Facebook Signs Agreement With Washington State To End Discriminatory Ad Targeting (reuters.com)

Last month, Washington filed a lawsuit against Facebook (and Google) for failing to disclose political ad spending, as required by state law. Washington law requires that "political campaign and lobbying contributions and expenditures be fully disclosed to the public and that secrecy is to be avoided." Today, as reported by Reuters, Facebook has signed an agreement with the state to stop third-party advertisers in the U.S. from excluding protected groups from seeing their ads. From the report: Facebook confirmed the agreement with the state, and said the announcement is part of a long process to ensure that tools used to target ads on the social network are safe, civil, and fair. "We've removed thousands of categories related to potentially sensitive personal attributes -- like race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and religion -- from our exclusion targeting tools," the company said, pointing to its efforts from over a year-and-a-half. The legally binding agreement with Washington state requires Facebook to make the changes to its ad platform within 90 days, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said.

Comments

One state down,

[VeryFluffyBunny]

...and only 49 more to go. Why isn't this illegal in every state already? Don't 'Muricans value their freedom from tyranny?

Re: One state down,

[Anonymous Coward]

Only FB made and implemented these changes prior to Washington even filing the lawsuit.

Re:One state down,

[Narcocide]

It was already illegal. Everywhere. The much bigger mystery is why only Washington has sued, so far.

Re:One state down,

[tchdab1]

Why isn't this illegal in every state? Maybe the story and the issue was targeted only to Washington State voters.

Re:One state down,

[michelcolman]

Yeah, black people have as much right to see sunscreen lotion ads as white people do.

Re:One state down,

[Anonymous Coward]

they can still discriminate based on stupidity. so maybe they'll just feed you only advertisements for products and services that reduce or eliminate your chances to procreate, so this particular branch of stupid ends here and now with you.

Re: One state down,

[Anonymous Coward]

Why should it be illegal? Nobody is asking for ads. Ads are not rights, they are nuisance. The discriminatory protection is only for rights. I am happy to be excluded from any.

Re:One state down,

[ichimunki]

Don't be a fucking idiot. Black people who get skin cancer are more likely to die from it than white people, for starters. They are less likely to get it in the first place thanks to an extra dose of melanin, but they still get it at a pretty good clip. And some "Black" people are extremely light-skinned (thanks to having white ancestors), so that's much less melanin helping them out. Think about it. President Obama is "Black" right? But he actually has more "white" genes in his body than "Black" thanks to his mother and her mitochondrial DNA. If he's being safe he'll wear sunscreen, even though he's Black.

Re:One state down,

[Luckyo]

Why is this illegal? Does it hurt that gay clubs can advertise to just gays, and not cause objections because their ads show up for conservative Christian types?

Re: One state down,

[Luckyo]

You're not going to get any less ads, and ads that aren't targeted tend to be even more of a nuisance to people. That's why most people don't opt out from ad targeting systems on various sites now that GDPR allows for it.

Re:One state down,

[VeryFluffyBunny]

You think conservative Christian types (and similar) should be encouraged to live in a bubble? I think it's a great idea for gay people to see stuff from conservative Christians and vice-versa. Keeps everyone in-the-loop and opens opportunities for dialogue and understanding. It also reduces opportunities for individuals and organisations to mischaracterise groups perceived as "others" and mislead their followers. There's nothing quite like a little familiarity to reduce poorly informed discrimination.

The main point is that it's been made illegal to deny people goods and services on the basis of poorly informed discrimination, e.g. racism, sexism, and religious intolerance, because it creates inequality and systematically unjust treatment of some groups of people. Denying groups of people access to useful information, e.g. job opportunities, properties for rent, and political activism (supportive and adversarial), marginalises those people and is inherently unfair.

BTW, did you know that religious tolerance, or more specifically the prohibition of religious intolerance, is written into the US constitution?

Re:One state down,

[Luckyo]

If you think that advertising is the good way of "piercing the bubble", you are beyond hope. Advertising is what pisses off even the people that advertising is for in many cases. Ads are annoying. Welcome to realisation made in 20th century.

If you want to pierce bubbles, you're going to have to actually get off the ivory tower and talk to people, rather than aim to piss them off even more with ads they will find offensive.

Re:One state down,

[VeryFluffyBunny]

If you think that advertising is the good way of "piercing the bubble", you are beyond hope. Advertising is what pisses off even the people that advertising is for in many cases. Ads are annoying. Welcome to realisation made in 20th century.

