Book Review: Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now

 Do you feel you have been shafted by high-tech social media companies? The book is written by computer scientist Jaron Lanier. He is one of the founding fathers of virtual reality and a Silicon Valley resident. So, these words and his viewpoint are more thought-provoking. 

In the preface, he uses the example of cats as a species with a behavioral pattern we should aspire to in our online lives. Cats behave independently in an untameable fashion, which makes training techniques futile. This is what we should consider when facing the chaos of the Internet, specifically social media.

First of all, this is not a self-help "Key to Maximum Productivity" type of book. While it is snappy, the book tackles a complex matter that requires multidimensional analysis. In terms of the flow, it is well-written and provides some inside knowledge from a reference figure who has lived in Silicon Valley. Actually, Lanier is himself among the founding fathers of the technology.

Briefly, ten arguments are mentioned in this book against the use of social media:

1- Being against your free will:

Through ads, social media platforms attack our privacy and ultimately undermine our free will. 

This argument is closely tied to the second argument, as the compromised personal information is used to modify users' behaviors. These two arguments are fundamental critiques. I found them valid and definitely concerning. However, despite all these hazards, could a dignified approach harness the capabilities of these platforms? The free public platforms have some inherent flaws that expose users to data piracy. The compromised or exploited data has been used for several ominous plots: from elections to marketing purposes. If this trend grows at this pace, the cybersecurity and political manipulation will definitely outweigh all positive social aspects of these platforms. 

2- Being a behavior-modifying tool: 

Herein, Lanier uses the acronym BUMMER for the first time. BUMMER stands for "Behaviors of Users Modified, and Made into an Empire for Rent”. As a constant customer, I found this point very valid. In most extreme stance, Lanier says: 

"the core of the BUMMER machine is not a technology, exactly, but a style of business plan that spews out perverse incentives and corrupts people."

3- Making you into an asshole (Unhealthy relationships): 

There are dangerous behavioral changes such as aggression, arrogance, a fetish for axaggeration which is a cover for inner insecurity. Top social media influencers have reportedly confessed that being too nice to others is a disadvantage in this fierce "competeitive fishbowl" business model. Also, the book describes some herd behaviors that switch from solitary/pack behaviors to group behaviors. The pack setting makes social media users predisposed to thinking and acting in a areactionary fashion; more focused on peers or enemies. Rather, an unaddicted educated mind may opt to act more proactively with more awareness of his/her surrounding environment. 

4- Truth sidelined: 

What if one day you find out that the bulk of the likes, reviews, reposts, and comments (and all other sorts of interactions) are fake interactions from fake followers? This is well well-documented that the platforms are fertile soil for such fugazi entities and ghost cyber ninjas, appearing in times of need (political campaigns, election seasons, hot debates, etc) and disappearing when they are not needed, just to reappear with a handy justification to fool the followers/audience. In my limited personal experience, I have stumbled upon a lot of these accounts, and my wishful thinking gradually tailed off, and I was consigned to the grim machinery behind the social media. Actually, we all came to believe that we share these online ecosystems with gazillions of android entities. The ecosystem is polluted, and the truth is subdued. 

5- Context-less:

Limited time, limited space, and a rush to interact jeopardize several interactions on social media. To make matters worse, interspersed ads add to the fuzziness and make the platforms susceptible to a miscarriage of the simple messages. And when they somehow manage to conduce a message, it is dissociated from its context. 

Here, I have a critique. True, this shortage of time and characters are not helpful. However, for the most part the problem lies in the users' approach and how they want to use the tool. The logic is there, but not satisfying. This argument is rather subjective and does not hold a strong sinew.

6- Being against empathy: 

Seeing other people's views in an abridged version compromises our perception and feeling of a matter or situation. These brief encounters devoid of context are just deluding us about participating in a communal discourse. Hence, we are left with some dubious pretexts as to why fellow citizens did what they did. 

