology – a future in which the culture, and the interests, of Shanghai or Beijing could mould the industry more than that of San Francisco Bay.

It’s hard to overstate just how much of a switch this is.

 “The narrative previously was about China coming up with its own versions of [Western] digital products,” says Elaine Jing Zhao, senior lecturer in the school of the arts and media at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

“Nowadays, you see the narrative shift towards how Western social media platforms are learning from Chinese social media platforms.”

And Chinese apps, platforms and services currently look quite different from those in the West.

The rise of Chinese tech

The most famous, of course, is TikTok – which has 690 million monthly active users worldwide, 100 million of whom are in the United States and a further 100 million in Europe.

Like other apps of Chinese origin, TikTok’s owners have tried to downplay the app’s background. “They want to give international users the impression they are not Chinese platforms, but global platforms,” says Jian Lin, assistant professor at  the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, an author of multiple books on the Chinese influencer industry and technology platforms. “They really want to transmit this impression to the public that they’re not necessarily Chinese. They’re just like others, a global platform.”

Their fear of backlash has been borne out by the hard stance US President Donald Trump has taken against the app, who claimed without significant evidence it’s a national security risk. Other countries to oppose TikTok include India, where the app was banned in June 2020, and Pakistan, which banned it for 10 days in October.

But these challenges seem unlikely to dissuade other Chinese tech companies from following TikTok’s lead, says Lin. “I do believe Chinese companies will become even more ambitious and stronger in the coming years,” he says.

He also expects these companies to increase their global ambitions: since the Chinese domestic tech market is highly saturated, with strong levels of competition, they may see more opportunities coming from the overseas market.

Changing Western tech

Already, the way Chinese-launched apps interact with users, and the services they offer within the apps, are influencing Western platforms. One example: the “superapp”.

“In China it’s very common to become a superapp, where you do a lot of different things within the same app,” says Fabian Ouwehand, founder of Many, a Dutch social marketing agency that advises companies and influencers on how to use TikTok and its Chinese version, Douyin.

Perhaps the most popular combination? Social media and commerce. “In China people are used to the commercialised version of social media entertainment, and do a lot of ecommerce and business through their apps,” says Lin.

On Douyin, for example, users can buy products directly from the app as they watch the shortform videos that creators post onto the platform – something TikTok in the West is mimicking through the introduction of integration with online shopping platform Shopify, launched in October 2020. WeChat, which is often described solely as a chat app, is far more: it’s also a payment platform and a way to keep up to date with friends.

The reason superapps have become so popular in China is simple, says Zhao. “People feel it’s really convenient to have every part of their life organised by social media platforms and superapps,” she says. “From shopping online to hailing taxis, socialising with friends and meeting up with strangers, everything you can do within one app.”

This kind of approach requires handing over more data to link up disparate systems into a single, convenient place for users – something that not everyone might be comfortable with. But experts believe that the demographics are on the side of app developers. “Younger users will accept it quicker than the older generations, who are a little bit wary,” says Ouwehand. “They value convenience over privacy.”

Western companies are taking note. Platforms like Facebook have begun to bring various features and services under a single umbrella: in recent years, Facebook has integrated online video (Facebook Watch) and shopping (Facebook Marketplace) into its core social network. Instagram, owned by Facebook, has added TikTok-like shortform repeating videos, called Instagram Reels, in recent months, and also has a connection with Shopify so fans of influencers can buy products their favourites wear directly in the app..

“I’m seeing more and more companies trying to add more features into their apps,” agrees Rui Ma, a Chinese tech expert based in Silicon Valley. “That’s probably the biggest overt move that looks a little bit more like Chinese tech.”

Enhanced moderation

But, behind the scenes, there are other differences that could also make meaningful change.

TikTok has been criticised for its approaches to disabled and overweight creators, whose videos it has been alleged to de-prioritise – a legacy of moderation policies drawn up by staff in China. The app says it has since redrawn its policies on moderation to accommodate a more open, less censorious Western taste and culture. (Read about how social media affects body image).

“What we know based on media reports indicates TikTok has very clear guidelines within their own company of what kind of content to promote, and what kind of content should be deleted or hidden from other users,” says Lin.

