Slashdot Mirror
Google Launches News Badges
theodp writes "Does it make you sad that you're too grown up to earn Scouting Merit Badges? Well, thanks to the PhDs at Google, you can now start earning Google News badges as you read articles about your favorite topics. The more you read, the higher rank you'll attain; Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and finally, Ultimate. They say, 'Your badges are private by default, but if you want, you can share your badges with your friends. Tell them about your news interests, display your expertise, start a conversation or just plain brag about how well-read you are.'"
I've got a platinum badge in pornography. Cleveland Steamer stories are always read.
How does reading the news make you an expert on anything other than reading news?
Contrary to popular belief, reading news that is mass produced by large corporations with vested interests and that manipulate and actively suppress fact does not make you "well read".
Not even sophomoric. Books are real reading. I want badges for the number of science fiction books. I read four in the last two weeks!
These badges just prove that you're addicted to some thing that is new and always being updated. It's like refreshing on Slashdot for a new article to appear. At least I'll get a badge for wasting my time reading the news now! Facebook culture everywhere.
Slashdot needs Geekcode | Can anyone recommend any good SCIFI? My tastes: Foundation, Startide Rising, CITY, Ringworld,
To be a functioning member of American society today, one cannot know anything about the news or recent events, especially those happening in some other part of the world. So how is this supposed to ever gain any following in America? American society is built around ignorance, and this is completely contradictory to that foundation.
I could see it at least applying in Europe or Asia, where almost everybody follows the news to some extent. But such badges would be pointless. In Europe and Asia, you don't have to have a fucking badge to show that you've got a minimum level of news comprehension skills. It's something that everybody is just assumed to have!
To get started with badges, visit Google News from a signed-in account with web history
Ha-ha. Fuck no.
I refuse to give up one of the few pieces of data about me that Google allows me to control... for a few pixels.
Oh well look at that, yet another feature that Google Apps users will not be able to use.
It seems the best way to opt-out of new Google stuff is to become their customer - then you can't get on these things even if you wanted it.
We don't need no stinkin' badges.
Google already know everything about you including how big it is!
Exactly--a preoccupation with "news" stories is the opposite of being well read. Being well read involves understanding the depths of artistic works / events. News stories provide the opposite, especially from the establishment media. They provide surface-level summaries of what some people have said that generally serve corporate and political interests.
I don't think anyone's immune to being interested in the latest happenings, waiting for some great or tragic event to bolster or destroy a cause or bring salvation or damnation. But this superficiality works against a true understanding of what's going on, and such a reward system incentivizes chasing "what's new" over what's true or what's good.
...badges badges badges badges badges badges badges mushroom mushroom MUSHROOM!
The mental process of you wanting to read a piece of news and so extend your awareness of the world is completely incompatible with the mental process of you trying to be done with a task in order to get abstract points. Seems to me that someone at Google who understands neither is trying to push social into news b/c their bonus depends on it.
>Your badges are private by default,
NOW who says Google doesn't listen to privacy concerns? :p
Great, I am going to make a Script that "reads" all kind of news on my behalf, then I will be know as an expert in "why badges are meaningless".
I know that there'll be a steady stream of snarky remarks about who ridiculous the whole idea is, but it's still a brilliant move. Due to my work, I'm in constant touch with the "new generation" - students in the range of 13-25. And they like this kind of stuff. Don't ask me why, but they are fascinated by the possibilities of exhibitionism on the Internet - "telling the world what you're doing" kinda of stuff. Had a girlfriend a few months back, and she loved Facebook of course, and location services. She loved to "check in" every place she went to, and let everybody know that she is there. Once we traveled to the south of the city, which is a huge area of mangrove forest. There's absolutely nothing there, just a very small and rather poor fishing village, lots of water, swamp, and thick mangrove forests. And when we arrived, she was trying to check in with her phone. Amazing! This is just one of the many reasons why our relationship was brief. But the point is, that young people love collecting things like that, even if it sounds ridiculous to some of us. I'm not that old actually (34), but I know many here are older than that ;)
Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!
People like unlocking 'achievements'.
Google is offering them for not being an illiterate moron.
Next up. Ones for not being a fat lazy fucker. Not being a corrupt evil moron. Not being a douchebag.
Sad that we need such a thing. But i guess it's a start.
I don't have to show you no stinking badges!
Oh sure, for years now Slashdot has been railing on about how great Google is and how they are the Messiah company of the modern computing industry. But now what? Now that Google has produced a direct competitor to Slashdot's famous Karma-whoring....errrrr....Karma building system will you still sing their praises?
Eh Taco? Is Google still the bell of the Slashdot ball or are you going to jump in bed with Jobs and Balmer now and start harpooning Google since they are about to eat your Karma building lunch?