7- Hinders happiness:

This argument is again subjective but stronger than #6. On social platforms, people are ranked based on their statistics revolving around popularity and size of their social circles. This triggers a ceaseless appeal to posession of social contacts no number of "friends/followers" can satisfyingly put an end to this craving. Also, a more serious side effect is that it reduces concepts such as friendship or human interaction to numbers and records. 

8- Undermining economic dignity:

Reliance on the "Gig economy" does not provide stability. A minority of entrepreneurs become extremely wealthy in the mould of the 19th century's "Gilded Age". However, overall risk has been radiated out to ordinary people (customers).  

9- Negative and even nefarious when it comes to politics:

Up to a certain point, social media had a positive impact (for example, online activism against abject poverty). However, after the financial power of the social media companies skyrocketed, it began to negatively impact political decision-making. There are plenty of examples in recent history: the Myanmar Rohingya crisis deterioration which coincided with Facebook's arrival and inundation by waves of unadulterated misinformation. Another example: India and fake posts (on Facebook's WhatsApp) on child abductions, destabilized parts of India (unfounded rumors).

A more recent example is post-Assad Syria, where cyber activities on platforms in the middle of an information void. 

Thedore, the UN reports social media as a massively deadly weapon sue to "shitposts"

10- Corrosive effect on spirituality: 

For BUMMER citizens, virality is equivalent to truth. To trust these platforms, you should give your cognitive power over to that system. You need to trust the wisdom of BUMMER and its algorithms. As mentioned in argument #4, the social media platforms have not defined "seeking truth" as their goal.  

Imaging's Torrid Growth Rate Is Slowing

 Is the era of rapid growth in medical imaging procedure volume over? The volume of advanced imaging services delivered to Medicare beneficiaries decreased in 2009 -- the first decrease in 11 years, according to a study released Wednesday.
Washington, DC-based research and consulting firm the Moran Company found that the volume of advanced imaging services billed within the Medicare system decreased by 0.1% in 2009 compared with 2008, while overall imaging services declined by 7.1% for the same year-to-year comparison.

"It's pretty clear the era of very rapid growth in advanced medical imaging seems to have come to an end at this point in time," said Don Moran, president of the Moran Company. "All the data point to a leveling. It's unclear whether we will see further declines, but the prior growth of these modalities and the advantages they offer to clinicians seems to be peaking."
The study, released today by the Access to Medical Imaging Coalition (AMIC), reviewed Medicare claims data from 1999 through 2009, examining both spending and volume of advanced imaging services, such as CT, MRI, nuclear medicine, and PET, as well as overall imaging services, including mammography.

Declining Volume

The analysis also found that the total volume of mammography screenings decreased by 0.3% in 2009, compared with a 2.8% compound annual growth rate in the past decade. In addition, the total volume of dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) exams fell by 2.2%, while spending on this technique decreased by 16% from 2008 to 2009.
The new findings are comparable to a 2008 analysis of Medicare claims data that showed a 19.2% reduction in Medicare spending on advanced imaging from 2006 to 2007. It also revealed a significantly reduced procedure volume growth rate of only 1.9%, which was less than the overall rate of physician-payment growth.
In addition, a study presented by David C. Levin, MD, and colleagues at the 2010 RSNA meeting found that imaging procedure volume grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.4% between 2005 and 2008, well down from the 4.1% CAGR experienced between 1998 and 2005.
Imaging industry observers have attributed the slowing growth rate to reimbursement cuts for medical imaging such as those enacted by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. The healthcare reform legislation passed in 2010 includes additional reimbursement reductions.
The study shows that "medical imaging has been decimated by these cuts," said Tim Trysla, executive director of AMIC. "The impact of these cuts, even by the government's own estimates, has 'de facto' caused access problems for patients and providers. We are very concerned about choking off the access to these lifesaving technologies."
John Patti, MD, a radiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and chair of the American College of Radiology Board of Chancellors, said he and fellow radiologists are concerned with imaging's declining growth rate, because the Medicare population is increasing and the incidence and prevalence of disease remain the same.

