Category Archives: IT

February 17, 2022 · 18:00

The game you hope for

This comes one sleep away from the game Horizon’s forbidden west (PS5), the sequel from Horizon Zero Dawn. It was a great game, a great journey and as I see it, this game put the Dutch firm Guerrilla Games on the map as a top tier developer. The game was new, original and the story was close to amazing. The first game was a good journey into awesome IP and of course the people who got hooked on the first game want to jump into game two (that includes me). Yet it also reminded me of others, what had been. You see, I remember a game called Steep, as 

I was getting into winter sports, this game had appeal, which fell to zero almost at the point of arrival. You see beyond the claims is the engine, and the engine was made for people who like ‘turbo’, so there is no stage where someone just enjoys training downhill, it has to accelerate (all the time) and the game shows this, the moment you go down, the acceleration is off the wall, and in real live it never is like that. In the end one (of several) views were “Simply put, Steep is average at best” and that is a shame because that 71% game could have been an easy 85% if the makers did the numbers and especially did not charge another $20 for extra game modes. You see it matters and Horizon Zero Dawn gave us the whole enchilada and that was quite the trip. Now, comparing these two games to each other is like comparing coconuts and pineapples. So I am not comparing games, I am comparing effort and as I personally see it Guerrilla Games has it, Ubisoft does not, or had it and lost it is perhaps more precise. But there is another side too. It has been my experience that too many YouTubers are trying to appeal to the software houses too much. There are of course the ranters, but they will always be there. That being said watching a review and then a ranter tends to show a few settings you might not have considered. And in the end it is about finding the right game, especially as a budget is getting more and more towards one game every other month at best. It is at that point that Microsoft shows its Game Pass and the deal you have. But consider this one view gave us “Yet, currently totally free with Xbox Game Pass, Steep is still worth a quick backflip or two. Find out all there is to know about one of Ubisoft’s worst” and hidden there it shows the problem. A pass that allows us to be happy with a 70% game, why is that? The game pass needs to show us that you can play 12 90% games in 2022, but that is not really the case is it? We want to play Ratchet and Clank, Ghosts of Tsushima, Horizon Zero Dawn, Horizon Forbidden west and 8 others, but the Game Pass cannot give us that, can it? Although, it will give you the flight simulator and that is truly a 90% game. 

We hope for that next 95% or better game and my hopes are with Horizon Forbidden West. 2022 will bring at least 5 more games to PS5 and we all hope for the best, we have good hope on what came before but there will always be a sliver of doubt until the game arrives, it is in our nature and in this I am no different, we have all seen decent games, decent games that could have been 90%+ games if only a little more effort was taken. We want to blame Ubisoft and they are a clear example, but they aren’t the only one. The problem is that the game pass has the ability to make the choice field smaller and soon it will be just Ubisoft for some consoles. It is one of the strongest reasons to see Streaming consoles (Amazon Luna) grow faster and stronger. It will soon be the best path to the games we hope for, we want to embrace Sony and Nintendo, yet the clarity is that it will not be enough, we need a new generation of game makers, the list looks impressive, but these are games that were coming for some time. You see the games you never saw coming (like Ghostwire) are coming less and less, gaming is moving from the wild west into corporate west and that leaves us with dwindling choice, have you not noticed that?

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February 16, 2022 · 14:29

Gift for militant wench

OK, not my finest hour in diplomacy, but it was the only way to give the path to people thinking ‘another Amazon story’. I woke up this morning with a new IP, an IP based on Google technology, but they do not create software, so their loss. And this is freeware only for Sony and Amazon products, just another way for me to say to Microsoft “Screw you!” So in my sleep I was racing through the street, there were paths, obstacles and my mind was making sense of it all (which took a few seconds) and I was seeing the brilliance of that Nintendo kart game that can take place in your home. A good idea, but I gave it steroids and turned it into something serious. You see, there are the F1 people, who love the F1, want to race on their tracks, want to be an F1 driver and this is not for them, There are good products and they are happy there. No, this is for the people who want to race in the real world. So consider a setting where the game has 10 circuits. They can give their address, or one they wished to live and the system will design a racetrack from 2500 metres up to 5500 metres (for now) based on real Google Map data. So you get a game that will soon have thousands of tracks, and the nice part is that there is racing (just the street) and challenge where the system adds obstacles, ramps (looking like it was fake and inserted) to give that goofy feeling for when you go all out. As far as I can tell, it has NEVER been done before and there Amazon gets the inside track, because as you race what is, the system with Machine learning and deeper machine learning will try to make you a map you requested based on the area, or location you gave and adds the track for you personally to your account. A setting where a game can grown into a massive behemoth of racing fun. A setting where you can race where you always desired to race, your hometown (wherever that is), Tokyo streets, Monte Carlo (every racer wants to be there one day), London, Berlin, Amsterdam and the list just grows. I am actually amazed no one in Google was that alert, but there you have it. So I say (still lacking diplomacy) “Militant wench, have at it”, we could include boat racing, but I reckon that a place like Rotterdam will give Amazon all kinds of problems. 

