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FTC says Facebook privacy settlement doesn't require blocking researchers.

When Facebook disabled the accounts of New York University researchers who were investigating misinformation and political ads on the platform, the social-media giant claimed it did so to comply with a consent decree that it previously agreed to with the Federal Trade Commission. "We took these actions to stop unauthorized scraping and protect people's privacy in line with our privacy program under the FTC Order," Facebook wrote in its explanation of the account suspensions. Facebook said it "disabled the accounts, apps, Pages and platform access associated with NYU's Ad Observatory Project and its operators."

But Facebook's claim that the FTC order forced it to suspend the researchers is false, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Acting Director Samuel Levine wrote in a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday. The FTC order did require Facebook to create a privacy program, but there was no requirement that would have forced Facebook to shut down the NYU research project. Despite that, Facebook's statement that it suspended the accounts "in line with our privacy program under the FTC Order" conveys the false message that Facebook had no choice in the matter.

sosuperawesome

Wood and Resin Lamps and Sculptures

Dada Atolye on Etsy

pr1nceshawn

Giveaways that someone is American, as told by non-Americans.

moosetrees

Accurate.

built2bulk-blog

This is oddly comforting.

notasupersaiyan-yet

Idk why I was expecting a list of negative shit

theultimatepumpkinpie

We do do these things a lot and it’s so nice to hear them in a positive light because so often I feel like we’re hated on. Never in my life have I had someone from another country call us friendly. They always say we’re loud and obnoxious (not that that’s not true, it often can be). It’s such a relief to hear something else.

uncle-beanbag

Being prepared for anything should be everyone.

On the off chance a giant whale drops from the sky and splatters in the desert with a flower pot I’m prepared for it.

steakplissken

I had a poli-sci Professor from Bulgaria who had done work in refugee camps during the Bosnian wars and she said the American volunteers were the most helpful, least-jaded of everyone. Not naïve, but willing to believe problems could be solved and trying to keep spirits up rather than saying it was a shitty situation and what else could you do?

Friendly to the point of suspicion and prepared for everything.

renthony

I feel like pointing out that the “prepared for anything” and treating cities like uncharted jungles with nowhere to shelter or get water is largely because, in America, water and shelter are commodities.

You usually CAN’T find water or shelter for free or even cheap in any given large American city, and a lot of us (especially who grow up in hotter American climates) are taught from a very young age to always bring your own water, along with an umbrella and a jacket.

You can’t “loiter” in the air conditioning anywhere, it costs $3+ for a decent-sized bottle of water, and business owners are outright hostile to people who enter the building just for quick relief from the weather.

heroofthreefaces

And the “tipping the barman” paragraph reflects that food service employees in the US are legally paid a minimum wage about 1/3 of everyone else because the difference is assumed to be made up with tips.

ruffboi-mags

I’m honestly deeply touched that “loud but friendly and prepared, not sarcastic when saying things are ‘great’, big smiles” was the takeaway from this, not “loud and obnoxious ugh stay away americans.” because we *can* be wonderful and it’s always a little heartbreaking that only our very worst behaved people (or stereotypes that aren’t generally accurate) are ever considered an “example” of what Americans are like.

systlin

Can confirm the water thing; in cities I always automatically assume that a small bottle of water will be like $3 or more, and so just bring my own instead. And a small first aid kit, because if you need it it’s faster to just whip yours out rather than trying to find out where you can get what you need around you.

idinink

Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t (or “wasn’t” I guess, since Brexit :/) travel between EU countries pretty easy and hassle-free? Part of USian uber-preparedness is just that…we’re a LOT farther away from home than Scandinavian/French/Italian ppl! I imagine transferring emergency funds is a lot harder for us, AND if you lose your passport you are ROYALLY screwed (like, cant go home for MONTHS of red tape screwed), so we’re generally advised to keep our passport, IDs, credit cards & cash securely stored on our actual person at ALL times. This mindset might carry over to extraneous things like water bottles/sewing kits/etc for psychological reasons more than anything? I imagine the average USian has much less experience with actual international travel than the average European.

Plus, not to get socialist on main, but the specter of getting sick/injured in a foreign country looms large. It’s irrational, since we’d be much BETTER off getting in a country with national healthcare. But here in the hellscape that is the USA healthcare system, even if you HAVE insurance, needing medical care “out of area” (e.g. in another state, or simply a city without any of your “covered carriers” nearby), you could easily be looking at tens of thousands of dollars of instant medical debt. Awesome, right????

