Skip to main content

Threads privacy policies reveal need for better development best practices

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog, StringN. No Comments on Threads privacy policies reveal need for better development best practices

HUNGRY, HUNGRY HIPPO Now that the first few heady weeks of Threads’ existence are giving way to the cold, harsh reality of long-term use, we’re beginning to get a better look at what lies underneath. And what we’re seeing – at least from the perspective of end-user privacy – merits additional discussion, because Threads collects significantly more data than competing apps in the microblogging space. While apps like Twitter, Mastodon, Hive Social, and Bluesky all have their own privacy policies, all of them are far less aggressive in their data collection.  It’s...

Continue reading

As business concerns over AI ethics continue to worsen, new best practices emerge

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on As business concerns over AI ethics continue to worsen, new best practices emerge

EARLY AND BUGGY Since ChatGPT was first made available for public consumption in late 2022, it has served as the poster child for the generative AI revolution. It has also become something of a proving ground for millions of AI newbies still trying to figure out how all of this applies to them. But like any new technology, it comes with its own dark side. AI chatbots tend to “hallucinate”. Also known as going rogue, they can just as easily return outright lies the longer we interact with them. These imperfections are largely based on the fact that their training methods often...

Continue reading

Cybersecurity budgets fail to keep pace with intensifying threat landscape

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog, StringN. No Comments on Cybersecurity budgets fail to keep pace with intensifying threat landscape

INFRASTRUCTURE INCREASINGLY UNDER THREAT The Suncor attack reflects the accelerating vulnerability of organizations in the infrastructure space – see Colonial Pipeline and JBS Foods for earlier examples of high-profile ransomware events that resulted in widespread consumer impact. It also comes on the heels of a warning from the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS) that the oil and gas sector is increasingly being targeted by opportunistic cybercriminals. Barely two months ago, the Globe & Mail newspaper reported on pro-Russian claims that...

Continue reading

Is Meta Threads a Twitter killer? The answer may surprise you.

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Is Meta Threads a Twitter killer? The answer may surprise you.

REWRITING THE LANDSCAPE Meta bills Threads as a new app “for sharing tech updates and joining public conversations.” At first glance, it looks a lot like a mashup of Twitter and Instagram. The visual language is all Instagram, while the functions are reminiscent of early-days Twitter – before the bots, the trolls, and the Elon Musk-imposed daily usage limits. None of this is a surprise given how Meta itself describes Threads: “Instagram is where billions of people around the world connect over photos and videos. Our vision with Threads is to take what Instagram does...

Continue reading

Seize control as tech sector layoffs reshape talent management roadmaps

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Seize control as tech sector layoffs reshape talent management roadmaps

A POST-PANDEMIC RIGHTSIZING As we shared last year, none of this comes as a surprise. Much of the current layoff trend is less dire than it might seem. Rather than clouds gathering on the horizon, it is more akin to a structural realignment as the economy slowly emerges from the pandemic. As COVID first took hold in March 2020, many tech companies found themselves slammed by spiking demand for services from suddenly homebound customers. Amazon, for example, had to hire hundreds of thousands of new people to handle deliveries, and to staff their warehouses to manage the crush of...

Continue reading

Meta to end news in Canada after Online News Act becomes law

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Meta to end news in Canada after Online News Act becomes law

AN HISTORIC SHIFT – AND ITS CONSEQUENCES It’s no secret that traditional media outlets have struggled in recent years as tech firms – largely web and social media giants like Google and Meta – have taken over the advertising market. Consumer habits have moved online, and revenues that once flowed exclusively to traditional newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations have shifted to digital platforms. Along the way, tech platforms have been indexing, linking to, and cross-posting news content, then selling ads against the resulting traffic. Media platforms pay to create the content,...

Continue reading

Artificial Intelligence glossary: the top 15 definitions you need to know

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Artificial Intelligence glossary: the top 15 definitions you need to know

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE DEFINITION Algorithm “An algorithm is a procedure used for solving a problem or performing a computation. Algorithms act as an exact list of instructions that conduct specified actions step by step in either hardware- or software-based routines.” Source: TechTarget Artificial Intelligence (AI) “At its simplest form, artificial intelligence is a field, which combines computer science and robust datasets, to enable problem-solving. It also encompasses sub-fields of machine learning and deep learning, which are frequently mentioned in conjunction with...

Continue reading

Apple Vision Pro won’t break sales records – but it will still change computing

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Apple Vision Pro won’t break sales records – but it will still change computing

THINKING – AND ACTING – BEYOND IPHONE Let’s be clear: Apple needs to wean itself off of its iPhone habit. Last year, 52% of Apple’s revenue of $394.3 billion USD came from iPhone sales. While this is down from previous years – as the company has successfully launched the Apple Watch, AirPods, and its growing ecosystem of services, among others – it still leaves the company vulnerable to slowing growth in smartphone-related revenues. And make no mistake: that growth is already headed south. IDC recently revised its global handset sales projections for 2023...

Continue reading

Developers are already using ChatGPT to write code and save time. Should you?

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Developers are already using ChatGPT to write code and save time. Should you?

JACK OF ALL TRADES, MASTER OF… In the months since ChatGPT was released to the public, millions of users worldwide have rolled up their sleeves to see what it can do. In addition to writing articles and term papers, it can compose music and poetry, play trivia games, update your resume, generate recipes, tweak your fitness plan, solve math problems, and even plan a birthday party. It can also generate code. Or tweak existing code. Or debug it. Which understandably makes software developers nervous. After all, if anyone can ask a bot to write code, what happens to the...

Continue reading

DeSantis campaign launch livestream meltdown reaffirms Twitter’s tech decline

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on DeSantis campaign launch livestream meltdown reaffirms Twitter’s tech decline

BIG HOPES, DASHED What should have been a 21st century digital political coming out party quickly turned into an unmitigated technological meltdown as Twitter’s servers failed under the load of an estimated 600,000 visitors. The plan was for Elon Musk to introduce the Florida governor in a Twitter Space virtual livestream, then have DeSantis take the stage and announce his bid. But it quickly devolved into a string of glitchy audio as Musk and his team wrestled with technology that refused to cooperate. After about 20 minutes, Twitter pulled the plug on the livestream. When...

Continue reading