A simple idea boosted to a real challenge, and should you wonder why Microsoft cannot come up with it. Well that is simple, they can buy creativity, they merely lack the ability to create something. For that they have Mojang, Bethesda and Blizzard. Those who buy are limited to their knowledge of Excel (or so they say).

Enjoy this midweek! The weekend will be 68 hours away for some. 

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February 15, 2022 · 14:38

Half a story

Yes, I am as guilty as anyone, yet in this case I say it upfront. I feel that is essential as I see stories from Reuters and others pass us by. Now, I have nothing against Reuters, and nothing negative on Reuters, yet the story is taking a turn as one of my best friends, a good and respected journalist, also one of the founding fathers of Trollrensics (a social media investigation tool) gives us “This is not true, Zelensky did not say that in the video posted on Facebook”, this is quite the setting.

In the Hill (at https://thehill.com/policy/international/594151-zelensky-says-ukraine-has-been-informed-feb-16-will-be-day-of-attack) we see ““We are told that February 16 will be the day of the attack,” he said, according to a Facebook translation of his comments.” The question becomes is the Hill incompetent? I can see that they are hiding behind “according to a Facebook translation of his comments”, but that does not cut the mustard, as I personally see it, the editorial of the Hill in engaging in misleading comments. So what exactly is ‘a Facebook translation’? 

The Hill also gives us “The Associated Press, citing intelligence obtained by the U.S., reported that Russia was eyeing Wednesday as the target date for an attack.” This sounds as vague “the Chinese tailor, a Chinese woman told me where the MH-370 went down whilst she was going down on me”, yes the obvious vague setting of China being mentioned twice. There is a lot wrong with the setting and the (as I personally see it) intentional misinformation of this event is a dangerous thing. Yet in all this the Dutch journalist gives the most reliable stage, the least reliable stage comes from the Hill. The question becomes what was ACTUALLY said, and the issue here is that I do not speak Ukrainian, so I can only give you half a story, but in this case it is a lot more and more reliable then that other news you were given. The rest of the story is as shallow as “”Asked about Zelensky’s statement and the mention of Feb. 16, Kirby said “I’m not going to talk about specific intelligence assessments, I think you can understand that. We have said for a while now that military action could happen any day.”” You see, there is no intelligence lost by giving the CLEAR translation of what Zelensky really said, but that did not work in favour of the doomsayers, did it? There is still a case, but it is not the statement of Zelensky, it is “We have said for a while now that military action could happen any day”, you see, if Putin does nothing the US will have been played for suckers, they will have been played for fools and all the clambake noises we all heard are empty gestures of an administration too close to total collapse. Yes, be aware that my stage setting could be equally wrong, but I am willing to say this upfront, I give you what some (journalists say) so even as FoxNews is loudly repeating what the Hill tells you, there is clearly a debate and no one is giving us the ACTUAL translation, it seems that is not in the interest for the press at this time. I reckon it will be on Thursday, after the event. And Reuters?

They give you ““They tell us Feb. 16 will be the day of the attack. We will make it a day of unity,” Zelenskiy said in a video address to the nation.” It is seen (at https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-hints-concessions-russia-scholz-heads-region-2022-02-14/), so what was ACTUALLY said by Zelensky? 

I leave it with you to get to the bottom of this.

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February 14, 2022 · 14:00

The IP I saw

This is not about my IP, but it seems to be a story that involves IP. Whether it is to be, a mere story for TV or whatever. It was odd. It started that I was part of the civil forces of the US Navy, I was setting up mobile systems. These systems were not what we see now. They are compact made Pelican boxes. The US Defence department had switched to a Scala modular concept (from the 70’s), so that a lot could be done in the field. The pelican box was slim and also a monitor stand, it was easily adapted, a ghost drive and a test station and a system could be set up in minutes. I saw my printable display in use, the display box was in the pelican box. The printer behind me was spewing out displays one per 4-5 minutes. Something was going on, some assigned sailors were more about pranking IT than doing any work. This was weird as I felt it was a wartime condition. My boss was a civil engineer called Jeremy. He stopped took me with him and we left.

