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Is Gen Z’s At Fault for Feeling Isolated by Culture and Tech?

Clickford, Steven M.Leave a comment

Gen Z (the folks born after 1995) are totally connected than any other generation before, even if they are not technically ept in terms of the components of computing, networking etc.

This is also the same generation that has a higher suicide rate than previous generations, and despite their parents (the infamous GenXers whose pride was adulting at an earlier age); GenZers are not driving or getting a car right at 16.

GenZers are also exposed to the same GenXers, the same parents who are the Karen-types; and this generation are extremely overprotective. These people are anti-progressives, they are anti maskers, anti vaxxers, anti science, and anti anything after 1989.

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The issues between DevOps and General Enterprise Technology

Clickford, Steven M.

In the Facebook outage, it reminded people that you can’t trust a company which thinks they have only a few million users, when they don’t accept they work for a trillion dollar enterprise. This meaning that Facebook’s servers and services are more consumer-class than enterprise class or worse the braintrust is very weak.

It’s important to note, that even though the Internet Protocol is in itself a software stack (think of this as an “extension” or “driver”), but software engineering, web apps, etc., is in itself a different skillset. People who have used Microsoft’s Windows Server solutions really do not know much about IP networking. For many years, the Server editions came with a DHCP server, how many of the Microsoft certified admins know more about DHCP other than it gives IP address at the local level to get out onto “the Internet? I have suspected about VOIP deployments in the past, where NT admins didn’t understand “DHCP options” and alike because you know it’s more important to manage an Active Directory.

Look at Microsoft’s own VOIP systems, it fell shorter beyond Cisco’s Unified Call Manager, and obviously the Avaya, Nortel, Mitel or Shortels of the world. It’s sad when a Cisco can do better. This has a lot to do with Microsoft’s DNA of everything being software and talking to Microsoft’s own blueprint. Anything that routes outside a data center of an in house, on prem Microsoft solution is something Microsoft doesn’t get, and their software shows it. If it has to hit a Cisco, or needs to interact with a Cisco IOS, well good luck to that.

The Session Initiation Protocol part of Voice over IP was yet another rip-off from the traditional telephony, and was created by application people, since SIP was based off the Web standards or HTTP technically speaking if it’s a device talking to another machine. In a lot of ways SIP was designed almost like cell phones because a telephone number is basically a URL, and when you hear the “dial tone” it’s a fake noise to assure the user to replicate it’s a phone. Because the people who developed SIP didn’t understand enterprise voice systems, its basically like a landline with all the 19 potential features you could add on to your home hardwired or broadband phone service, because the people who likely created it looked at their POTS phone and assumed the same.

What a bunch of assholes to make an ass out of themselves.

Understanding software and an imaginary world is the worst thing to have in DevOps, of which is the new IT department fusing move-fast-and-break things punky coders, and wife beating sysadmins who hate change, but preach it to their “end users” or “lusers”. It’s kinda ironic that either type of man typically lacks software of another sorts, people. Understanding people. The IT world needs to be reformed to really not be the evil world to their fellow employees, and they need to stop jacking off to the C-suite, to help them save money by cutting jobs to their own people. This kinda goes full circle of the way money and influence is killing society with Facebook and their technical approach. If you are building a social network, that isn’t based on empathy, you are certainly going to cause rift amongst the people who are using your service.

On Facebook’s Outage…

Clickford, Steven M.

I am not going to be the asshole tech pundit who trashes others for not knowing things like Border Gateway Protocol, or what have you.

I mean seriously, who at the Facebook’s technical staff even know what BGP stands for? Or any server administration period.