Yet despite localising its content moderation policies, TikTok remains much more proactive than Western social platforms in intervening where it sees potentially troubling content. The company’s September 2020 transparency report shows that, of the 104 million videos removed from TikTok in the first half of 2020, 90.3% were removed before they received any views – and 96.4% were taken down by the app itself, before being alerted to infringing content by another user.

Compare that to the content moderation policies of, say, YouTube. Until the coronavirus crisis compelled YouTube to rely far more on automated moderation rather than human intervention, the app lagged a little behind TikTok on its proactive takedowns of videos. In the three months between April and June 2020, the most recent data available, 95% of videos were taken down by “automated flagging”, though only 42% had no views before they were removed.

Algorithmic recommendations

Another way in which Chinese social media platforms are influencing Western ones is in how they present and filter information.

While Facebook and Twitter recommend posts based on what your friends are posting and sharing on your news feed, TikTok and other Chinese apps like it try to learn as much as it can about you, and then direct content to you they think you’ll like. “In China you see a lot of different platforms coming up that are way more focused on exploration, and here it’s a lot on your social circle,” says Ouwehand.

This model understands our preferences based on prior behaviour with videos we’ve already seen, rather than assuming our interests based on those we interact with or via our past search terms. It’s a meaningful difference that is shaping the way we consume information, and changes the economics of those creating the content.

Under the Chinese model of algorithmic exploration and recommendation, users are less beholden to the individual content creators they follow. On YouTube, for examples, big personalities have become celebrities because of their ability to build a loyal fanbase. But on TikTok, anyone can become a star overnight because of a single video that proves popular with the app’s algorithm – and that fame can disappear almost as quickly when the next big video is surfaced through the app’s code.

Given how popular that strategy has been, it could signal a broader change among other social media platforms, as well.

The future of tech

If Chinese companies continue to play an increasingly influential role in tech, our online world could look very different by, say, 2030.

For one, it could be much more diversified than the Silicon Valley standard we still, largely, see now. And while Chinese apps are best-known right now, that could change. “It’s not just Chinese companies, but other companies in Asia,” says Zhao. “These regional giants might want to have a slice of the global market pie as well. We’re seeing Facebook and Google competing for a slice of the Asian market, but at the same time local giants are entering the US market as well.”

We might also see apps having an increased emphasis on localisation, something we already see with TikTok. “If you want to be a global company, you’re serving different consumers with different cultural tastes,” Zhao says.

And we may see Western products taking more of a lead from successful strategies or services out of China, and the rest of Asia. “That’s where the West is going to copy a lot,” says Ouwehand. “In terms of functionalities and the expansion of their own apps to do more.”

The future of technology in the next decade will certainly look a lot less like the Silicon Valley-designed ideal we’ve been used to in the last 20 years. But it seems likely it will evolve through small steps and minor influences – as evidenced through the way TikTok differs from Douyin, and the lag in changes in the Chinese version of the app making their way to the Western one.

This is, after all, how a globalised world works, Zhao says. “It’s an example of cross pollination. Doing business is always about drawing inspiration from each other,” she says.

California. Gli incendi hanno distrutto il sogno liberal democratico.

Giuseppe Sandro Mela.

2020-09-21.

«The California Dream turns into a nightmare»

«Catastrophic fires call for rethinking suburban NIMBYism. I must confess I’m biased»

«Caltrain is fun and a lifeline for some, but it’s hardly the California dream. Cars and trucks and things that go are»

«Daily life is more about finding the closest escape route in case of evacuation orders»

«Fossil-fueled wildfires have already set a new annual record, and fire season isn’t close to over. This year’s fires are more intense and more widespread, with over 2 million acres burned already, but they are no aberration. It is year four of catastrophic fires, and counting»

«Contrast that with California’s generally liberal outlook on life, and its relatively progressive institutions and politics»

«California leads the nation — and often the world — with everything from mileage standards for cars to its comprehensive climate policies. Its flagship emissions trading system covers 85% of all greenhouse gases, more than any other system of its kind»

«One lesson from all of this is the standard trope about global warming being a global problem. It is. No single state, no single nation, can solve it all»

«Another clear lesson is that we can’t go on like this»

«The American way of life is not up for negotiations. Period»

«By now, trucks have taken over political rallies and our roads»

«An even more consequential policy failure centers on California’s obsession with single-family homes and sprawling suburban subdivisions»

«Ever more single-family homes ever farther out put more and more people into harm’s way»

«The fact that the climate and affordable housing crises intersect makes the failure to act on a policy level all the more consequential»

«The self-driving electro-car, a perennial Silicon Valley obsession, isn’t it»

«It takes realizing the systemic consequences of our collective failure to act. It takes policy.»