The next moment I was in some cyberpunk environment. In a version of Chinatown with a large square that had all kinds of business around them. We went to the brothel there. It was high end, the people were given keys, keys with the images of toddlers on them, like a 50’s print. I saw man and couples disappear to a higher floor. We went down, into the basement. We made checks on systems. We checked the cyber defences. I signalled a girl, she came with a package, it was a birthday present. I paid the girl and looked, the were new B&O wearables, they were earrings with build in speakers. The sound was supposed to be very soft and would feel on the person like they were in a music hall. They were the latest. Jeremy suddenly moved to the side and pulled me back. It was a courier, the courier was never to be messed with, he walked over and gave Jeremy a liquid drive. Jeremy connected it and checked to content. He wrote a note to the courier and set some kind of 3d stamp on it. He courteously handed it to the courier who nodded, took the note and walked away. 

Then I was suddenly outside again, I tried to speak to an elderly couple. He noticed me and raised his collar, the collar was some form of Fennec ear system, With the collar raised he could hear whispers all over the square, I whispered “something is wrong with Jeremy”. I looked at him, he nodded made a gesture to his wife and they went inside. The last thing he did was nod at me and gave some kind of ‘vanish’ gesture, I did so. 

The scene changed again, I saw a courier arrive at a door, he handed his weapons over to the guard, a short machine gun and a pistol, the guard moved aside and let the guard in. I was suddenly whisked away to the birthday girl, she loved the earrings and was comparing them to the ones she had, she was really happy. I do not think she was my girlfriend, but she was not family either, I walked over to the food stand and bought some food, suddenly there was a fight between couriers, their guns were blazing and we all took cover, I saw the friend getting hit and she was dead before her head reached the ground, I was hiding in a corner and noticed that one courier was killing all the girls. I panicked and grabbed what seemed like a sword, when the courier was near I Plunged the sword in his side and when that happened, the sword split into 4 parts. And swerved in him like a helicopter. He was dead immediately. I saw the drives and a few other items, I took the opportunity and pushed his credit card in his hand and pushed the transfer button on top of my card. I also saw a few things I had never seen. The credit card action took 3 seconds, which was unnaturally long, but I thought nothing of it. It might have been the stress. The other courier stopped, nodded at me and walked off. 

I was suddenly the attention of several house ladies, one gestured me towards her and pointed to the ID tag of the dead man. She inspected the tag, he was from family Zhou, an important family in town. She looked at the stuff I had collected. She shoved several items and took two items “Too dangerous” she said and looked for something, she found a folder and gave me copies of 5 papers. “Manuals” she said I nodded and took the papers, I wanted to walk away. She said “you courier now”, she gave a super thin credit card, it looked like a business card, but it was more. She wrote on the back, it was an address “go there, they will teach you”, I considered that and nodded. She pointed at the other side of the square, eat soup there, say “我必须消失” show the card, do not give it to them, all will be fine. Thank you for protecting and avenging my girls. 

I walked off into a mist that woke me up. Was it about all the IP I saw? Was it about the story? I saw more but the view is fading, there was a cup of tea, in the tea were nano lenses, they improve vision, let you see more, but the change in vision was almost violent, as the nano enters the eye, the mind screams even if there was no real pain. Sub dermal plants that are ID tags for weapons, and the credit card I had suddenly stated 431,675,44. There are posts everywhere and you can check items, like credit cards. It shows a balance, or it can show the map of a place you seek they were called versa-posts. I know I saw more, but it is fading too much. So as I see it, this was merely a story, too many blanks.