Oh who am I kidding, we 'dotters are far too paranoid to partake in such a scheme fun by Google.
=D
Motorcycles, Robots, Space Gossip and More!
The future is one step closer: courtesy of SMBC.
Motorcycles, Robots, Space Gossip and More!
nice article. http://blog.webring.in/
Soon, they'll have badges for how many emails you send from Gmail, how many circles you have in Google+, how many searches you preform in a day, and, most importantly, how many adds you view in a day.
I'm not too grown up.
I might be too old. I'll concede that.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Belgian, you insensitive clod!
Set your phasers on "funky"!
OP is a CA
echo '[q]sa[ln0=aln80~Psnlbx]16isb572CCB9AE9DB03273snlbxq' |dc
lets take "magnetar capital" for example.
there has been one book that discusses this little hedge fund, its called EConned (which grew out of a blog called nakedcapitalism.com).
on the other hand there have been a half-dozen news stories about it, some of the first being in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.
there have been pretty much zero science fiction books that deal with financial engineering, credit derivatives, tranched securities, and everything else related to the financial crisis.
there are a lot of good reporters working for the 'corporate media', including louise story and gillian tett.
---------
i could also talk about the Vietnam War Crimes Working Group Files, which were originally found by an 'independent researcher', but later more thoroughly examined by someone who had worked for the LA Times.
i dont think there are any science fiction books about the Vietnam War Crimes Working Group Files.
Why would:
(a) My friends be interested in my news interests? I'm not interested in theirs. . .except under unusual circumstances, when I'll just ask them myself. . . .
(b) I want to display my expertise, start a conversation or just plain brag about how well-read I am? Wouldn't that just drive any (remaining) friends away?
(c) I want to give Google a signed-in account with web history, and permission to track me in even greater detail?
I confess that this type of stuff just baffles me completely. What's the attraction?
With digital book platforms where your purchases along with page numbers and dates are stored, you might be right on.
It will be a sad day when there is no way to legally obtain and read a new book without having your name attached to it in a database... if we let that happen.
Wow, looks like google is doing market research for "news" to the lowest common denominator.
This will be fun to watch.
What about following the link to read those news from some other place, even owned by google, like the search engine itself, mail, google reader or even google+ ?
Even if this have any kind of meaning (except the obvious promoting one of their experiments/projects/profit sources/whatever that is lowering the amount of visitors), they should be consistent and integrated along all their platform.
We ain't got no badges! We don't need no stinking badges!
Youtube and Google+ badges? Maybe for a future Google Games? That'd make sense. But the cynic in me sees this as nothing but a glorified tracking cookie to build the ultimate user profile.
Parent is something weird. Not the real video.
So now we're creating a achievements for reading tripe for the likes of news corp?
It looks to me as if this is a good way to bring forward information google already knows about you, but in doing so, making it as fun and potentially social as possible
insight through the mind
Um is it just me or does it seem like they're applying the Starcraft 2 ladder's ranking system? Embarrassing
ReaderAdvantage Program: As a 2010 April Fools' Day joke, Google announced a reward program for Google Reader known as ReaderAdvantage, in which points accumulated by users for reading items could earn them Novice, Gold, Platinum, or Totally Sweet Badges, which Google revealed was a goof.
You just earned the Squirrel Sex Gold badge!
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
good find!
so, the april fools joke in 2010 ended up being an announced product the year later.
are we supposed to laugh? with them? or at them?
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
are we supposed to laugh? with them? or at them?
I think the joke's on the user
What you say about radio stations is true. One of the newer tactics is enticing cash strapped colleges and universities to sell their radio stations/frequencies (usually to the great dismay of the communications department and the community). So instead of having a community service or an educational tool or both, you end up with something probably legally classified as a "religious nonprofit" set up as a repeater of some remotely-produced dogmafeed. [Did I just make that term up? No search engine results from the majors. I think it's appropriate for this type of station.]
"If you don't read a newspaper you are uninformed. If you do read a newspaper, you are misinformed." Mark Twain
Slashdot = Sarcasm
This is back to front, we need an award system for the news providers
Well, thanks to the PhDs at Google
These PhDs might as well hand in THEIR badges, and go work for the entertainment industry directly.
If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
I'd much rather get useful new display options (say, a stream of all articles likely to be interesting), or options to hide boring news stories as they rise. (I ended up avoiding Google News the last two weeks as the Casey Anthony trial flooded the headlines. Frankly, my dear, I don't give a darn.) While I understand that it's easy to implement flair over UI/UX improvements, and that adding addicting achievements is good for site traffic, lets try to maintain the focus on bringing value to the user, ok?
sounds very interesting.
"or just plain brag about how well-read you are."
What about the Google Bubble?
Great, encourage users to willfully catalogue their reading habits and news sources for Google by making a game out of it.