Early Diagnosis

"One of the tremendous benefits of advanced imaging over the years is that it has obviated the need for more costly and evasive diagnostic evaluation," Patti said. "This reversal of trend suggests that Medicare patients may not be receiving those appropriate exams and thus the benefit of early diagnosis."
In addition, he said the decrease may have "negative downstream effects on the health of our aging citizens and on the cost of providing the more complex care that may be necessary to treat disease if it is discovered in advanced stages."
One potential victim of the decline is outpatient imaging center owners and operators. Because of reimbursement cuts for outpatient imaging, some physicians have sold or given their imaging activities to hospitals, which are reimbursed at a higher rate under the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (HOPPS). That scenario, in turn, could lead to less access to advanced imaging services.
In other study data, Medicare spending for advanced imaging services increased by less than half the spending growth for physician services overall. With a 1.2% increase in spending for advanced imaging, compared with 2.6% for services overall, imaging was one of the slowest-growing segments of the physician fee schedule in 2009.


Some Optimism
Despite the volume downturn in 2009, Trysla believes that advanced medical imaging will continue to contribute to patient care. "Medicine will not turn its back on advanced technology, especially with the benefits of early detection of disease, such as Parkinson's disease and cancer," he said. "I think you will see growth through new applications in technology, and medicine will continue to evolve from exploratory surgery toward early and more exact detection."
ACR's Patti also speculated that the dip in growth in 2009 would be temporary. "I don't think there are any physicians who are taking direct care of patients who don't understand the value of advanced imaging," he added. "And, I don't think there are any physicians who are willingly withholding [advanced imaging] from patients."


by : Wayne Forrest

The Fault Line of Democracy

China may have invented the first printing press in 593 and published the first woodblock-printed newspaper, Kaiyuan Za Bao, in Beijing in 713. But in 2010 it wants to curb the newest information innovation led by Google.
To avoid censorship, Google has moved its search engine to Hong Kong and may leave China altogether after hackers, hidden for deniability somewhere deep within the Communist bureaucracy, breached Google’s proprietary systems and pieced together the e-mail exchanges of Chinese dissidents in order to trace their social networks.
Clearly a clash is shaping up that pits the raucous free-for-all of the Internet against China’s long-standing Confucian proclivity for order, respect for authority and a conformist notion of social harmony.
As they try to rebalance a relationship in which China still largely depends on American consumption of its exports and the United States largely relies on China’s purchase of U.S. Treasury debt, these tightly tethered partners in prosperity will only intensify their interaction in the coming decade. Inevitably, as the geo-civilizational plates push up against one another and produce tremors, might the cultural equivalent of subduction take place? Might, for example, more appreciation for freedom of expression shift Eastward and a greater appreciation of governing in the common interest and long-term perspective shift Westward?
To be sure, there is much cultural history under the bridge of today’s interdependence that contributes to the tectonic pace of convergence. China’s ancient “Warring States” period ended with a commitment to unified territorial integrity and stability that led to a modern focus on political control and social harmony. The path to peace after the West’s religious wars led to the opposite ideals: tolerance and diversity. In the Confucian tradition, China has relied on ethics, including obligations of the ruler to the ruled, and education to keep its institutions responsive, fair and honest. The West has relied on the check of democracy.
Nonetheless, as the political philosopher Daniel A. Bell proposes, some common ground can be envisaged along the fault lines.
Counterintuitive as it may sound to the Western ear, China may be more open to fundamental political reform than the United States. Since the rule of law in America is based upon the notion that the state itself is constrained by a body of pre-existing law that is sovereign, any thought of rewriting the Constitution is anathema.
In China, however, some intellectuals point out that Communist Party theory posits that the current system is the “primary stage of socialism,” meaning that it is a transitional phase to a higher and more superior form of socialism. The economic foundation will change with broader prosperity, and thus the legal and political superstructure must also change.
That has led some contemporary Confucian scholars to argue that new institutions for the higher stage of development should be designed based on indigenous sources of legitimacy from within the Chinese experience — meritocratic knowledge of the governing class, the people and tradition.
Mr. Bell, who teaches at Tsinghua University in Beijing, has taken these ideas a bit further. He envisions a meritocratic upper house whose members are chosen not by election, but examination; an elected national democratic legislature that advises the upper house on “preferences;” direct elections up to the provincial level, and freedom of the press. The “symbolic leader of the state” would be chosen from among the most august members of the meritocratic house.
Such a formulation and others similar to it — about which there is a rich debate across China today — sticks to the Confucian idea of meritocratic government mitigated by popular accountability, but not completely ruled by it. This seems precisely the kind of non-Western political modernization we will see as China adopts its own form of democracy.
China desperately needs such a system of accountability to stem the arbitrariness, corruption and cronyism that have accompanied the primary stage of socialism. Yet such an approach as put forth by Mr. Bell seems likely to also maintain stability in a way that parliamentary democracy of the West might not, and thus would be an acceptable course of change in China.
Paradoxically, while Chinese intellectuals seek to expand democratic accountability as the poor become more educated and prosperous, the U.S. has the opposite problem: Too much short-term focus by the citizens of the prosperous consumer democracies is undermining long-term sustainability.
Thus, while institutional innovation in China might focus on a truly empowered — yet checked — elected house, the U.S. would benefit from the type of long-term deliberation offered by bodies such as a meritocratic upper house and some entity with the responsibility for continuity of governance that stands as a unifying symbol in an ever more diverse society.
During the first round of globalization at the turn of the 20th Century, Sun Yat Sen tried to blend the institutions of Western democracy with Confucian meritocracy. Perhaps today, as the “rise of the rest” challenges Western dominance, the political imagination may again be open to new ideas. This time, it won’t be just Western ideas flowing East, but Eastern ideas flowing West as well.