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February 14, 2022 · 03:41

The arbitrary Echidna

Yes, we all have arbitrary moments, this is not mine. Yet something woke up in me when Reuters gave me ‘Google’s advertising tech targeted in European publishers’ complaint’ (at https://www.reuters.com/technology/googles-advertising-tech-targeted-european-publishers-complaint-2022-02-11/) and I took a look. So there were a few issues and the part of “alleging Google has an adtech stranglehold over press publishers” is merely window dressing. So as I went to a few of these sites, I saw German, Swedish and no English. Now, this is not a stranglehold for me, so I dug deeper. And I looked in a few publications, seeing that there advertisements were a mess, I could not even apply for advertisements in Die Welt, Das Bild and so on. I did not check them all, but the laughable setting is that they seemingly have no idea what they are doing. See the image below

I go to www.google.com and this is the first thing I get in the left lower corner. It was not rocket science, it was precise and clear. And the Advertising gives you:

Simple, precise and direct, NONE of the publications I saw offered anything like that. I got to a page on advertising with Das Bild (I needed Google search to find it), these players are hopelessly lost, they are conceited and running after the facts. Advertising should be a main option at the bottom of Das Bild and Die Welt and it is not there (or better stated, I never found it). The most basic of settings and two of Germans largest circulations are lost beyond hope. So as I personally see it, it is not ‘Google has an adtech stranglehold over press publishers’, as I personally see it, it has become ‘press publishers are hopelessly outdated in the digital environment’, the ‘information’ page I found had one mention of pricing and no relevant actual pricing information. How is that possible in this day and age? Google Ads gives you options, Price per click, price per impression, and many other options and you can select your preference and set how much you are willing to pay. And the Google system is unsurpassed. You might bid $20, yet in the end you ONLY pay one cent more than the previous bid winner. So if we see the following bids:

BidCharged
1$ 20$ 0.54
2$ 5$ 0.53
3$ 3$ 0.52
4$ 1$ 0.51
5$ 0.50$ 0.50

Before Google the advertiser was NEVER given this and it changed the game, the ‘exploiters’ suddenly lost all traffic, they lost their customers and they lost their revenue. This is not a stranglehold, this is giving the customer proper treatment, perhaps EPC Chairman Christian Van Thillo might take notice of that. If we publicly set the advertisement prices over the last six years from Axel Springer, News UK, Conde Nast, Bonnier News and Editorial Prensa Iberica, what will we see then? Even now I could not find precise advertising prices in Die Welt and Das Bild. I get a presentation who they work with, but a consumer wants to know what it will cost them. So when you all go cry at the desk of the European Commission consider that the consumer and the consumer advertiser is given a clear picture and a clear understanding and the stage of what comes next. In addition, when we take “When publishers choose to use our advertising services, they keep the majority of revenue and every year we pay out billions of dollars directly to the publishing partners in our ad network” and we set that against “Google has achieved end-to-end control of the ad tech value chain, boasting market shares as high as 90-100% in segments of the ad tech chain” it is because Google offered and showed value for money from the very beginning, something most advertising agencies have never done. In addition, Google Ads has driven technology that made the advertisers more clever in the way they advertised, something others have never done. 

And in all this, when we see the EPC make claims like: ‘Freedom to earn advertising revenue’ and ‘Freedom to innovate’ whilst two of the partner clearly are lost on innovation, they might embrace earn advertising revenue, but without innovation it becomes meaningless and in that, the advertisers that require visibility see that Google Ads delivers whilst keeping cost down, optionally setting a stage to a new path that is cheaper for the advertiser, so how did the EPC approach that? This is not stranglehold, this is as I see it the path of exploitation and many advertisers have had enough of that and they were willing to try Google Ads and those who did remained in Google Ads, clearly the EPC needs to look up the word innovation, let me help them out: “the introduction of something new”, so where is that innovation in Die Welt and Das Bild? 

Seems that it is another chihuahua crying that they no longer matter, a waste of my time as I see it, not the people that could ever qualify for my 5G solution, that is (as I personally see it) true advertising power, in the hands of the retailer. 

