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How AIM, the original killer app, reshaped the internet

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Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan for Fast Company:

Though its official sunsetting in 2017 inspired many nostalgic blogs about the chat service, it’s safe to say AIM’s legacy is still very much alive in the apps we use every day—and in the contours of the internet at large.

A great recap of the rise and fall of AIM, AOL’s instant messaging service that changed the web forever.

I have so many great memories of AIM. It came up during time time in high school and into college so this was the way my friends and I stayed in touch pre-social networks. There are still some ongoing disputes about who holds the record for longest AIM uptime…

Mike Norvell Introductory Press Conference

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FSU isn’t great at coaching searches. This is their 4th coach in nearly 40 years! A lot of times after a coach is fired, their replacement is essentially the polar opposite of the person who was just let go. I think the administration did a good job of getting someone who had the best qualities that Taggart embodied while also correcting for his unorganized, players-coach style.

An intro press conference doesn’t tell you a lot other than how good of a salesman the new coach is, but he said all of the things you’d want him to say.

I’m really excited to see what sort of staff Norvell puts together and what the next few years look like. 2020 is gonna be rough, but after that I anticipate a turnaround.

How do I protect my online privacy from ‘surveillance capitalism’?

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A great overview of what you should be worried about on the web when it comes to your data and what folks can do with it. If you really want to dive in on this, the linked article from the EFF really expands on the ideas. As the author states above, I’m also not opposed to advertising in principle. What I’m opposed to is the massive amount of personalized data companies gather about me to deliver mediocre ads that are not any better than those you might get in a non-targeted way.

How Ring Went From ‘Shark Tank’ Reject to America’s Scariest Surveillance Company

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Source: How Ring Went From ‘Shark Tank’ Reject to America’s Scariest Surveillance Company – VICE

Amazon’s Ring started from humble roots as a smart doorbell company called “DoorBot.” Now it’s surveilling the suburbs and partnering with police.

I’m definitely more interested in what HomeKit Secure Video will look like …. from iMore:

When you have security cameras in your home, the footage captured by these cameras will be highly personal and sensitive. You wouldn’t want these recordings to fall into the wrong hands. With HomeKit Secure Video enabled, all of your security camera footage gets end-to-end encryption before it is securely uploaded and stored in iCloud.

Facebook Gives Workers a Chatbot to Appease That Prying Uncle

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From Facebook Gives Workers a Chatbot to Appease That Prying Uncle:

What if Mom or Dad accused the social network of destroying democracy? Or what if they said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, was collecting their online data at the expense of privacy?

If you’re having to create a chatbot to handle this sort of thing, you might need to look at the underlying cause, not creating a PR answer bot.

Google’s smart home ecosystem is a complete mess

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From CNET:

While Google might argue its new system will be good for users in the long run, the fact remains that customers spent money on a product, and Google is taking that product out of customers' hands and replacing it with something different. In effect, Google just unplugged many of its users' smart homes, all while asking them to kindly move into a new, Google Assistant-branded tenement. In the long run, Google assures us, things will get better. Its track record with killing products doesn't inspire confidence.

I found myself nodding my head a ton while reading this article. I’m moving to Alexa/Sonos over the next few months.

Hey, Siri (and minimum wage contractors) … 

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From: Siri records fights, doctor’s appointments, and sex (and contractors hear it) | Ars Technica

These cases bring up a series of questions. What can Apple and its colleagues do to better protect user privacy as they develop their voice systems? Should users be notified when their recordings are reviewed? What can be done to reduce or eliminate the accidental activations? How should the companies handle the accidental information that its contractors overhear? Who is responsible when dangerous or illegal activity is recorded and discovered, all by accident?

Now it looks like your Siri voice recordings can be heard by contractors roughly 1% of the time.

I think my issue with all of this is that it’s not opt-in other than the “by using this software you agree to …” BS all tech companies shove down our throat. I think one solution to this problem would be to allow users to opt-in to have humans review your recordings as long as they are properly anonymized. There’s still a chance an accidental wake word could trigger some of the scenarios mentioned in the article but at least give folks the ability to make decisions about how much they want to contribute to making these voice assistants better.

I’ve turned off the “raise to talk to Siri” on my watch long ago but we do have Google Home devices in our house and “Hey Siri” is still activated on my phone. I could shut off the wake word functionality on my phone but I’m not even sure you can do that with the Google Homes. I’ll be honest, I’m starting to lean toward yanking most of the voice assistant stuff out of my house in favor of dumb speakers hooked up to Chromecasts or maybe just going full Sonos (although that has it’s own privacy issues).

Update: Looks like Apple is halting the program for now and will be adding a way to disable this in the future. Good for them.

Revisiting the iconography of Apple Maps – Mercury Intermedia – Medium

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I just got done reading Revisiting the iconography of Apple Maps and it scratched every design nerd itch I could ask for. For example, here’s a breakdown of the color grouping changes over time in the app’s icons:

There’s a ton more like this and it’s really worth checking out. I’m not an Apple Maps user all the time but I do think it’s the best looking and cleanest solution out there.