Cyber Insecurity — November 26, 2018

Don't let your self-worth be dictated by self-reflection alone; like a Black Mirror episode, China may require social credits to travel; what needs to happen before electric vehicles can take over the world; machine learning versus humans in digital ad campaigns — who won?; another retail bankruptcy, another ____; Facebook needs to stop digging; LinkedIn is going all Insta; traditional cable is hurting; are podcasts on track to kill radio?; Amazon suffered a dara breach before Black Friday; data scientists say marketers are clueless; Terry Gross' tips on how to talk to people; the podcast pick of the week may leave you with more questions than answers; and so much more in the Cyber Insecurity edition of The Full Monty for the week of November 26, 2018.

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Top Story

One of the stories in last week's Security section was about the Japanese cabinet minister in charge of cybersecurity who doesn't use a computer. Turns out it's worse: he doesn't understand cybersecurity either.

It got me to thinking about how we can misjudge our own abilities, both underestimating and overestimating ourselves.

Talented people don't use their strengths to their fullest, and often it's because we don't understand what we do well. Then again, if we're regularly giving and getting feedback, it should help to square us to reality.

Recognizing what we have and what we have to be thankful for are two ways of getting our heads around things. And when we're more generous, we're repaid in multiples.

Sometimes we need to prove to ourselves that we oughtn't be insecure.

I'll have more thoughts on this in my weekly dose of Timeless Wisdom (make sure you're signed up for that, okay?).

About this week's image: The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio depicts the scene in which Thomas, one of the disciples of Jesus, who said that he wouldn't believe in the resurrection unless he touched the wounds. This gave rise to the phrase 'doubting Thomas,' or a skeptic who needs firsthand experience before they'll believe something.

Artificial Intelligence / Autonomous

The latest in AI, machine learning, bots, and blockchain, mobility, and autonomous everything.
Aʀᴛɪꜰɪᴄɪᴀʟ Iɴᴛᴇʟʟɪɢᴇɴᴄᴇ / Mᴀᴄʜɪɴᴇ Lᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢ

China is using a dystopian system doling out 'social credits' to determine whom is eligible to travel. (BGR) If it sounds like a Black Mirror episode, it was: "Nosedive".
Google just launched new A.I.-powered algorithms that return answers as well as search results. (Futurism)
Countries need a national A.I. strategy in order to stay competitive. (Search Enterprise AI)
There’s much confusion surrounding artificial intelligence and machine learning. Here's the difference between A.I. and machine learning, explained. (The Next Web)
How UPS uses A.I. to deliver holiday gifts in the worst weather. UPS built an online platform called Network Planning Tools (NPT) that uses machine learning and analytics to help the company's engineers avoid bad weather and other issues as they route package deliveries. UPS expects to save $100-200 million per year. (MIT Technology Review)
As A.I.-building frameworks get open-sourced, DIY tinkerers use them for tasks like identifying plant diseases, automating dry-cleaning, making art, and more. (Wired)

Aᴜᴛᴏɴᴏᴍᴏᴜs / Mᴏʙɪʟɪᴛʏ

It's time for companies with programs to pool their self-driving data to accelerate the deployment of autonomous vehicles. (TechCrunch) Anonymized data is fine, so as not to give up any competitive advantage.
BMW is planning to launch ride-hailing services in China next month. (Reuters)
The U.K. will get self-driving taxis and buses by 2021. (Engadget) Specifically Scotland and some of London's outer boroughs. What, you didn't expect A.I. to have The Knowledge, did you?
Volvo's self-driving trucks have been promoted for a while; their first use will be for mining. (Venture Beat)
Raw materials, more charging options, and cheaper batteries are among the things that need to happen before electric vehicles take over the world. (The New York Times)

Communications / Marketing / Business Strategy

Industry developments and trends, including advertising & marketing, journalism, customer experience, content, and influencer relations.
Sᴛʀᴀᴛᴇɢʏ / Mᴀʀᴋᴇᴛɪɴɢ / Cᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ

A study from IPG Media Lab showed that digital ad campaigns optimized by machine learning tools outperformed campaigns managed by humans over the course of one month. (Axios) Uh oh. As if advertising and media agencies weren't already up against enough threats.
Some 71 percent of marketers undertake some form of personalization in their marketing activity, up from 62 percent last year. And 8 in 10 of them see results. (Marketing Charts)
How digitization affects TV ad sellers. (eMarketer)

Jᴏᴜʀɴᴀʟɪsᴍ / Cᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴs / Rᴇᴘᴜᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ

In today's world, most consumers think brands lie — and a company's transparency directly impacts sales. (Agility PR)
If you hate the media, you're more likely to be fooled by a fake headline. You’re also more likely to confuse news and opinion — but more likely to think you never need any help finding accurate information online. (Nieman Labs)

“The only reason people do not know much is because they do not care to know. They are incurious. Incuriosity is the oddest and most foolish failing there is.”