Seeing advertising aimed at a group you are not part of is an excellent way to see how they're manipulated, what pushes their buttons, and how others are trying to exploit their biases and prejudices. As an outsider, your buttons are unlikely to be pushed by the messages/implications in the ads, giving you a cool, calm, and collected analytical view. Imagine watching an ad aimed at a group you disagree with. How likely are you to say to yourself, "Man, how do they fall for that shit?!"

Re:One state down,

[Luckyo]

You're talking as an analyst.

Audience is the exact opposite of an analyst. Reaction is also the opposite. Which is why there was so much screaming about "offensive ads showing up on video" on google a few years ago.

Personal targetting needs to stop in all forms

[evanh]

Ads should only be topic based. Things like search criteria, clicked links, subject matter of the webpage.

Ditch tracking.

Re:Personal targetting needs to stop in all forms

[Presence Eternal]

Finally heterosexual men can see "Unicorn Butt Cops" advertisements. The long hard night has met its end.

Re:Personal targetting needs to stop in all forms

[Anonymous Coward]

You're not heterosexual. You're gayer than Liberace.

Re: Personal targetting needs to stop in all forms

[Anonymous Coward]

His point still stands.

Re:Personal targetting needs to stop in all forms

[Narcocide]

I can't tell if you're opposed to inappropriate ad content or not.

Dog gone

[rmdingler]

I'm sure of two things: My faithful canine companion will be on the wrong side of a door shortly, and advertisers will not pay for data on potential customers if it's filtered through spectacles that preclude disseminating the differences inherent in race, color, creed, religion, gender, income, age, and toilet paper preference.

Re:Dog gone

[AmiMoJo]

They will pay, just like they used to pay before Facebook existed.

Facebook's bigger problem is that their user base is getting older, with all the lucrative 18-36 year olds moving to other platforms.

Re:Dog gone

[mentil]

Advertisers want to know which side of the door your dog wants to be on at any given moment. Marketers want your dog to pay to be on the other side.

Re: Dog gone

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, because we Gen-Xers and boomers have no money.

Then again, we also donâ(TM)t buy into half the stupid shit the millennial do.

Re: Dog gone

[Shotgun]

Then again, older people also don't buy into half the stupid shit the younger do. //refactoring to generalize

This now works for every generation since Jack traded his mother's cow for those stupid beans. I, for one, can recount some STUPID buying decisions I've made in my life that I'm not likely to repeat. The problem with older people is not that they're smarter. It's that they're more experienced. They've had time to have been there and to have done that. They got the t-shirt, and it fell apart before they got home.

Marketers want the young and naive. Those that can be convinced that nirvana lies at the end of ten easy payments of 49.95. Many older people never learn, and remain easy marks, but the young have a higher probability of not having experience with whatever con they're pushing.

What??!!

[PPH]

I was just getting used to the end of Net Neutrality and having my ISP be able to block all these annoying GOP websites and ads begging for money. Now you are telling me that I'm going to have to see them?

Noooooo!!!!!

creimer is fat, ugly and smelly!

[Anonymous Coward]

Cool story, cuck. Don't you have a glory hole to be manning?

Re:creimer is fat, ugly and smelly!

[Anonymous Coward]

which do you prefer this time, bradley manning or chelsea manning?

Re:creimer is hung like a twizzler nib

[Anonymous Coward]

Small bucket then? Like a thimble?

Re:creimer is hung like a twizzler nib

[Anonymous Coward]

Duh. creimer's packing less heat between his legs than a toddler.

Assault on free speech and conservatives

[Anonymous Coward]

Yet another big government assault on free speech and conservative values.

Re:Assault on free speech and conservatives

[Anonymous Coward]

Nope. The right to free speech provide no right to talk to me. Only a right to talk to those who wants to listen. They can't stop you from holding a meeting or rally.

The same goes for the free press. No freedom to make me read your printouts.

Advertising is hardly ever asked for, so it hardly ever enjoys the protections of free speech/press.

Re:Assault on free speech and conservatives

[Shotgun]

They can't stop you from holding a meeting or rally.

For that, you need to call in Antifa.