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February 13, 2022 · 01:21

Looky looky

It is always nice to go to bed, listen to music and dream away. That is until this flipping brain of mine gets a new idea. In this case it is not new IP, but a new setting for a group of people. You see, during lockdown I got hooked on walk video’s. It was a way to see places I had never visited before, it is one way to get around and weirdly enough, these walk videos are cool. You see more than you usually do (especially in London) most of them are actually quite good, a few need tinkering (like music not so loud) but for the most they are a decent experience. Then I thought what if GoPro makes a change, offering a new stage. That got me going, you see, most walks are on a stick, decent but intense for the filming party. So we can set the movie from a shoulder mount, a chest mount, or helmet mount. Yet what is filmed? So what happens if we have something like Google glasses and the left (or right) eye shows what we see in the film. We get all kind of degrees of filming. And if we want to ignore it, we merely close that eye for a moment. I am surprised that GoPro had not considered it, or perhaps they did. Consider that the filmer now has BOTH hands free and can hold something towards the camera, the filming agent can do more and move more freely. Consider that is works with a holder, but there is a need (in many cases) to have both hands available. And perhaps there is a need for both, the need to use one hand for precision and a gooseneck mount to keep both hands free. The interesting part is that there is no setting to get the image on something like Google Glasses and that is a shame, was I the first to think of it? It seems weird with all the city walks out there on YouTube, but there you have it and in that light, I was considering revisiting the IP I had for a next Watchdogs, one with a difference (every Ip creator will tell you that part), but I reckon that is a stage we will visit again soon enough, it involves Google Glasses and another setting that I will revisit. Just like the stage of combining deeper machine learning to a lens (or google glasses), a camera lens that offer direct translations, and the fun part is we can select if that is pushed through to film, or merely seen by us, now consider filming in Japan with machine learning and deeper machine learning auto translating ANY sign it sees. Languages that we do not know will no longer stop us, it will tell the filmmaker where they are and consider linking that to one lens in google glasses that overlays the map? It that out yet? I never saw it and there are all kinds of needs for that part. What you see is what you know, if you know the language. Just a thought at 01:17. I need a hobby, I really do!

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February 12, 2022 · 09:49

1-800-LoadMyMissile

Yup, I had to go there. And when you see the headline ‘F-35 program seeks cyber reinforcements’ you might go there too. Now, you need to know that there is nothing wrong with the article that can be found (at https://fcw.com/defense/2022/02/f-35-program-office-seeks-cyber-reinforcements/361848/). Yet the quote given to us 2 days ago “To improve the joint strike fighters’ defences against cyber attacks, the program office responsible for it wants an open system design solution” implies there is close to nothing, all whilst this danger was out in the open for some time, so why react this late? And when we are given “the program office responsible for the aircraft is looking to create a multi-phased process that would enhance the security of F-35’s – and supporting ground systems – through newly developed or integrated technologies, such as real-time, automated in-flight detection, response and recovery” concerns should be raised. You see that dinky toy (the F-35) is not the cheapest of all Corgi toys, so something should have been in place already. The issue is not that simple, I get that. To take a more Cisco stage of expression. Every plane will need a router that has SecureX platform, Secure Firewall, Secure Endpoint and connects to the ground in a similar way and does it in real time, not the easiest of tasks and in this the real-time part will be the hardest to get working. A system that can interact with every system. 

As I personally see it (see image), it is a setting that has a number of points (like hardware points) for fire solutions, navigation, weapons systems and the security station. It cannot check all, but each system has its own header, and the headers check each other, so if one is hacked the others fix the one hacked and the system is back on tour, there is no guarantee that this will work, but hacking one system is one thing, hacking all 5 becomes virtually impossible. And there is another problem, such a system will need online load balancing. Not online like we know online, but a system that is always checking the load balance of every header station and as this is all done in real time will require an upgrade of hardware, because there is no way that the added electronics will not have an impact on current efficiency numbers and with the costs already way out of proportions, I have no idea how this gets passed the budget committee and even if they get some kind of new Cisco device (which is one of the leading cyber authorities) the hardware will not come cheap and it will require a new OS to make it work. I wonder if relaunching ADA would be a solution. It would be allowing one of ADA strengths to be deployed and if the NSA can boost the security and it is implemented with a newer version of Cisco Cyber Constructs, there is a decent chance it might work but all this requires specialists working together and in the IT field that is almost a challenge on its own (like making a submarine fly). So I have no idea where it all will end, but taking into consideration that the expected acquisition costs is set to $406.5 billion, with total lifetime cost (i.e., to 2070) to $1.5 trillion in then-year dollars, and the cyber equation will ramp up costs by another 10% (rough estimation) and my estimation is set to the fact that it is smooth sailing, but that has never been the case so there is every chance that the F-35 will break all records, including cost to produce.

That is my mere speculative thought in the equation that the FCW brought to light. 

