The Company Ending Privacy as We Know It
Meeting for the week of November 02 - November 08, 2020
This Meeting at a Glance:
Program: The Company Ending Privacy as We Know It
Speaker: Thomas Smith
Is this your first time to visit us? If so, welcome to our weekly online meeting! To complete our meeting, please continue reading from here to the bottom of this page.Each Monday our week’s meeting is posted early in the morning, U.S. Pacific Time. These meetings are designed so that you can read and watch what we post anytime during the week. The entire meeting takes about 60 minutes to complete, with the video conference recording of the program being the bulk of the time. Note that you can easily read this meeting with your favorite device, so feel free to take our meeting on the go with you. Please also make sure to complete the attendance form at the bottom and leave a comment. Enjoy!
To properly attend this meeting, please:
Read and watch the content below in its entirety.
Complete the attendance survey.
Everyone is also encouraged to leave a comment in the Disqus section at the bottom of the page.
Welcome to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley!
Here’s a message from Member - Manuj Mittal:
Member - Manuj Mittal
Guests, we are happy to have you join us this week!
As we see it, our flexibility as an online, asynchronous club allows a special type of service to Rotarians around the world: we make it easier for anyone to strive for and maintain 100% attendance. That keeps you engaged with Rotary's events and ideas, and provides a moment of inspiration for devoting your creativity, talents, and resources to good causes.
You are certainly not required to pay anything in order to attend our meetings. However, if you would like to make a small contribution to our service efforts, you are welcome to do so in our secure Happy Dollars section down the page. This could be what you normally pay at your own club's meetings for lunch, for example. Any amount is welcome, but first and foremost, we're happy you've joined us, and hope you will share with others who we are and what we do to help inspire Service Above Self.
And don't forget to fill out our attendance form so you get an email you can pass on to your club's secretary!
The Four Way Test
The Four-Way Test is a nonpartisan and nonsectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships.
Of the things we think, say or do
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Weekly Funny with Shags.
We believe laughter is an important part of life, and we should all make time to laugh a little. This segment of our meeting is meant to tickle you just enough. These funnies are curated by member Steven "Shags" Shagrin !
A Very Special Gift!
A woman was taking an afternoon nap. When she woke up, she told her husband, "I just dreamed that you gave me a pearl necklace. What do you think it means?" "You'll know tonight," he said. That evening, the man came home with a small package and gave it to his wife. Delighted, she opened it to find a book entitled "The Meaning of Dreams."
Weekly Inspiration
Every week we start our meetings with a short video highlighting innovation, inspiration, entrepreneurship, or social change.
If you've been stuck at home for the last eight months, here's a one-minute video from Rick Mereki about seeing the wonderful variety in the world that might fill the need to experience more. At least for a minute.
Coffee With a Rotarian
Every 4 weeks, each member of our club is matched with another member for one-on-one conversations!
Here are the current matches!
Manuj Mittal and Angelica Marotta
Sarah Tuberty and Rushton Hurley
Maxi Bustos and Suzanne Van Stralen
Tzviatko Chiderov and Hardeep Kaur Singh
Nathan Gildart and Tanya Martin
Brett Sham and Catherine
Carlos Gabuardi and Gabi Lopez
Alexandra Heller and Imad Ghoummid
Keith Marsh and Nan Herron, MD
Ferheen Abbasi and Mark Dohn
Roger Plested and Kelly Ku
Rory R. Olsen and Cecelia Babkirk
Tatiana LaGarde and Olu
Nick LaGarde and Richard Knaggs
Mark Busani and Cal Mann
Caleb LaPlante and May Yam
Sandy Stabile and Felix Pretscheck
Steven -Shags- Shagrin and Susan Howell
Mahmood Khan and Emily Paver
Weren’t matched? 😔
Join the #coffee-with-a-rotarian channel in our club’s Slack workspace to participate in the next round!
World of Rotary
Every week we will focus on a particular story that tells of our organization and the work of Rotarians in the world.
Last year, the Interact Club of The Rajkumar College, India earned the 'Best Video' award in the 2019 Interact Video Awards. Hope our Interactors get inspired by their video, and learn how to submit their video, photos, and/or essay for the Interact Awards this year at http://on.rotary.org/2020InteractAwards.
Through a Rotarian's Lens
Sometimes a photo can capture an amazing moment. In this section Member Keith Marsh shares his incredible photography!
If you'd like to submit a photo for this section please contact Keith.
Vote like your life depends on it and do it early if possible. I think you know why.
Learn Something New
This section is curated by members Shags Shagrin and aims to teach our members and guests something new, fun and useful! If you have any ideas on a fun trick or skill you'd like to share please contact Shags.
Do You Suffer with Nasal Congestion? This Device May Help!
No, this isn't a SPAM post! This is a problem I've (Shags) had forever, and while medication can help, it's not really a solution and I don't like the side effects. I've also tried using a Neti pot, but that's a real challenge, and it's not always safe. "The FDA is warning that improper use of neti pots can be dangerous and lead to infections, including the deadly Naegleria fowleri – better known as the “brain-eating” amoeba. In a statement, the FDA said that when used and cleaned properly, neti pots are usually safe and effective." [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-it-safe-to-rinse-your-sinuses-with-a-neti-pot/] I still found that the gravity method of water flow through the sinus cavity was challenging to me, as you have to turn your head sideways.