Facebook Patent Covers Race-Based Content Access

[theodp]

From U.S. Patent 9,692,838, assigned to Facebook, Inc. for Generating business insights using beacons on online social networks:
 
"In particular embodiments, authorization to access or view content deposited at one or more beacons 310 (e.g., by a user, social-networking system 160, or third-party system 170) may be based on conditions set by the creator or depositor of the content or by another entity. A restrictive condition on access to certain content at one or more beacons 310 may include membership in a specified group. For example, authorized group members may include, by example and not by way of limitation: members of a certain social club; users who have purchased access rights to the particular content; direct connections of a particular user node or concept node in social graph 200; users having phone numbers with a certain area code or prefix; registered users of a downloaded mobile device application, other suitable conditions, or any combination thereof. Restrictions to access may additionally be based on user-specific information, including but not limited to: demographic attributes of the user (e.g., age, gender, nationality, race, ethnicity, and/or locality);"

Re:Facebook Patent Covers Race-Based Content Acces

[Anonymous Coward]

Didn't Alabama register that patent 200 years ago already?

creimer is an obese and smelly cuck!

[Anonymous Coward]

I registered a patent for putting my penis in your butthole.

- creimer

Great !!!

[Archfeld]

So now I'll get non targeted targeted ads. I can expect Geri curl, tampon, and spanx ads to go with my jewish singles dating site banner ads. I think I'd rather be profiled...

No African Americans, Hebrews, or women were harmed in the crafting of this overly sarcastic post.

Re:Great !!!

[fafalone]

Sarcasm aside, no matter how much it offends SJWs, certain ads are more/less effective when shown to groups divided on 'protected' attributes, and since a less obnoxious version of your scenario actually will be the outcome. Because they couldn't have just done something like stop the use in housing ads, less effective ads will lead to pressure to show even more ads. So yeah, mostly blockable tracking might work out better.

Re:Great !!!

[ShanghaiBill]

less effective ads will lead to pressure to show even more ads.

No. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of how businesses work.

Businesses don't set a revenue goal, and then spend whatever it takes to get that level of sales.

What they do instead is try to MAXIMIZE PROFIT.

So if ads are LESS effective, they will generate LESS profit and there will be FEWER of them.

Re:Great !!!

[hambone142]

Why not take it one step further by mandating bong ads in National Geographic Magazine.

Why limit the ruling to online services. Mandate it to paper media also.

How about AR-15 ads in Woman's Day Magazine too?

Re:Great !!!

[Nethead]

This is Washington State. Bong ads in NatGeo would actually be a good ad investment. Just put the words indigenous and fair-trade in the description.

Re:Great !!!

[fafalone]

Ah if only things actually worked that way. In reality, they'll still want their ad to be seen by their target group, so will have to buy more ads in order to accomplish that. It would ad little, if anything, to the cost of the ad buy, as the less precise the targeting, the cheaper the ad. Forgot about that part huh?

Re:Great !!!

[ShanghaiBill]

will have to buy more ads in order to accomplish that.

No. This is nonsense. If it costs $10 per MM to place ads, and one campaign brings in $8 per MM, and the other $12, then the second will be run again and the first will not. This isn't rocket science.

less precise the targeting, the cheaper the ad.

No. You pay per impression or per click. If you mistarget, or just shotgun, you don't get a discount.

Re:Great !!!

[Archfeld]

I miss my bong, but the GF insisted it go, and banned smoking indoors. I gave it and my pipe for a vaporizer/atomizer. What I don't miss about it was the horribly toxic mess bong water turned into after just a hit or two, and the mess made when one of your stoned buddies inevitably knocked the thing over.

Re:Great !!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Without targeting the price per impression naturally goes down. That was the whole point of offering targeting. It allowed a higher price per impression.

Also, while I don't know a lot about advertising, it is clear you know less. Pricing for ads is now very dynamic. The primary way facebook/google sell ads is not by buying blocks of 1 million random impressions for a flat fee. It is so much more targeted and the pricing changes by exactly how you target.

Re:Great !!!

[radarskiy]

" certain ads are more/less effective when shown to groups divided on 'protected' attributes"

Except Facebook never provided a facility that could target ads to African Americans, you could only eliminate them from ad targeting. It was never a general purpose ad targeting facility, and defending general purpose targeting is actually off-topic.

Re:Great !!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Hell no sista, I associate with all those above and i feel VERY OFFENDED!
Everyone has seen it, he has raped me!!!

Re:Great !!!

[Shotgun]

That explains the relentless string of commercials on broadcast TV and radio.

Re:Great !!!

[fafalone]

So companies like Facebook, Google, etc, spend fortunes to create profiles that can be used to microtarget, and that's all just a waste of money, because they could just be charging the same price for ads without targeting? You kidding me?