Also, I think Americans tend to want to Pack More In* to every day of travel so who wants to waste time navigating foreign shops when you can just carry your own stuff from the get go??

*This might be because we’re just Like That, OR because it takes a lot more time/money (including unpaid time off work!) to get to Europe so there’s no casual “oh we’ll just do that thing Next Time” option, OR because unlike other European countries who all have their own castles and shit, we don’t have ummmmmmm, how you say…..History? lol. so we need more time to gawpl! :)

I hope none of this comes off as defensive, btw! I think it’s a genuinely fascinating subject and love comparing cultural notes :)

archatlas

MahaNakhon by Büro Ole Scheeren

The 77-storey MahaNakhon – a name that translates as “great metropolis” – is defined by a pixelated form with cuboid cutaways that spiral up its facades. “The idea behind MahaNakhon was to take the life of the city and bring it up the tower in a dramatic, spiralling movement,” said Ole Scheeren, principal of Büro Ole Scheeren.

The observation deck includes a glass deck that is cantilevered out from the building to give visitors views directly down to the ground more that 300 metres below. Named the Skytray, the walkable glass platform measures 4.5 by 17.5 metres.

mydododied-deactivated20200613

namk1

digitalessence

Ancient Egyptian gods by Yliade.

zalrb

I'm not tryna sh*t on Sansa, I just have a question since we gotta constantly compare her to Dany. What has Sansa done to help women? Or the oppressed? I don't even need an example where she helped at a cost to herself, i just need one instance.

OK well let’s skip over the fact that Sansa and Dany’s contexts are different and Sansa didn’t have magical blood that allowed her to step into a fire with eggs that then hatched into dragons, which gave her a considerable edge over everyone around her, and let’s skip over the fact that Sansa didn’t have a Jorah Mormont to physically protect her and emotionally support her throughout her horrors, and let’s skip over the fact that Dany killing the masters was superficial because she didn’t implement actual change in Mereen and under her rule there was chaos and poverty while with the Dothraki all she did was blow something up and she did it to get a khalsaar and let’s talk about what Sansa has done within the limited mobility she was constrained to over the course of the series because she was essentially a captive of the Lannisters and the Boltons and Lysa for a while.

How about the fact that the North was going to starve if it weren’t for Sansa’s planning of the food stores?

How about the fact that it was Sansa who got through to Theon, helped him back to his sense of self after Reek, which then allowed him to get back the Iron Islands and pledge his loyalty to Yara which then allowed him to come back to Winterfell and protect Bran from WWs when he needed it?

How about the fact that Joffrey was going to murder Ser Dantos Hollard, but Sansa tricked Joffrey into sparing him

How about the fact that during the War of the Blackwater, while Cersei was busy being Cersei, Sansa was the one who actually comforted the women and children

There are ways to contribute other than blowing shit up and making empty speeches, some might even say better ways, ways that actually do something.

zalrb

I'm not tryna sh*t on Sansa, I just have a question since we gotta constantly compare her to Dany. What has Sansa done to help women? Or the oppressed? I don't even need an example where she helped at a cost to herself, i just need one instance.

OK well let’s skip over the fact that Sansa and Dany’s contexts are different and Sansa didn’t have magical blood that allowed her to step into a fire with eggs that then hatched into dragons, which gave her a considerable edge over everyone around her, and let’s skip over the fact that Sansa didn’t have a Jorah Mormont to physically protect her and emotionally support her throughout her horrors, and let’s skip over the fact that Dany killing the masters was superficial because she didn’t implement actual change in Mereen and under her rule there was chaos and poverty while with the Dothraki all she did was blow something up and she did it to get a khalsaar and let’s talk about what Sansa has done within the limited mobility she was constrained to over the course of the series because she was essentially a captive of the Lannisters and the Boltons and Lysa for a while.

How about the fact that the North was going to starve if it weren’t for Sansa’s planning of the food stores?

How about the fact that it was Sansa who got through to Theon, helped him back to his sense of self after Reek, which then allowed him to get back the Iron Islands and pledge his loyalty to Yara which then allowed him to come back to Winterfell and protect Bran from WWs when he needed it?

How about the fact that Joffrey was going to murder Ser Dantos Hollard, but Sansa tricked Joffrey into sparing him

How about the fact that during the War of the Blackwater, while Cersei was busy being Cersei, Sansa was the one who actually comforted the women and children

There are ways to contribute other than blowing shit up and making empty speeches, some might even say better ways, ways that actually do something.