— Stephen Fry

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Retail Apocalypse

Humans are a transactional species, and the practice — if not the very notion of what retail is — is undergoing a historical metamorphosis.

Black Friday is the busiest time of the year for professional line sitters, who make up to $45 an hour. (Money) I had no idea this was a job. I could have been writing the newsletter from there. Or you could be supporting it on Patreon.
An anonymous man in Vermont called himself Santa Claus as he paid off everyone's layaway items in a local Walmart. (CNN)
Gap is looking at closing hundreds of underperforming stores that are hurting the brand. (Wall Street Journal)
David's Bridal is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it's — say it with me now — "saddled with hundreds of millions of dollars in debt from a private-equity buyout." (USA Today) When competing against newer players like Rent the Runway, it’s hard to see them thriving.
Who's the dominant player in ecommerce? If you said Amazon with its 300 million customers, you'd be wrong. It's Alibaba, with 618 million customers in its native China. (Forbes) The two are on the cutting edge of all things digital, and that goes beyond ecommerce.

"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others." – Cicero

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Platforms

News to know about relevant social, virtual, and augmented reality platforms that may affect your business.

Fᴀᴄᴇʙᴏᴏᴋ / Iɴsᴛᴀɢʀᴀᴍ / WʜᴀᴛsAᴘᴘ

The U.K. Parliament seized a cache of internal documents from Facebook as CEO Mark Zuckerberg refused to answer questions of members of Parliament. The documents are alleged to contain revelations on data and privacy controls that led to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. So much for an open and more connected world. (The Guardian) Tell us more about making the world more open and connected, Mark.
Some pundits are calling for Zuckerberg to relinquish his chairman title at the very least. "He’s shown that he’s incapable of leading the broken behemoth that is Facebook." (Washington Post)
Because Facebook still sees itself as an engineering company, its internal organization is not attuned to the daily risks of publishing. (Columbia Journalism Review) I've long held that Facebook needs more humanities majors, not more engineering majors.
Everything we needed to know about Mark Zuckerberg was shown to us in the 2010 film The Social Network. (The New York Times)
Facebook is failing to deliver where it really matters to video creators (and when it comes to competing with YouTube): Helping them make money. (Digiday)
Facebook can tell who you live with based on your pictures and captions. (Fast Company) No surprise there.
Instagram will be removing fake likes and follows on the platform. (The Verge) Look out, #hustle crowd — Instagram is coming for you.

Tᴡɪᴛᴛᴇʀ

Just six percent of bots on Twitter accounted for 31 percent of bad information. (Ars Technica) We've long known that a lie is halfway around the world before the truth is getting out of bed. But the current speed at which misinformation moves on Twitter is unprecedented.

Oᴛʜᴇʀ

LinkedIn has a new privacy setting that cuts off the ability to export email addresses of contacts. (TechCrunch)
LinkedIn is testing a professional version of Instagram Stories. (Quartz) Because, why not? Instagram stole the idea from Snapchat.
Snap is readying a pricier, updated version of its Spectacles glasses with two cameras capable of producing augmented-reality effects in videos. (Cheddar) They don't look much cooler, and they're twice as expensive.

