Distant Early Warning System

I report. You deride.

[awaitinginput-blog]

[marshallim]

awaitinginput:

“One day last February, a Twitter user in California named Billy received a tweet from @JamesMTitus, identified in his profile as a “24 year old dude” from Christchurch, New Zealand, who had the avatar of a tabby cat. “If you could bring one character to life from your favorite book, who would it be?,” @JamesMTitus asked. Billy tweeted back, “Jesus,” to which @JamesMTitus replied: “honestly? no fracking way. ahahahhaa.” Their exchange continued, and Billy began following @JamesMTitus. It probably never occurred to him that the Kiwi dude with an apparent love of cats was, in fact, a robot.”

Source The Atlantic

For now, similar (social engineering) operations are performed by trained professionals.

[inothernews]

[marshallim]

"The companies arranged for the money taken in from U.S.-based gamblers to be disguised as payments to hundreds of non-existent online merchants claiming to sell items like jewelry and golf balls..."

The article describes how "dummy corporations and websites" were part of the scheme.  It also cites an executive of Wynn Resorts who calls for regulation of Internet gaming.

Unfortunately, the heavily politicized issues of Internet gaming, pornography and malware could eventually spill over to affect the rights of legitimate website operators.

[kittenmeats]

[marshallim]

Piano that plays itself

[marshallim]

"The issue, says Sarver, is consistency.  Twitter users need to be able to experience the service in a uniform manner."

One developer's take on Twitter's new roadmap:

"...I am so happy I cut the cord with Twitter long before they got to this point. I'm pretty far along in doing a new user interface for microblogging, one without many of Twitter's limits."

Twitter, like Facebook, has had legal issues with its privacy policy.  Twitter's crack down was preceded by a settlement with the FTC:

"Under the terms of the settlement, Twitter will be barred for 20 years from misleading users about the extent to which it protects the security, privacy, and confidentiality of nonpublic consumer information..."

Twitter cracked down on third-party clients in response to what is essentially an internal issue.  More importantly, this chain of events was sparked by a government agency—for better and worse.

[awaitinginput-blog]

[marshallim]

awaitinginput:

“The true shining example of a social media service exploiting gamification to its fullest is Twitter. While there is no formal leader board or badges or achievement system (though Klout sprung up to meet that need); it doesn’t take new users long to become keenly aware of their number of “Followers,” @replies, “Re-Tweets,” and Lists (“engagement statistics”).  By having its users engagement statistics publicly available, Twitter subtlety enables users to enter into a feedback loop with the service. Twitter does not separate out its gamification through leader boards or badges, rather, gamification is baked into the system itself.”

Source An Associate’s Mind

[heyoscarwilde]

[marshallim]

heyoscarwilde:

Green Parade

art by Arnold Roth (circa 1958) :: scanned from Humbug :: Fantagraphics Books :: 2009 

"Saint Patrick's Day" drawing of throngs of bar patrons hopping in zigzag procession

[glastonbury-grove-deactivated20]

[marshallim]

Bluish, snowy video noise on pulsating monitor

[marshallim]

"Survival of Japan’s Internet, says Cowie, is most likely due to the 'dense web of domestic and international connectivity' built by Japanese engineers 'that is among the richest and most diverse on earth.'"

Topical quote:

"Eventually, I believe, current attempts to understand the mind by analogy with man-made computers that can perform superbly some of the same external tasks as conscious beings will be recognized as a gigantic waste of time."—Thomas Nagel

[marshallim]

"Google used a similar service following the recent earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand and following last year’s quakes in Haiti and Chile."

[theskeletonofme-deactivated2024]

[marshallim]

Hands with painted fingernails on crashing waves

[afternoonsnoozebutton]

[marshallim]

afternoonsnoozebutton:

“Light planes and vehicles were strewn among the debris.”

(BBC)

Videos:  "Shocking Videos and Photos from the 2011 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami"

[nationalpost-blog]

[marshallim]

nationalpost:

Fires burn in a harbour following an earthquake and tsunami in Natori City, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, March 11, 2011. (Reuters/Kyodo)

Graphic: Japan devastated by 8.9 earthquake Photos: Massive quake unleashes tsunami on Japan Earthquake in Japan: Who to call for information on relatives in Japan Live coverage: The latest from the Japan earthquake Huge tsunami slams Japan after 8.9 quake Tsunami advisory in place for B.C. after Japanese quake Japan’s deadly history with earthquakes Investors flee risk after Japan quake

[gvbi-deactivated20150220]

[marshallim]

Animated skeleton speaking on television with "OBEY" in the background | John Carpenter's They Live

[marshallim]

"By a party-line vote of 15 to 8 they passed a "resolution of disapproval" that would strip the FCC of its ability to protect Internet users -- freeing up companies like Verizon and Comcast to block our right to speak freely and share information on the Internet."

This issue is just as important as worker's rights, health care and the economy. You'll find all the information you need on this topic via the Internet; and almost nothing from cable television. Ask an Egyptian, Tunisian or Libyan if their politicians really had the people's interest in mind when it came to controlling Internet access. For the love of free speech, please share.

[marshallim]

Google, Copyright and Privacy Laws in Europe

"Google Confronting Spain’s 'Right To Be Forgotten'":

"The Spanish Data Protection Authority has ruled that freedom-of-expression rules in Spain, which cover newspapers and other publishers, don’t apply to search engines. However in earlier decisions the privacy regulator has labeled Google a “publisher” and held that libel laws that apply to newspapers equally apply to Google. These two positions would appear to directly contradict one another."

"Google Faces $600,000 Fine In France":

"The complainants argued that their works were appearing on line, via the Google search engine and sometimes directly on Google Video, despite their demands that such material be withdrawn."

"Should Governments Mandate Cookie Transparency?":

"The way to make people more concerned about their privacy is to educate them and make it their choice in how they deal with these things."

[happymonsters]

[marshallim]

"This is how I finish a presentation: Soo... Uhh ...yeah."

[marshallim]

"Governments should look to protect citizens and not just government assets, the authors recommend."

Turns out, there's a name for people who think like me: "dystopian pessimist". Go figure.