«Truly addressing the problem, though, will take more than tinkering on the margins»

«addressing affordable housing, climate, and other environmental crises will take a radical rethinking of how and where we live»

«The current state, a near-constant multiple-alarm fire, surely isn’t it.»

* * * * * * *

La California ama considerarsi la Collettività più socialmente ed economicamente evoluta del mondo. Nel contempo si compiace di presentarsi come il culmine del’evoluzione umana, esempio paramount da imitarsi riverenti.

Peccato soltanto che da anni sia afflitta da incendi susseguenti, che stanno semplicemente arrostendo vasti tratti del suo territorio, causando enormi danni economici ed anche numerose morti. Il numero dei senzatetto è allarmante. Tutto il suo assetto sociale, politico ed economico ne uscirà sconquassato.

Nessuno aveva mai pensato a porre in atto nelle foreste le corsie frangifiamme, cosa nota fin dagli architetti romani. E neppure delle bocchette per l’acqua.

Sempre che gli incendi lascino ancora qualcosa in piedi, la California di domani sarà ben diversa da quella attuale, molto diversa.

*

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The California Dream Turns Into a Nightmare.

Catastrophic fires call for rethinking suburban NIMBYism.

I must confess I’m biased. The one year I spent in California, I couldn’t help but feel trapped. That’s what living in Silicon Valley without a driver’s license would do. Newlywed East Coast transplants attempt to navigate California by bike, bus, and train alone; hilarity ensues. (It didn’t help that Caltrain construction saw the two of us packing our clunky college bikes onto the front of the bus heading into San Francisco almost every weekend morning to explore city life.)

California, of course, is about possibility, freedom, exploring the big outdoors. Caltrain is fun and a lifeline for some, but it’s hardly the California dream. Cars and trucks and things that go are.

Fast forward two decades. The underlying California dream hasn’t changed. Meanwhile, nobody currently is worrying about exploring much of anything — city or outdoors. Daily life is more about finding the closest escape route in case of evacuation orders.

Fossil-fueled wildfires have already set a new annual record, and fire season isn’t close to over. This year’s fires are more intense and more widespread, with over 2 million acres burned already, but they are no aberration. It is year four of catastrophic fires, and counting.

Contrast that with California’s generally liberal outlook on life, and its relatively progressive institutions and politics. California leads the nation — and often the world — with everything from mileage standards for cars to its comprehensive climate policies. Its flagship emissions trading system covers 85% of all greenhouse gases, more than any other system of its kind. The European Union’s barely covers half of its carbon emissions alone. Sweden, oft-lauded for its high carbon tax, exempts all industry covered by the EU’s system.

One lesson from all of this is the standard trope about global warming being a global problem. It is. No single state, no single nation, can solve it all. (Hence, the importance for the U.S. to remain — or, more likely, rejoin — the Paris Agreement on climate change, and then some.)

Another clear lesson is that we can’t go on like this. Easy to say this, I realize, sitting in my 750 square feet in New York, but yes, perhaps the suburban dream has always been just that: a dream that can only remain without consequences as long as we stay asleep at the wheel.

Before even the first global climate negotiations, in the lead-up to the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, President George H.W. Bush reportedly said, “The American way of life is not up for negotiations. Period.” Since then, of course, it has only gotten bigger and badder.

In the early 1990s, monster trucks were largely confined to eponymous rallies, with pollution largely affecting those who chose to attend. By now, trucks have taken over political rallies and our roads. (If you don’t drive an SUV, you must not like your children enough to want to protect them against the evils of the world, everyone else be damned.)