Then I saw a post about Naväge, a nasal irrigation device that uses a pump and suction to draw the saline water (also available with eucalyptus, which is a real blast!) through the nasal cavity. My left side is the worst, so I'm able to arrange the water flow from right to left, and the feeling I get when it's done is amazing!! Most times my ears will "pop" because of the increased air flow through sinuses and the eustachian tube. Hope you don't find this too gross, but it's really an amazing thing if you have congestion. Watch the short video for a demo of how it works. I'm not nearly as good as the demonstrator, so I decided to let the pro do it. However, as a Naväge owner, I'm able to pass on a $20 discount to you if you order from them online (shameless promotion!) if you use referral link: http://navage.refr.cc/stevenshagss. I got mine at Walgreens, as my wife's a pharmacist there and they had a special "employees get 40% off" day. Breathe easier, friends!! I am, finally...
Service Report
Tell us about service you’ve done recently in your community.
Click here to fill out The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley Service Survey
On the first meeting of every month, we feature service reports from club members for the previous month. Thanks for your service everyone!
Club Announcements
Haven't joined the conversation on Facebook yet? Consider joining the conversation by signing into our club members-only Facebook Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/rotarysiliconvalley/
Service Project Information
Club members, if you are participating or have previously participated in a service project as part of our club, could you please complete the following form:
https://forms.gle/jxfpHHiKBv7P5YXy5
New Members Introduction
Welcome message
Our Events & Projects
We hold our meetings online, but we do regular service projects and social events in the Silicon Valley! This section is updated every week with our upcoming events. We welcome guests to all of the events and service projects listed here.
Past Events:
Upcoming Events:
All times are Pacific Time! (San Francisco time)
District 5170 Events
All times are Pacific Time! (San Francisco time)
More events coming soon! All events are open to guests, unless otherwise mentioned. Feel free to join us! If you ever have questions, please email inquiries@siliconvalleyrotary.com
Happy Dollars: Do Good by Sharing Something Good
Each week we ask our members to share stories with the club and toss in a few dollars to support our efforts. The primary goal of this section is to provide a fun way of getting to know each fellow members and guests, while giving back to a good cause.
Happy dollars is an opportunity to share something positive that has happened in your life whether it is personal or business. Think of it as your opportunity to brag a little, but also put a little bit into a karma jar. The money donated through happy dollars is put to charitable use, and the message that you leave for happy dollars will be posted in our online meeting the following week for the entire week for folks to see! (Pending that it’s appropriate!)
Here are the happy dollars contributions from last week!
This section is usually updated on the early hours of Saturday, so contributions made over the weekend may not be listed here.
Rory Olsen made a $20 donation.
All is well. My wife and cats are all in good spirits. The weather is dipping below eighty degrees. My only complaint is that Slack did not pick me for a CWR. That's the second time in several months. I am so old that I remember when the CWR was done by hand.
Selected Comments
Every week at the bottom of our meetings, there is a comments section for members and guests to tell us what they enjoyed about the meeting or to ask questions to the speaker. We select a few comments every week from last week’s meeting to be featured during this week’s meeting.
Here are the comments selected from last week’s meeting.
Angelica Marotta said:
At times, life seems hard to handle, but hearing Lex's experience is very valuable. Additionally, Lex mentioned that his school teacher introduced him to the long jump, and was able to see his vision within himself. I believe that having someone who encourages you and believes in you is the most important driver in life! Wonderful presentation!
Helena Pleinert said:
Thank you for another inspiring and informative presentation! I found it particularly interesting to learn that the infrastructure and networks built for fighting polio can now also be used to fight the pandemic
Heather Shaw said:
This has been a truly inspirational program. Things today can get you down and I find myself limiting myself. Your words give a great perspective of what could be. Limitation is now an opportunity for me. Thank you Lex! Time to fly
Be sure to leave a comment at the end of this week’s meeting after you watch the program below, and perhaps you’ll see your comment featured next week!
Program: The Company Ending Privacy as We Know It
Speaker: Thomas Smith
Every week we bring to you a new program on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education, and how those contribute to service to others.
The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley seeks to explore perspectives on service from across the world. The views of the speakers in our programs are their own, and unless stated otherwise, are not necessarily reflective of the views of our eClub nor Rotary International.
If you have an idea for a cool speaker, please feel free to reach out to them directly or submit THIS FORM so our Program Committee can contact them!
In January of 2020, the New York Times broke a major story about Clearview AI, a company which they said "could end privacy as we know it." Clearview downloaded 3.1 billion images from the public internet (including social media networks like Facebook), and created a face database of nearly every person in the United States. Law enforcement agencies, businesses and individuals can upload a single photo of a target person to Clearview, and instantly learn their identity using only their face. As a reporter for Medium's OneZero, Thomas Smith used the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) to obtain his own file from Clearview AI. The results were shocking--with a single social media image of his face, Clearview was able to determine his name, where he lives, his occupation, many of his family members and contacts, and more. Mr. Smith's article has been read over 140,000 times, and was recently cited by the ACLU in a landmark lawsuit against Clearview AI for privacy violations. This presentation covers Clearview's technologies, the privacy implications of the platform, and Mr. Smith's experiences in developing his article and reporting on the company.
Thomas Smith is Co-Founder and CEO of Gado Images, an AI-driven photography and media company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Gado Images covers technology, business and finance topics, with a special focus on Silicon Valley. Mr. Smith is a working photographer documenting companies in the Valley, and writes, speaks and consults about AI, privacy and consumer technology.
Members and guests, please welcome Thomas Smith!
Additional Resources
Learn more at:
To read the article at OneZero: https://onezero.medium.com/i-got-my-file-from-clearview-ai-and-it-freaked-me-out-33ca28b5d6d4
Upcoming Program Recording Schedule
All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online over Zoom video conference. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 minutes long and are subject to change without notice.
Our online video conference room link for these recordings is always http://zoom.siliconvalleyrotary.com/. You are welcome to join us! Please note the timezone listed for all recordings is US Pacific Time (San Francisco, California, USA).
If you can’t join the live recording, please send your questions for an upcoming speaker to programs@siliconvalleyrotary.com.
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