Re:Facebook Patent Covers Race-Based Content Acces

[Anonymous Coward]

From U.S. Patent 9,692,838, assigned to Facebook, Inc. for Generating business insights using beacons on online social networks:

"In particular embodiments, authorization to access or view content deposited at one or more beacons 310 (e.g., by a user, social-networking system 160, or third-party system 170) may be based on conditions set by the creator or depositor of the content or by another entity. A restrictive condition on access to certain content at one or more beacons 310 may include membership in a specified group. For example, authorized group members may include, by example and not by way of limitation: members of a certain social club; users who have purchased access rights to the particular content; direct connections of a particular user node or concept node in social graph 200; users having phone numbers with a certain area code or prefix; registered users of a downloaded mobile device application, other suitable conditions, or any combination thereof. Restrictions to access may additionally be based on user-specific information, including but not limited to: demographic attributes of the user (e.g., age, gender, nationality, race, ethnicity, and/or locality);"

Which means you can target an ad toward African Americans if you want. If you have a product that is marketed to African Americans, why would you want to pay for clicks from others? If I am selling Bibles, I might want to target my ad to Christians and not have it pop up on everyone else' view.

Just because a feature can be abused does not mean it was created with evil intent.

Kiss ads/trackers/malscript sources goodbye

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject & APK Hosts File Engine 2.0++ 64-bit for Linux h t t p : / / a p k . i t - m a t e . c o . u k / A P K H o s t s F i l e E n g i n e F o r L i n u x . z i p (remove spaces between characters & download).

Yields more security/speed/reliability/anonymity vs. any SINGLE solution (99% of threats use hostnames vs. IP addresses most firewalls use) more efficiently/FASTER + NATIVELY 4 less!

(Vs. "Bolt on 'MoAr' illogic-logic" competitors slowing you, hosts speed you up 2 ways (adblocks + hardcodes u spend most time @) vs. competition loaded w/ security bugs (DNS/AntiVir) + overheads (messagepass ('souled-out' to advertiser addons) + filtering drivers) & their complexity leads to exploitation).

* ONLY 1 of its kind in GUI on Linux!

Better vs. Windows model in speed/efficiency/merge.

APK

P.S.=> Best program of its kind bar-none & better vs. browser addons + other competitors (full of bugs, excess resource use, slowdown & complexity)... apk

Re:Kiss ads/trackers/malscript sources goodbye

[Anonymous Coward]

Kowalski, why are you posting so late? Shouldn't you be sucking a thrid-grader's dick right about now?

Registered /.ers review of the Win64 model

[Anonymous Coward]

Your software is just fine - well written, functional... I'm going to continue using the Host File Engine by mmell February 17, 2017

Your premise that hostfiles are a good way to deal with advertising and malvertising is quite valid - by JazzLad April 20, 2016

his hosts program is actually pretty good by xenotransplant August 10 2015

his hosts tool is actually useful for those cases in which one does indeed want to locally block stuff outright while consuming minimum system resources by alexgieg September 25 2015

I like your host file system by Karmashock September 09 2015

that APK guy, I use his host file by rogoshen1 Tuesday March 03, 2015

I personally use a HOSTS file blocker produced from a genius called APK by 110010001000 October 27 2017

* Best part = Linux 64-bit model's faster/more efficient (2x work & 1/2 the time)

APK

P.S.=> For a faster/safer/more reliable internet... apk

I'm not convinced.

[Synonymous Homonym]

There is a saying that 90% of any advertising budget is wasted, but nobody knows which 90%.

For most businesses there is a simple correlation: No ads, no business. So don't ever expect fewer ads unless the 90% can be reduced.

And business plans do feature revenue targets.

Re: Second

[Anonymous Coward]

The creimertards, "APK", Trump imprisonment fantasizers, Russian-conspiracy theorists, and the faggot/INCEL/pedophile/traitor/Nazi trolls are all the work of disreputable political operative David Brock, and his fifty cent army of "nerd virgins".

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/09/david-brock-hillary-clinton-correct-the-record/

Earlier they gained notoriety for their duplicitous "Correct the Record" misinformation campaign on behalf of presidential candidate Hitlary Clinton.

They are are employed by a Democrat affiliated "progressive" propaganda works called "American Bridge 21st Century". According to Wikipedia their biggest funder is George Soros.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Bridge_21st_Century

The purpose of their spamming and cyber-stalking is to silence unapproved narratives. They do this by deterring free public discussion and poisoning any forum that does not implement censorship of unapproved viewpoints.