An even more consequential policy failure centers on California’s obsession with single-family homes and sprawling suburban subdivisions. Almost as predictable as wildfire season is the defeat of yet another attempt to allow for — shucks, encourage — building up, not just sideways.

Ever more single-family homes ever farther out put more and more people into harm’s way. It also locks in ever more carbon and other pollution, to say nothing of the enormous effects on nature and wildlife more broadly. It has always been clear that there are consequences to having everyone who can afford it live in as large a house, on as large a property, with as large a car as money could buy. The fact that the climate and affordable housing crises intersect makes the failure to act on a policy level all the more consequential.

I wish there were an easy technofix, unless one considered building houses on top of one another such a fix. (The self-driving electro-car, a perennial Silicon Valley obsession, isn’t it. If anything, it alone would simply encourage ever more driving and ever more development ever farther afield.) It takes realizing the systemic consequences of our collective failure to act. It takes policy.

There’s much to like about California, not least the fact that it is better equipped to deal with the devastating wildfires than most other places. Its politics may yet align sometime soon to come around on a set of much-needed “YIMBY” — “Yes, in my backyard” — housing bills.

Truly addressing the problem, though, will take more than tinkering on the margins. You don’t have to go all the way to arguing for “one billion Americans” to realize that addressing affordable housing, climate, and other environmental crises will take a radical rethinking of how and where we live. The current state, a near-constant multiple-alarm fire, surely isn’t it.

Silicon Valley. La pronta risposta al sexual harassment.

Giuseppe Sandro Mela.

2017-12-14.

Si voglia o meno, le femmine sono decorative, ovviamente se belle e ben curate. Le femmine ben lo sanno, e come sempre succede, tutto ha un prezzo.

Nella Silicon Valley scorrono fiumi di denaro, specialmente di denaro pubblico sotto forma di commesse, finanziamenti di ricerca e rivoli vari. E le giovani femmine sono sensori sensibilissimi al denaro: hanno il fiuto di un setter. Lo localizzano anche se ottimamente mimetizzato al fisco ed ai pubblicani.

*

Sì, d’accordo: in Silicon Valley tutti sono liberal democratici, ma non intendono per questo privarsi della presenza muliebre. Le colleghe meglio tenerle alla larga: se si guadagna più di trecentomila dollari l’anno se ne troverà sempre qualcuna disposta ad affermare piangendo che fu molestata in ascensore da un bruto maschilista che aveva guardato con insistenza i suoi glutei, fatto che la aveva poi turbata per oltre quindici anni, facendole perdere molte occasioni nella sua lunga carriera di excort.

Ma il liberal democratici sono pratici e fantasiosi.

«“Ambiance and atmosphere models” contractually obligated to pretend they’re party guests are in record demand from local agencies»

*

«Along with a seemingly endless string of harassment and discrimination scandals, Silicon Valley’s homogeneity has a more trivial side effect: boring holiday parties»

*

«Local modeling agencies, which work with Facebook- and Google-size companies as well as much smaller businesses and the occasional wealthy individual, say a record number of tech companies are quietly paying $50 to $200 an hour for each model hired solely to chat up attendees»

*

«he company, which she wouldn’t name, has handpicked the models based on photos, made them sign nondisclosure agreements, and given them names of employees to pretend they’re friends with, in case anyone asks why he’s never seen them around the foosball table.»

*

«So far this year, his models have been asked to dress up in outfits based on The Price Is Right and like Elizabethan nobles or forest nymphs to accommodate a slightly confused medieval theme.»

*

«Holiday parties have featured prominently in several harassment stories in recent months. As Bloomberg reported in November, prominent venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar allegedly slipped his hand up the leg of Austin Geidt, Uber’s then-head of global expansion, at the company’s 2014 holiday party. (He’s denied the allegations, and Geidt didn’t comment on them.)»

*

«Silicon Valley doesn’t have the best reputation.»

* * * * * * * *

Già: Silicon Valley non gode buona reputazione. È per queste che le ragazze fanno la fila e ne fanno di cotte e di crude per essere ammesse in quel ristrettissimo ambiente. Incastrare un Shervin Pishevar rende anche una milionata. Se a palpeggiare fosse stato un fattorino, sarebbe bastato un ceffone.

