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fuck everything

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Astoria Photos and one haystack rock

Astoria Photos and one haystack rock

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Cannery Photos

This is the first summer it’s not running all day, or at all, so I figured it’d be worth documenting what it looks like. Not really decrepit, but still no noises or people so a little bit weird if you’re used to it being busy.

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More Old Photos

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Some Old Photos

Nothing to do but mess around in darktable sometimes and I think I’ve improved so some new versions of photos from last year.

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The Truth Will Not Prevail

The Truth Will Not Prevail

One of Facebook’s many sins, according to critics, is that is has undermined faith in expertise and truth itself by allowing conspiracies, fake news, and propaganda to run rampant. The most compelling exploration of this phenomenon comes in Revolt of the Public by Martin Gurri, which explores it as an internet phenomenon rather than focusing on Facebook specifically so does it best. Borat star…

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Review of Brandwashed by Martin Lindstrom

Review of Brandwashed by Martin Lindstrom

Probably a 3.5/5. This is an interesting dive into the psychological and social pressures advertisers use to manipulate and try to get us to buy stuff. Some of the research described seems to small and the generality of the results overstate, but it only takes a low level of effectiveness when the means are used on a large population to pay off for advertisers or anyone else using these tools.…

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Local Photos

Can’t go anywhere really, so some photos from closer to home.

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Review of Targeted by Brittany Kaiser

This book suffers from three problems; first, Kaiser claims to have very little insight into how the microtargeting, data science, or psychology worked at Cambridge Analytica, second, she mostly tries to deflect blame from herself preferring to frame herself as a victim of a charismatic leader, and finally Chris Wiley has written a much more insightful book about the same thing so there’s very…

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Conspiracy Theories & Trust in Institutions

Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy is an excellent primer on the growth of conspiracy theories and the secret machinations of the American government that fed them in the 20th century. Olmstead argues that conspiracy theories result from mistrust of institutions and the government. The mistrust is well earned due to various plots and lies that have emanated from presidents,…

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It’s cheaper to fly into Seattle and spend the night than fly into Portland for Heather, so we did that a few weeks. We stopped at the Space Needle and Mt. St. Helens before heading home, here are a few photos I took while I was out.

  Photos Creative Commons

Seattle & Mt. St. Helens It's cheaper to fly into Seattle and spend the night than fly into Portland for Heather, so we did that a few weeks.

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  Look, some pictures, gonna read more and write something soon, hopefully.

  Maryhill Stonehenge Look, some pictures, gonna read more and write something soon, hopefully.

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Emergent Properties, Complexity, and the Internet

Emergent Properties, Complexity, and the Internet

A response to this, sort of.

https://slate.com/technology/2020/02/three-decades-internet-freedom-activism.amp

They didn’t blow it, but they also didn’t consider that society/human relations are a complex system and increasing connections in a complex system has unpredictable emergent properties. The problem we have now is that people aren’t analyizing the emergent properties effectively and…

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PR Firms & Personas/Fake Profiles

PR Firms & Personas/Fake Profiles

In an effort to avoid tweeting quotes from the book I’m reading in a long thread I’ve typed them below. The book, ‘Computational Propaganda,’ is part of the Oxford Studies in Digital Politics and edited by Samuel Woolley and Philip Howard. It features examinations of bots, trolls, and social media manipulation in politics by examining their impact and form in a country by country analysis. The…

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On Saturday I went the model train show. When you’re in the lobby to by tickets there’s a plaque that explains that in 1942 Japanese Americans from Oregon and parts of Washington were kept in the Expo center before being taken to concentration camps. I’m sure most people don’t even notice the plaque. It’s painful to read and you’re left wondering what to do. The pleasantry of the train show beyond feels weird. I kept it in mind.

The train show is a sort of odd combination of people. It attracts model train builders, mostly older men, and families looking for something to do. My favorite sort of group to see is a grandparent showing their grand kids the trains, hoping to stoke an enthusiasm for them they have. As you walk through the door and get your hand stamped you see an array of vendors selling model trains, miniature trees and everything else you need to build a model village to populate the model train world. Back behind the booths model train sets run. I brought my camera to take pictures of the trains. I like miniature worlds, it’s easy to believe they’re better than ours.

  Photos Creative Commons, Attribution

Train Show On Saturday I went the model train show. When you're in the lobby to by tickets there's a plaque that explains that in 1942 Japanese Americans from Oregon and parts of Washington were kept in the Expo center before being taken to concentration camps.

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Response to 'How Monoculture Is Engineered To Survive the Algorithm'

Response to ‘How Monoculture Is Engineered To Survive the Algorithm’

In an effort to streamline my internet posting, etc I’ve decide to publish my book reviews and comments on long articles and reports I read on my blog along with any other random thoughts I have about the variety of topics that interest me. This is, hopefully, the first of many posts in this genre.

https://www.thelowdownblog.com/2020/01/how-monoculture-is-engineered-to.html

What I’d say is that a…

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Birbs Outside My Window

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  Just some photos I took this rainy morning.

Oregon Winter Just some photos I took this rainy morning.