by : Nicolas Berggruen and Nathan Gardels

iPad May Be Best Suited For Nondiagnostic Role

Apple's iPad shows significant potential for a number of radiology applications, but primary interpretation of medical images probably isn't one of them, at least for the current generation of the tablet computer, according to researchers from the University of Maryland in Baltimore.

While its display technology is probably sufficient to handle the job, the iPad's utility for primary interpretation in radiology remains limited by visual, ergonomic, technical, and regulatory hurdles, according to Kamran Shah, MD.

"Where the potential lies in terms of existing technologies and applications [includes] [electronic medical record (EMR)] dashboards, patient interaction and consent forms, education, and as an adjunct for PACS workstations," Shah said.

Shah discussed the prospects for the iPad in radiology during a scientific session at the 2010 RSNA meeting in Chicago.

A lot to offer

At first glance, the iPad's hardware has a lot to offer. It's about one-third the weight of the average thin laptop and about three times the weight of Amazon's Kindle e-reader.

"And it's a whole lot lighter than a 40-lb PACS [display]," he said. "So it's definitely portable."

The iPad's 9.7-inch backlit display employs white LEDs in lieu of cold cathode fluorescent lamps; this provides a higher contrast ratio and increased light output compared to nonwhite LEDs, Shah said. And the LEDs are deployed in an edge-lit configuration, which facilitates a thickness of only 0.5 inches.

It also utilizes in-plane switching technology, which offers benefits such as wider viewing angles and improved color reproduction. Though it doesn't have the retina display featured on the iPhone 4, the iPad provides a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels. That's sufficient for two frames of 512 x 512 CT or ultrasound images, Shah said.

The iPad display yields a pixel density of 132 pixels per inch, which approaches the pixel density found on 5-megapixel displays, Shah said. It also provides a resolution of 2.6 line pairs per millimeter, which meets the American College of Radiology's (ACR) display recommendation.

It has a display luminance of 300 cd/m², which is similar to what is found on 24-inch PACS monitors.

"If you turn this up to, say, 100% max brightness and hold it in your hand, a 9.7-inch display that you're going to hold a few inches from your face is incredibly bright," he said. "This is a very bright device. Its contrast ratio is on par with what we're seeing with monitors that are being used in diagnostic applications."