I am talking about the Facebook outage that occurred on Monday morning – the morning after the whistle blower appeared on 60 Minutes. There was little clarity whether it was a Distributed Denial of Service attacks (or DDOS – yes I capitalize the “O” because I find mixed capitals in initials to be tacky) or just a simple routing issue. It turns out, according to their blog post in response to the outage

“Our engineering teams have learned that configuration changes on the backbone routers that coordinate network traffic between our data centers caused issues that interrupted this communication. This disruption to network traffic had a cascading effect on the way our data centers communicate, bringing our services to a halt.” From Facebook’s engineering blog

Where is the PR to help gel out vague languages such as a “configuration change”… that even though I am not technical, I would certainly test things before applying (but that would violate the Move Fast and Break Things ethos.)

I’ve had a theory that coders were very narrowminded groups of people who don’t know much about networking, much like how networking guys took a literal backwards view on telephony.

Or that coders have basic views of networking, that is no different than a gamer or a YouTube influencer.

This is sad if a large trillion dollar enterprise is acting like a bro startup at a scrappy office building. It’s been confirmed that Facebook’s corporate hierarchy is “flat” according to the whistle blower speaking to Congress this week. It’s not a surprise and coders see the world as flat (maybe they are flat-earthers!)

Facebook’s own computing (of which they do, and not use Google or Microsoft or Amazon), is not just their own farm, but they had built their own bare computers, without standard rack hardware, just sitting out in the open, using open source software along with their wacky hardware designs. Facebook’s software however, should be concerning if the underlying code is basic Linux code, and if Linux servers are acting as routers, they typically are not intended to be built to handle billions of users.

This is really, really bad, if Facebook’s routing is as shallow as a home gamer with consumer grade equipment or consumer grade networking settings. This consumer mindset should alarm enterprises of any size because IP networking and routing is more than just from going in and out.

If you want to be the next Facebook, it’s likely logical you should consider Software Defined Networking, just make sure it’s built for scale and built for serious environments. Facebook’s very casual and reckless approach for managing their systems should also be a wake up call for aspiring web disrupters.

Pondering Thoughts: Facebook Profiles for Business in 2021

Clickford, Steven M.

This is a pet-peeve of me. Everyone else preaches to follow any platform’s Terms of Service. I think somewhere on Facebook’s TOS, you can’t use a profile for a business. I’m too lazy to read legalese that has more words than The Bill of Rights.

I see this very often in some select New Hampshire business owners, that are the majority of the population. Female. Older than 30. Maybe single. I think I know who to blame. That demographic. Unless they had a bad luck with guys or what, I don’t understand why the hell they can use Facebook Pages (which has been the defacto standard for Small Enterprises since I think 2009) and despite it’s complexity, it’s better for a business to be a page.

Another issue by separating you from the business is key. A person cannot be a business and a business cannot be a person from a corporate governance perspective. No wonder why if small business had to list on a stock market, they’d be put out of business with SOX violations.

Alright, that was too far, but most often people befriend individuals and not businesses. And that has been the defacto standard since Pages’ existence. I wonder if there is a bigger picture issue that maybe it’s not PC to talk about. Perhaps our media outlets like WMUR-TV Manchester, WZID Manchester, maybe the statewide newspaper has given men under 40 a bad rap as they are apparently sex offenders and creeps, and the two broadcast outlets in Manch tend to favor female audience? Males are the minorities in this state, and sadly the messaging that WMUR-TV and WZID over the years have given false female empowerment by making *professional relationships* harder, and some of the ladies I see on Facebook profiles just clearly shows an apparent social vulernabilities  that shouldn’t even be one to begin with.

In short, stop aiding and abetting Facebook’s total “users” and move your business “profile” to a Facebook fan-page. Businesses can’t be on Facebook, except for the Pages. So do that now, because your super-corrupt-but-private “profile” is a violation to Facebook’s TOS. Period. Full Stop.

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A Facebook Update

Clickford, Steven M.

Over the last 3 days, I’ve taken time off to “disconnect” from online from other-people’s-issues to divisive political postings, and other people’s successes I will never have. I know that I may had put an emotional burden to others especially in the last month or even before Christmas. Some have not accepted my befriend request perhaps because of my demeanor that I never had full awareness of lacking self controls on emotions until 2016. I am also disconnecting from technology because I am tired of feeling like others are entitled for immediate response of me, feeling a bit exploited and will not tolerate that in the go-forward basis.