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February 11, 2022 · 21:35

The headers of maximum data

Every now and then I keep my eyes on Zendesk. There is a reason for that, my origins are technical support and customer support. I am proud of my past, I went from nothing to a decent high ranking technical support person and I always fought for EVERY customer. I did not care whether they had one single license, or if it was an important customer who owned a site license (which drove sales insane). All were equal in my eyes and all deserved and received 100%. So when the article (at https://www.reuters.com/business/zendesk-rejects-16-bln-offer-private-equity-consortium-2022-02-10/) passed me by, I took notice. You see, the header is one ‘Zendesk rejects $16 bln offer from private equity consortium’, I remember that it started not too long ago (2007) and it grew fast. Well there is a reason for that. No matter whether you look at SCOPUS, SIEBEL or another CRM solution, they claim that they have a technical support part, it was meagre and all based on a sales foundation, which makes it (in my eyes) not a technical support solution. So beyond Zendesk there was nothing. It is a good place to be in, it allows for the growth they had. Yet the article sat with me and not entirely in a good way. The first one “facing calls from activist investors, including hedge fund Jana Partners LLC, to abandon its proposed acquisition of SurveyMonkey parent Momentive Global Inc , which it agreed in October”, is regarded (by me) as moronic, you are about to see why. The second one “Thoma Bravo had made a takeover approach to Zendesk” with the added “Thoma Bravo and Jana declined to comment.” As I personally see it, it is not about Zendesk, it is about the amount of data they wield via 17 offices in a lot more countries than 17. They are after the data. A Company with an operating income of $175,000,000 is not valued as a $16,000,000,000 on the value of its SAAS operations, that has to be about the data and that will be a scary thought. When my technical support skills, given to the customers will be used to bleed them dry of intelligence. It is a scary thought. Then there is the added. You see Marketwatch gives us “Jana Partners LLC, which is opposed to Zendesk’s deal to buy Momentive Global Inc., is planning a proxy fight, according to the WSJ report. Momentive shares were down 3%” me thinks that the acquisition implies that too many eyes will be on Zendesk for some time to come and that does not sit well with Barry Rosenstein. So for me the response becomes: “A reactive and impulsive decision? My ass!” I think that Rosenstein had similar plans as the other (unnamed) player and it seems that these management firms have data currency on the mind and Zendesk in its near unique position is one juicy steak (with sauce). So no matter how unique the placement is, as long as it has data these Investment management companies will see the long term gains and there is a larger stake (or is that steak) in play, it is not Schrems 2 (discusses yesterday), it is all those nations that lack that level of protection and it seems that these Investment management companies have an additional customer that needs no mention, no written agreement and that makes for a lot of coins and they will hand it over eagerly, especially in light of the escalation we globally see, in that setting data is everything. To add to that, I have to admit that there is another setting, which I still cannot see, it is because I know next to nothing on Orlando Bravo, the man behind Thoma Bravo. It might be that he is on the same track sharing the risk and revenue with Rosenstein, yet they are lonesome hunters (optionally predators), but because Orlando the software esquire also has Proofpoint, Sophos, Kofax, Motus and Aptus there is every consideration that Orlando Bravo has other considerations including solidifying fleet contracts to a larger and more complete approach and having a more substantial SAAS umbrella. So he is the larger unknown and there is a rather large expansion option for Zendesk, so I am not certain, but I feel certain that Orlando might have been better off without Barry, but that is just an initial vibe I am getting and that vibe is not evidence based.

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February 7, 2022 · 08:10

The street we know

It is a different setting, we tend to relate to the streets we tend to know. Any technology is set upon a familiar setting. The benefit is that we know where we are and as such we get to where we think we want to go faster. The negative part is that this is a problem when it is true innovation, we cannot continue an iterative line if we want true innovation. 

So when I saw ‘Saudi Arabia announces $6.4 billion investments in future tech’ (at https://www.reuters.com/markets/funds/saudi-arabia-announces-64-billion-investments-future-tech-2022-02-01/) I took notice last week but merely that, it was to be expected. So when I looked at it again this morning, I noticed “include a $2 billion joint venture between eWTP Arabia Capital, a fund backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Alibaba, and China’s J&T Express Group, minister Abdullah Alswaha said”, I had overlooked that initially. But it makes sense, as ties with China grow, the Chinese IT sector would come in. It spells bad news for the US, for Amazon in particular. The options that were there are shrinking, they are not gone, but China is now in position to take the cream from the barrel and become the new fat cats. My IP still has options, but it might not go the highway I had hoped for (we all have that), still I do have the innovation advantage and when others fail I can step in. 