Under the hood

The iPad is powered by the proprietary A4 System-on-a-Chip, which combines central processing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit (GPU), and hardware controllers. The fully autonomous GPU can render 720p video and do it in parallel with CPU tasks, Shah said.

Speed is not a high point for the iPad, however. Tests have shown that the iPad is orders of magnitude slower than a PACS workstation, Shah said.

"The iPad is anemic when compared to a PACS," he said. "This is a mobile-class processor, it's not a desktop-class processor. So it's important to recognize that."

Data connectivity is provided via 802.11n Wi-Fi, 3G capability, and Bluetooth 2.1. Memory is nonupgradeable and nonremovable, Shah said.

The iPad runs on a heavily modified version of the iPhone operating system. Multitasking was only recently added in late 2010.

"Applications will have to be rewritten to take advantage of the multitasking -- to, for example, enable DICOM viewing, speech recognition, and EMR right at the same time," he said.

As for security, the iPad offers integration with enterprise security standards and supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync policies. Local data are encrypted, and both local and remote data wipe is supported in case the device falls into the wrong hands, Shah said.

There are many DICOM visualization applications being developed for the iPad, all of which are going to require server-side rendering given the iPad's mobile-class processor, Shah said.

Another hurdle for diagnostic use will be the iPad's 9.7-inch display, which is going to pose ergonomic challenges if used for any protracted period of time for primary interpretation, he said.

And U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for these applications remains a difficult road, Shah said.

"No DICOM visualization applications have been FDA 510(k) [cleared]," Shah said. "There have been a couple of mobile patient data applications that have been FDA 510(k) [cleared] for the iPhone and iPad, but none for image interpretation."

The iPad may also find a niche in a number of nondiagnostic image viewing applications, such as having house staff review images and reports while on rounds, Shah said.

Electronic medical record applications are another active area for the iPad, and there are more than 20 such apps in the iTunes App Store.

"The important thing about these applications is that while they do integrate with the enterprise EMR, there's the possibility of really novel integrations of data," he said. "So that you can have customized views for clinicians or for patients, [providing] a specialized dashboard for the individual user."

Clinicians could also use iPad for showing images to patients without being tethered to a PACS workstation, he said.

In addition, the iPad could be used to transform paper-based processes such as patient consent forms and questionnaires. Resident education also represents a promising application for the iPad, allowing users, for example, to interact with images while reading actual presentations, Shah said.

The iPad could also be used as an interface device, replacing other devices that are prone to failure with a multitouch device that's easier to use and less prone to fail, he said. It could be used for controlling a PACS or even for controlling an imaging modality.

"Multitouch capabilities are built into Windows 7, so it's not a huge step to imagine that this could happen," Shah said.

The iPad could be also used as inspiration for next-generation interfaces, he said.

"The whole concept of what the iPad has done for [user interface] design can be dramatic," he said.

by : Erik L Ridely

How Facebook Eclipsed Google In 2010

Facebook beat out Google as the No. 1 most-visited site in the United States in 2010, according to Internet analytics firm Hitwise.

How was Facebook able to outplay the former Web champion? And can Google make a comeback in 2011 and beyond?
Let's begin by admitting that the Hitwise data doesn't represent the whole truth. For starters, Hitwise only measures unique visitors in the United States. What's more, Hitwise measures sites on a per domain basis: If the analytics firm were to include Google-owned YouTube in its calculations, Google's network of websites would outrank Facebook properties.
Nonetheless, there's a tectonic shift at work here: Facebook, once easily dismissed as the next social networking fad, has seemingly discovered Google's weak spots.
What are they, and can Google regain ground here?