My life is going on a severe change to a new definition. As a result I will not be using Facebook the way I have. Given the really dicey corporate in-governance of the company, and how they lock you in as always signed on, I am getting creeped out. I also don’t feel it’s best that I am on and depress others while I am in a heightened stress. Also I feel it’s highly unhealthy to have Facebook-friends and empty promises.

AS A RESULT. I AM NOT CLOSING DOWN MY FACEBOOK. I am not falling onto a bandwagon of pissing on social media and looking all good by saying “I deactivated my Facebook and never looked back” attitude. I will not be as active on the social platform. This also means, that Messenger conversations may not be answered immediately. 

The Primary and Official Facebook profile is steven-dot-clickford-dot-7 (replace “dot” with periods) will be the official place to find me online. Like I said, I will not be as active as I used to. Over time Instagram and other platforms will slowly be less active.

I still believe in the concept of social networking and social media in the long run, it’s the platforms that owns the entire industry that is the concern.

I am also on the awareness that I may not have meaningful relationships – at all. I have to radically accept that and move on. I may have to settle with Facebook-friends as a poor man’s “friendship”.

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Facebook Pages – Are You Being Screwed?

Clickford, Steven M.

On January 15th, Facebook did a major change that was announced last year to deemphasize Facebook pages and more content from your friends and family on your News Feed. For anyone who operates Facebook “pages” (the ones where you have to “Like” and/or “Follow”) had been screwed over. Especially when Facebook didn’t give Page Admins directions on getting their content to be top priority.

While Facebook Pages may mean little to some, it may be worth to others.

“Facebook pages” ofter are blurred between the lines of a fully public profile or a page where it’s not for “friends” and is used for business (meaning you can use the metrics and convoluted metering system for hits, likes, reax, etc.) For the purposes of the article, “profiles” are not “Pages” and the former is a befriend system while the latter is a “Like” and “Follow” system.

Nearly nine years ago, this was introduced for celebrities, ranging from A to C-list, to small businesses to “brands” and enterprises. Prior to there was no real way for a business to be on Facebook. In fact smaller towns and communities who lived on business on a seven-digit telephone number, that never got a website, and some refused to go on the email way, would jump into the 21st Century using Facebook pages.

If you are a page administrator to a business or a brand or use Pages for your own branding, you got screwed on January 15th.

Controversy on Facebook’s News Feed goes as far back as when Facebook became open for non university users. The reason why Facebook deemphasized Facebook pages on the News Feed may had something to do with a potential conflict in the 2016 Election, or just simply experimenting on their users. To me this is highly unethical.

And I do not want to blame the user, while some snooty Computer Scientist would probably do. Sure the writing was on the wall (no pun) and it was announced during Facebook’s developers conference last year, but small business owners and content creators ranging from old tech vlogs to cosplay models have no time to be reading on the corporate blog or page admin relations and stuff like that to be educated. For them this is a slap on the face.

For me I think out of the last eleven years I’ve been on and off Facebook, I’ve spent many as a page admin for various things. Part of it I felt at one point in my life I didn’t have a face for Facebook and I still struggle with a weak social network in real life.

I do not think this will hurt Facebook’s bottom line, the stock may not hit a bump for a few more quarters if revenues from the pages business starts to crumble. While Facebook has admitted that their fears came true of a unruly society wether it’s in the “real world” or packet-based world, I would say “guns don’t kill, people with guns do”, or fatty foods don’t kill you, the person whose eating them do. Facebook users make Facebook unattractive for many. The people on social media who are exploiting the negativity should be blamed. Where is the computer scientists when you need them to pass the buck?