Media

The latest in the world of streaming video, audio, and the advertising, pricing and bundling models related to them.
Vɪᴅᴇᴏ

Cord-cutters are continuing to chip away at traditional cable and satellite TV, with one million cancelling in the last quarter. Households are turning to the Internet for streaming options, and finding plenty of good programming to keep them. (Wall Street Journal)
Television in 2018 looks more like movies from the 1970s. (A.V. Club) Because nostalgia is a powerful selling tool. See the story on Scholastic in the Mental Nourishment section below.
Amazon is bidding to acquire the 22 regional sports networks that Disney acquired from 21st Century Fox, including the New York-based YES Network. (CNBC)

Aᴜᴅɪᴏ

Taylor Swift's new deal with Universal Music Group has implications beyond her own contract: UMG must share a portion of its profits with artists that it receives from Spotify. (Rolling Stone) Props to Taylor Swift credit for continuing to evolve the music industry.
Meanwhile, Spotify is courting artists directly, offering them the highest cut of royalties.
Previously known for only streaming music, Pandora and Spotify are courting podcasts to help grow their subscriptions. (Wall Street Journal)
"It seems the humble podcast, once the realm of rambling hosts and public radio personalities, is getting seriously into business." Will podcasts to kill radio with this kind of momentum? (Fortune) Not until radio is disconnected from the car.
Program of the Week: We all know what happened at midnight on December 31, 1999. But in the months leading up, we were uncertain. Surviving Y2K has the stories of how people reacted and prepared in those crazy times. If you're on the fence about listening, this piece from Vulture will put you over the edge.

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Privacy / Security / Regulatory

Business disruptions in the legal, regulatory, and computer security fields, from hacking to the on-demand economy and more.
Pʀɪᴠᴀᴄʏ / Sᴇᴄᴜʀɪᴛʏ / Hᴀᴄᴋɪɴɢ

The U.S. Postal Service just fixed a security weakness that allowed anyone who has an account at usps.com to view account details for some 60 million other users, and in some cases to modify account details on their behalf. (Krebs on Security)
Amazon has suffered a major data breach that caused customer names and email addresses to be disclosed on its website, just two days ahead of Black Friday. (The Guardian)

How to tell if the Amazon breach exposed your data to the public. (BGR)

Why do these massive data leaks keep happening? In short, because companies can afford it. (Motherboard) Until we make it too expensive for them, they'll keep happening too.
Advice for Cyber Monday: how to shop like a security pro. (Krebs on Security) Be careful out there.

Rᴇɢᴜʟᴀᴛᴏʀʏ / Oɴ-Dᴇᴍᴀɴᴅ Eᴄᴏɴᴏᴍʏ

Uber has shifted strategies in Germany, Japan, and Argentina by working within regulations and launching non-ride-hailing businesses. (Bloomberg)
Electric scooter company Lime used the same tactics as Facebook to try to discredit its rival Bird. (Business Insider)

Measurement / Analytics / Data

The future is not in plastics, but in data. Those who know how to measure and analyze it will rule the world.

Confessions of a data scientist: marketers don't know what they're asking for. (Digiday) So, so true.
Key data science concepts and techniques that have revolutionized the business landscape and became essential for making beneficial data-driven decisions. (KDnuggets)
Big data analytics gives a competitive advantage to companies across many industries. (KDnuggets)

Speaking Engagements

Always looking for recommendations for venues to share my stories. I connect our digital selves with classical influences, pointing out the universal human truths that can unlock the secret of retaining and growing customer relationships. Feel free to contact me to discuss speaking to your organization or at an event you've been to recently where you think I might stand out.

SPECIAL OFFER: from now through the end of 2018, I'll be offering a discount for up to five subscribers of The Full Monty. Book me to speak in 2019, and I'll speak to your group for 30 percent off my normal rate. Let's have a call to discuss it.

Mental Nourishment

Other links to help you reflect, improve, or simply learn something new.

Remember the Scholastic book fairs at your elementary school? The rows of tables and shelves, with gleaming new books. The excitement that you felt as the book fair day neared? It turns out they might not be quite as magical as you recall. (The Atlantic) As Thomas Wolfe wrote, You Can't Go Home Again.
If there's one thing that's defied improvement from digital technology, it's good old sticky notes. (Fast Company) Sometimes, simplicity is best.
Whether you're interviewing them for your show or simply making small talk at a party, Fresh Air's Terry Gross has tips for how to talk to people. (The New York Times)
Erik Deckers has sound advice for the person who is very unclear about their career goals. (Networking for Nice People)
Just in time for holiday parties is How to Wear a Tuxedo: A Man's Guide to Black Tie (The Art of Manliness) A personal favor: no pre-tied bow ties and no notch lapels, please.

Top image credit: The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio, 1601-02 (Wikipedia, Public Domain)

Monday, November 26, 2018