There is another side, a side that Amazon had in hands, you see with Neom and Vision2030 Amazon had a larger option if there was a data centre in Saudi Arabia, not a simple online store, but a real data centre, they would need one for a few reasons and even as the media gives us “showing its continued business interests there despite a public dispute between Riyadh and the company’s chief executive, Jeff Bezos”, we can see the hindrance there, we can see that there are issues (I am ignoring the FTI Consulting issues here), but in a larger stake worth billions, the need to find solutions are clear for Amazon. They could walk away and leave it all to AliBaba and the J&T Express Group yet who profits then? Not Amazon, not the US and it is another spark that goes into the direction of China. It is a problem for the US for two reasons. The first one is simple revenue, the US desperately needs that. The second one might not be that clear. You see Saudi Arabia has at present a full fletched 5G network, so those there can do all kinds of prototyping to a much larger extend and see the impact of congestion in a complete 5G network. You see at present we see assumptions via 4G LTE and other settings, this implies that other issues will not be captured when things go wrong. And with all the transgressions we have seen in 2020 and 2021 these systems need proper adjustment. Saudi Arabia has the advantage and now it seems so does China (outside of China), another step not to the advantage of the west (as expressions go), so how many steps do we all need to fall behind before people take this disadvantaged setting seriously?

Even now, the aftermath of Davos will be in favour of both Saudi Arabia and China. Al Jazeera reported “Observers see the high-profile conference as a way for the kingdom to redeem itself in the eyes of US President Joe Biden and the wider international community”, yet my question becomes ‘Why?’ You see, the EU and the US have shown themselves to be unreliable, all setting concepts to presentation in stead of evidence. Now that China is showing themselves to be a much larger player and a willing player could spell a massive loss in revenue. 3 billion here, 6.4 billion there, and several more billions left, right and hither. How much longer until we face the direction that we are losing out? Now this would not be a problem when we have alternatives, but there aren’t that many are there? And consider that one side gives us ‘Deficit shrinks in the first year of Joe Biden’s presidency’ (around $500,000,000,000 less loss), it is a joke when you consider that the deficit is still $2,500,000,000,000,000. And less than a months later the people are given ‘Biden’s $1.7trn social policy will send deficit soaring’, it is another setting of managing bd news and on top of that they lose revenue option after revenue option. So how does that look? The US debt has now surpassed $30,000,000,000,000,000, you have that kind of money? I do not and none of the others have it and an additional problem for the US is that the EU wants to dig into the Saudi revenue pie as well, yet at present China has the upper hand. A setting we ignore because we are lulled to sleep, and that time is gone, when the US debt comes crashing down the EU will join a massive loss and no amount of promise will aid anyone at that point. All because certain players underestimated the impact of innovation and innovation like some are marketing it is not innovation, it is a presentation nothing more. We all tend to keep to the street we know but when that street is on fire, will you merely stop the fire or see what resources are available in the next street? 

China did just that and now we see the fallout of political stupidity. Oh, and when Iran does not come across with promises that they made to some middle man, when the unfortunate adjustments come, the middle man will not care, he got his oil barrel bonus, he is just fine, but those who were behind it will get to say ‘Oops!’ Just as I expected them to do. At that point we will see another advantage to China, good going! And what happens in May/June when Iran has enough nuclear materials? What then?

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February 5, 2022 · 00:07

Is the MetaVerse a Meta or a Verse?

That is not the question, it is a mere thought and we need to ponder it. You see, I do believe that Meta is close to launching a new dimension in social media, in advertisements and through that we will see a new opening in the approach to marketing and advertising. Google is not ready but could be ready in time, the same could be said for Amazon. Microsoft is however not making that setting with their 5% in Bing, it will die and awkward death. Awkward because the people they approached will leave them. Meta will not offer the handle and handshake that Bing (or Chrome) requires and Bing has nowhere to go. Or as someone in the 90’s once said “All dressed up and no one to blow”, I giggle as it applies more to the outdated marketing tactics then it does the ladies on 42nd street (if you catch my drift). 