I do wonder if FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google) are going to be the next Railroads of the New Millennium. The Railroad industry peaked in the early 1900s or a number of reasons, disruptions in technology and plain ol stupidity. The Tech Crash of 2000 was no less than people wanting to get rich quick, and Facebook can be more valuable, if they respect our privacy if people are willing to pay for value added services to ensure your privacy because storing stuff on the Internet doesn’t come free and it isn’t created like water.

These companies are large in power and market cap so therefore, they can do whatever the hell they want. Digital companies do not play by the traditional norms of industrial companies. That’s another discussion for another day, however I would be very careful of putting capital in FAANG only because stupidity is their true disruptor.

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Content Neturality

Clickford, Steven M.

For so many years, the hoopla was the “evil” ISPs and how they have charged customers or throttled their Internet traffic because they are subsidizing big companies. The theoretical, but unconfirmed claim that “a future Facebook” cannot be created under the current climate of the free market system. Laws created by the Obama administration lead to a “Net Neutrality” regulations that the large Internet Service Providers had opposed to.

To make it simple, it would enable ISPs to not discriminate traffic, and allow people to use the Internet for whatever they wanted. Especially if the ISP is unable to handle the out of control nature since after all various apps use various “ports” (like pipe valves), and the Internet travels from one ISP to another (splitting valves) and most of the “speeds” the ISP touts is at the “last mile” (those metallic boxes with a power meter) that could range from five customers to over a hundred possibly sharing that same fiber optic link. It’s at this point where it converts to coaxial to your house. Since routers and switches are like computers moving files from one network to another; such anarchy could put the networks at risk for failure, crashes, etc.

This is an simplified definition.

But that is not the problem. The problem lies on the content providers. This includes social networks like Facebook, and social media sites like Facebook, Google’s YouTube, Twitter, Facebook’s Instagram, etc.

Creativity is at greater risk, not getting your download faster than you wished. Internet content companies have gotten to the point where they are a major media platform. As a result, these argumentatively newer mainstream media platforms is bound by the standards set by lawyers these days. Also these companies are picking and choosing who will be the next social media star.

YouTube has departed in so many ways away from their Broadcast Yourself  days. YouTube originally created in a Silicon Valley pizza shop, on the second floor, originally had webcam content from users. While some took advantage and exploited the ability to post old and vintage TV programs, and very frivolous clips like station IDs and promos – these were in the eyes of lawyers for at least a couple of years. Very early on, lawyers for CBS was very fixated on taking down a number of very whimsical promos from WCBS-TV in the mid 1970s, the WCBS-TV Celebrates New York campaign. (The cynical side of me thinks it wasn’t because of “infringements” but moreover that they were ordered by the suits to cover up better content unlike what airs on CBS 2 New York today.) Worse, Viacom, owned by the long time geriatric Summer Redstone, had not agreed to a license agreement about a decade ago and forced YouTube to remove any Viacom-owned content for a number of years.

Then came 2015 and 2016.

Copyright laws were changing for the worse; Happy Birthday is still copyrighted even though the original songwriters passed away many, many ages ago. Pandora was under pressure to pay more royalties, and with the advancements of artificial intelligence and algorithms brought new things to “content creators”. Content ID.

This means, that virtually any song that isn’t open sourced under Creative Commons or an actual public domain song can be used in multimedia in the social media world. For many years, YouTube and Facebook would remind users before uploading to not post “copyrighted” content; but a vast majority of decent users would use the “fair use” defense, if there is even such.

Facebook started to implement this last year and typically you get a cutesy statement of a failed upload stating that such work “that belongs to someone else”. And recently, Facebook even identifies the music. YouTube will now flag any audio it can figure out and ether ban it altogether by muting the audio (typically if it’s a Warner label); take away ad revenue on that particular video and the money goes to the artist/label (that’s fine), or depending on the country you live in, ban it by your IP address.