Tutte hanno firmato il protocollo di intesa, una sorta di consenso informato.

Liberal democratici, sì, va bene. Ma sprovvidi sicuramente no.

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→ Bloomberg. 2017-12-09. Silicon Valley Is Sneaking Models Into This Year’s Holiday Parties

“Ambiance and atmosphere models” contractually obligated to pretend they’re party guests are in record demand from local agencies.

*

Along with a seemingly endless string of harassment and discrimination scandals, Silicon Valley’s homogeneity has a more trivial side effect: boring holiday parties. A fete meant to retain all your talented engineers is almost certain to wind up with a rather same-y crowd, made up mostly of guys. At this year’s holiday parties, however, there’ll be a surprising influx of attractive women, and a few pretty men, mingling with the engineers. They’re being paid to.

Local modeling agencies, which work with Facebook- and Google-size companies as well as much smaller businesses and the occasional wealthy individual, say a record number of tech companies are quietly paying $50 to $200 an hour for each model hired solely to chat up attendees. For a typical party, scheduled for the weekend of Dec. 8, Cre8 Agency LLC is sending 25 women and 5 men, all good-looking, to hang out with “pretty much all men” who work for a large gaming company in San Francisco, says Cre8 President Farnaz Kermaani. The company, which she wouldn’t name, has handpicked the models based on photos, made them sign nondisclosure agreements, and given them names of employees to pretend they’re friends with, in case anyone asks why he’s never seen them around the foosball table.

“The companies don’t want their staff to be talking to someone and think, Oh, this person was hired to socialize with me,” says Kermaani, who’s sending models to seven tech parties in the same weekend.

While this sounds crazy after a year packed with harrowing stories of sexual harassment, abuse, and discrimination—a tidal wave that started in San Francisco, with Uber Technologies Inc.—it’s part of an older trend. Tech companies have long used models to run their booths at trade shows such as CES in Las Vegas, hype up crowds at product launches, and direct foot traffic at conferences. That said, this year’s record-setting requests for the minglers, known as “ambiance and atmosphere models,” are a step beyond what the industry has seen before, says Chris Hanna, who’s run TSM Agency since 2004 and counts among his clients “one of the largest search engines in the world.”

“Traditionally, if I go back, say, over the last five years, if people requested these types of models, it was more for specific responsibilities,” Hanna says. “ ‘Be a hostess.’ ‘Show them the elevator.’ Now they’re trending more toward the fun, the atmosphere.” That includes costume parties, he says. So far this year, his models have been asked to dress up in outfits based on The Price Is Right and like Elizabethan nobles or forest nymphs to accommodate a slightly confused medieval theme.

The agencies say clothing stipulations help them screen for ulterior motives. Olya Ishchukova, chief executive officer of Models in Tech, says she frequently rejects company requests for cleavage and short-shorts. When a client recently asked for Pink Panther-themed latex bodysuits, “I pretty much explained to him that this is not what we do—and that could actually hurt his business” if the public found out, she says. She turned down the gig.

Ishchukova says she prefers not to send models on atmosphere jobs without specific tasks such as checking coats or serving food. Such tasks help remind everyone “they’re there for work, and nothing extra is going to happen,” she says. Hanna’s agency is among those with a zero-drinks rule for models on the job. Most models’ contracts say they won’t exchange contact information with party guests, and that gets tougher to handle with grace when they’re legally bound to pretend they’re guests, too.

The guests, of course, are generally less restrained. Holiday parties have featured prominently in several harassment stories in recent months. As Bloomberg reported in November, prominent venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar allegedly slipped his hand up the leg of Austin Geidt, Uber’s then-head of global expansion, at the company’s 2014 holiday party. (He’s denied the allegations, and Geidt didn’t comment on them.)

Vox Media Inc. is limiting employees to two drinks apiece at its Dec. 12 holiday party to curb “unprofessional behavior,” but so far it’s the exception. Cre8’s Kermaani visits the startups herself to get a read on the environment and her models’ safety. “If somebody is creepy toward me, and I’m the owner of the company, I can guarantee they’ll be creepy to the models,” she says. “Silicon Valley doesn’t have the best reputation.”