Identity Wars
The first area in which Facebook has bested Google is online identity. Remember the days when trying out a new website required entering your name, username, password and other details into a form? Now sites can opt to use your Facebook account for one-click signup, making life easier for both websites and their users.
Facebook was able to make this move because the service was founded around the principle of real names. While this may have slowed Facebook's growth in its early days, the company now owns a massive database of more than 500 million identities, most of them real.
As a result, Facebook is becoming the de facto identity system for the Web. The social optimization service Gigya claims that Facebook accounts for 46% of website logins versus Google's 17%.


Social struggles
Where else is Google behind? How about "social," one of the biggest Web trends of the past five years? Understanding the connections between people is Facebook's core competency, but Google has struggled to compete in the social networking arena.
Google Buzz, widely considered a flop after a highly anticipated launch this year, unsuccessfully tried to turn Gmail contacts into social networking friends. Gmail users, it turned out, didn't need yet another social network, and didn't see their email contacts as synonymous with their real-life friends. That's a major hurdle for all of Google's social efforts: The company doesn't possess a "social graph" of our real-world connections.
More troubling is that social gaming, with such Facebook hits as FarmVille, has become a megatrend over the past few years. Google has few inroads here.
Google is expected to roll out a "social layer" uniting its Web properties in 2011, but the company has played down claims that it will launch a full social network, and expectations are low for Google's next social foray. Google could change its social fortunes through an acquisition, however: The purchase of social messaging service Twitter is the obvious move.


Search Rivalry?
Google is synonymous with search and continued to reign supreme in 2010. Surely this is the one area in which the company can maintain its lead in the coming years.
Google would indeed prove difficult to unseat in search, and yet Facebook may eventually gain a little ground here, too. Not only does Facebook possess a large database of every users' personal preferences, but its increasingly popular "Like" buttons allow members to express interest in particular Web pages.
If the company felt so inclined, Facebook might be able to provide a search engine that delivers highly personalized results. Better still: Facebook may stockpile enough personal information to recommend relevant content without the need for a search box.
Such a move is unlikely to unseat Google overnight, but this means of social discovery could lessen our dependence on search engines in the long haul.


Google's big gains: Mobile, video
Facebook is only "beating" Google if we limit the playing field to the Web. But in the rapidly growing mobile sector, Facebook is a minor player.
While the leading social network is attempting to bring social features to phones, Google owns an entire operating system: Android. What's more, Android is spreading like wildfire and proving to be a real challenger to Apple's iOS. Facebook, meanwhile, doesn't even have an iPad app.
What about watching online video, one of the Web's most popular activities? Yes, Google wins there, too: As the owner of YouTube, the company serves up the vast majority of online video views. In neither mobile nor video does Facebook look to be a threat to Google's position.
Google will always retain the lead, meanwhile, in professional life: From collaborative document creation to enterprise email, it's hard to see Facebook challenging Google's role in the workplace.


An uncertain victory
In 2010, Facebook challenged Google where it is weakest: Online identity and the social Web. Given that "social" is the Web's fastest-growing trend, it's hardly surprising that Facebook has benefited from the rising tide.
And yet Facebook only outranks Google on that very narrow metric: U.S. Web traffic. As mobile operating systems and app stores grow in popularity, is Web traffic really an accurate measurement of an Internet company's success?
and let's not forget that Google still crushes Facebook on the number that really counts: Revenue.


by : Pete Cashmore
@CNN

Cisco and T-Mobile Announce Wi-Fi Calling For Business

Cisco Systems, Inc. and T-Mobile USA have announced the Wi-Fi Calling for Business. This service ensures reliable voice calls over a Wi-Fi connection. The service also ensures seamless roaming of voice and data traffic between cellular networks and Wi-Fi.

This service will help businesses save on communication costs. Cytec Industries is one of the early adopters of the service. About 1,000 out of 6,000 Cytec employees have actively been using the service for the last 6 months.
This service requires a Cisco wireless LAN infrastructure. The infrastructure includes Unified Wireless Network technology and Cisco Compatible Extensions (CCX). Unfortunately CCX currently only works for BlackBerry and Nokia smartphones, but not Android and iPhone yet.



@computerworld.com