This makes the digital rights management the icing on the cake if you are a lazy executive in Hollywood, since Hollywood doesn’t want people to do anything but watch or listen to the work at home.

The original intent of copyright was to encourage creativity by building upon [within reason] with the intent to respect the artist. And this is where ASCAP and BMI is supposed to come in, but with the recent changes to a now global rights system, it may only be the third world where they could hear works, and the developing nations will be banned.

Hollywood likes to make movies targeting Wall Street or anything to do with capitalism, but their actions sure as hell make them do everything they condone in the film and TV space.

But far reaching copyright rules isn’t the only problem, it’s the simple idea to get “seen and heard”; it is very hard build a Facebook page and try to drill down on all the data to see who is following you, where they are, how they landed on you, what did they search,what did they click, etc. YouTube is a little easier, but still too many drill downs and really the app-y interface makes my life a living hell as my CPU cycles go through the roof. And the cynical side of me thinks this is by design to enable people who have such tolerance to non user friendly interfaces to engage.

Facebook requires you to have a mobile number to add a handle. So yet another company has a number more vulnerable to ID theft than say my Social Security number. YouTube is even worse, in order to have a handle in the URL, I have to have at least 100 followers, plus the very high resolution “channel art” (which is larger than a 1080p TV screen) and that’s hard to scale to see on a desktop.

Social media providers are using criteria to see who will make it or not. And for the people who are doing it out of their hearts, is more of “work” than for fun, because of the inabilities a user can enjoy, if the rules were not so stringed.

The most recent example was Eli the Computer Guy, once a platform to learn IT skills. Many of his early videos going as far back as 2009 (and I discovered him in 2012) on 60 minute lessons on the said subjects. But he was in some identity crisis in 2014/15, then evolved to doing live shows, then went into the wilderness, to suddenly in early 2017 doing “Geek Sexy News”. Apparently in some of his live shows, he talked about the Baltimore saga, and some thin skinned “special snowflake”-type must’ve hit the trigger. He is a very successful YouTuber, with millions of views and hundreds of thousands of followers. For someone so successful, one hit shouldn’t take him down right?

Wrong!

In many of his 2016 videos, he had stated that he had sudden “purge” of followers; had to contact Google Corporate to resolve a single video that caused his entire YouTube page to be flagged; to the point where he went back to civilian level, having 15 minute limits of what he could post. The “Geek Sexy News” is now a result to Google’s immaturity of dealing with a high profile YouTuber who is punished to someone like your’s truly, just another guy on the web. Now how is that fair for him? While Eli could move forward with his Geek Sexy News portal; how many others can successfully move away from the chains of Google?

The question is can you? Well if you hate YouTube and Facebook so much, can you legally build your own platform? Well that problem goes back to copyright laws, the Digital Millenium Copyright Act; and the egregious lawyers that are involved in “protecting” the brands of Facebook, Instagram and YouTube alike. If I built a Facebook from a decade ago (the days when the profiles and pages didn’t act like apps), I probably would be taken down, because even if I “reversed engineered” how a Facebook type of service works; that’s most likely a violation of copyright or Intellectual Property laws.

While these companies have given in to Big Hollywood, they themselves do not want to see people move from another service, a service where hey – someone could pay and help a startup be more valuable as opposed to just a single source revenue. Even better, let the users upgrade to being a customer and pay a fee to store more stuff and allow to use copyrighted content without them having to go through the struggles of getting an ASCAP license.

Even if I banded together and took an opportunity of a new startup, it most likely would get squashed – by the IP bullies out west for most likely “stealing an idea” even though the idea isn’t well documented to be “copyrighted”.

The content providers are having the control of what content can be posted, allowed, what people can or cannot say; what they can or cannot be allowed to do, etc. And if you thought the Time Warners and AT&Ts were bad, all they are trying to do is make a buck on their investments of their Layer 4 and 5 routers and switches from years ago.

Even eBay has gotten so far from reality. But that will be it’s own story for it’s own day.

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