So when I see ‘Facebook parent company Meta plummets 26 per cent, loses $332 billion in worst one-day company drop’ (source: ABC). There is no opposition, this is what happened. Yet what is noticeable that the drop is due to “well below analysts’ expectations for the current quarter, a disappointment for a company that investors have become accustomed to delivering spectacular growth” There are two sides here. On the one side either the investors have no long term goal and no comprehension on what Meta is ready to achieve, in that regard the analysts are equally in the dark on what is about to happen. So even as Marky Mark of the book of faces can hold onto what he has now as the next wave will increase his fortune by well over 300% (a personal rough speculation), so the term ‘disappointment for a company’ is the setting of a person who has no clue what is about to unfold. Or it is a person with the narrow focus on the now regardless of what tomorrow will bring. The second setting is seen with ““The downgrade in the earnings outlook by Meta and other companies took markets by surprise,” said Kenneth Broux, a strategist at Societe Generale in London” I am not sure whether this is a repetition of the other fellows view or if it is set on parallel yet not equal measurements. I am not an economist. The Amazon idea (at least one of them) could be applied to Meta, yet it would limit my revenue and I am kinda set on getting my $50,000,000 (post taxation) in the first wave. The second wave would bring me more but there is no way in hell a person like Jeff Bezos would shell out that kind of money without clear numbers (no matter how rich he is) and what I am about to do has NEVER been done before. So there is the turmoil for me. There are a few other reasons why pushing Amazon to higher levels are more rewarding for me (there is the option to kick Microsoft in the balls) a thought that is massively rewarding all on its own, yet it could optionally hurt Google and I have nothing against Google. They are about to get hit by TikTok and the impact of HarmonyOS is getting delayed but it is not out of the way yet, so Google has to face that too. Yet Meta is a drive that Google could benefit to if they resolve locality in their products, because that will be a given. It slightly opposes the 4 clusters that Amazon will gain but it will not hurt Google, Amazon on the other hand would strengthen their clusters through Meta and could optionally several smaller clusters too, Microsoft has close to NOTHING there, all lost marketshare. 

So as we look at the second article That gives us ‘Facebook owner Meta sees biggest ever stock market loss’ (source: BBC). There we see “Meta also warned of slowing revenue growth in the face of competition from rival platforms including TikTok and YouTube, while advertisers were also cutting spending” the lack of ‘temporary’ is a little astounding. There is reduced spending by advertisers yet with the labour lack they have they will have to create a pipeline soon enough and that means advertising and spending, interesting how the BBC overlooked that. And yes TikTok is a threat, but more to YouTube than Meta and the deployment of Meta will take care of that. The question is how Meta will deal with the lull in technology that they face. Let’s give you an example.  You are in the MetaVerse. In that life you have the house you could never afford, you watch TV on a screen you could never afford and you watch the things you love. There we see advertisements and Meta cashes in. Yet over time you get billboard digital screens on billboard (perhaps the three in Ebbing Missouri), but all those elements require new technology and Meta could create them and lose a lot of time or they could set a partnership with Google and Amazon and set a might higher bar. Google and Amazon have their terrains and Meta has an advantage in partnerships, opposing those two will drag the issues in too many dimensions (literally) and it opens up a massively large bag of worms. None of those matters are seen and they will come in 2022/2023. When Google and Amazon set out THEIR plan it will need to be one that embraces Meta. Zuckerberg was one clever cookie when he did the change he wants. The covid issue worked FOR him a little but in this setting (loss of revenue) it works against him. The nice part for him is that those who walked away will have to negotiate new contracts in MetaVerse so that will make his gains a lot better than the losses he has now.

No matter where I look I see everyone parroting the loss story and it is true, he lost (for now) and no one has a clue what is about to happen and hows social media will change the face of both marketing and advertising and when those with their clever little API realises that it stops working in MetaVerse we will get some watchdog howling on behalf of the exploiters who suddenly get the notice that their well is now dry. All revenue belong to Zuckerberg again. A setting none of them seem to realise. I am just happy that my 5G IP is still safe and MetaVerse will not hinder it. It might benefit me, but it is too soon to tell, it could if Amazon gets the proper idea on where marketing and deployed advertising goes, but there are a few if’s in that setting I get that and I am pretty sure that the CTO of Amazon (Werner Vogels) is that clever as well. 

So whatever Meta will become, it is not a verse, perhaps according to the journalists who look at the now and rhyme to yesterday. Yet I am certain that they are utterly in the dark about tomorrow and in most dimensions tomorrow never rhymes, perhaps to borrow and sorrow but not to the tile of style that tomorrow brings, because the rhyme depends on what is, not what might be and what might be will be illuminating to say the least, not the hallucinating of a beast. That is what we face, when Meta deploys we will face an entirely new beast, one advertisers and marketing departments never faced before and as they run from training to training the first 6 months and try to comprehend that they suddenly had to learn a new beast for months, those who were ready will have the entire field for the better part of 6 months at the very least, it will change the game for years and as I see it Google and Amazon have the options, Microsoft falls away like it always does, shouting Azure whilst the never learned the blues.

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