I don't understand

[Synonymous Homonym]

what any of this means.

Or if it even means anything.

Re: I don't understand

[Anonymous Coward]

Useless shit bizarro world bureaucrats.

Imagine if super heroes and villains existed, and the heroes didn't stop the villains from robbing and murdering people, but instead only stopped the villains from choosing to not target minorities and the disabled, in the name of equality!

Re: Facebook Patent Covers Race-Based Content Acce

[Anonymous Coward]

No surprise. Facebook is headquartered in the SF Bay Area, the most racist region in all of America.

You project how TWISTED you are... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

You project how TWISTED you are: I actually feel bad for you & "your kind" who stalk me by unidentifiable anonymous. I'm out there doing right by others & doing the best I can in a field I enjoy + made a career out of (long retired now though into other areas) that I still enjoy & can make a difference in (a good one). I get "your kind" trying vainly to "drag me down" to YOUR LOW LEVEL, but you can't - accept it. I'll always outsmart, outthink & OUTDO you. Always, as always. Accept that too.

* I'm up this EARLY a.m. sipping on a brew (since I can, I don't live to enrich 'masters' anymore - I am my OWN master is why (took decades but it's been a decade++ of it & I recommend it to ANYONE - be your OWN boss, get your OWN business going), catching up on news I missed & BLOWING YOU AWAY AGAIN here (you bit off more than you could chew & blew it - so NOW? You had to EAT YOUR WORDS (lol) as always vs. me hehehehe https://linux.slashdot.org/com... ).

APK

P.S.=> You ought to try be of service to others via the means you have available in terms of skillsets you have yourself (which in "your kind's" case probably isn't much hence your attempts @ spreading your misery onto me as an example you illustrate now) imo & experience - it really makes a difference in life (a good one) but then, I suppose I'm trying to teach a blind man what the color blue is telling you this (oh well, can't hurt to try): In the end, You've got the DEVIL ON YOUR BACK - just say "Satan, in the name of Jesus Christ, GET THEE BEHIND ME" for your own sake... apk

Re:You project how TWISTED you are... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm out there doing right by others

You mean that you're a lonely old narcissist trying, desperately, to get people to pay him attention.
You have been told, repeatedly, that your spam and behaviour are unwanted. You ignore this because it doesn't fit your narcissistic self delusion.
You _could_ have the interaction you so clearly desperately need. You could have respect and even friendship. But you'd have to actually listen to other people and treat them as though they mattered. You'd need to learn empathy and to be able to respect the customs and rules of the society which you seek to engage.

& can make a difference in

Only if you ignore all criticism.
You success and importance is a delusions. You've been told, repeatedly, in this forum and every other you've ever belonged to that your behaviour is unwelcome.

I'll always outsmart, outthink & OUTDO you

Yup, Pure narcissism.

get your OWN business going

So why not go and tend to that business rather than spamming a forum with your 90s shareware and self aggrandisement?

You had to EAT YOUR WORDS

Sure. When you invent your own rules of argument and debate, you get to 'win' whenever you want.
Which is why you are old, lonely and alone.

I read your link to the Linux forum.
Like so many things you quote, you don't really understand it, do you?

You were being mocked. You missed that - lack of empathy and poor socialisation will do that for you.

You were challenged, repeatedly, to answer specific questions. You ignored it. A trait you use quite often. Sometimes it's because you've been found out in an exagerration. Sometimes it's a criticism. It always makes you look weak, and it's usually when you go on the attack. Typical NPD. Expose their mask and they attack.

But you're so deluded, you actually _link_ to it becaue you _genuinely_ think you won?

probably isn't much

Projection.

spreading your misery

Projection.

teach a blind man what the color blue

Or trying to tell a narcissist that they aren't god's gift to programming.

DEVIL ON YOUR BACK

*smile* Projection.

Your devil is narcissism. It's robbed you of love, a family, meaningful relationships, respect and friendships. It's placed filters over your eyes and ears so that you cannot and will not hear anything other than the delusion it whispers. You cannot change or grow because you cannot accept any fault or criticism.

*shrug*

I doubt I'll ever convince you. But perhaps someone else will read this and see in your behaviour a similarity to someone they know, and read what I've written and look into NPD. Maybe they can help someone else. I fear you'll go to your grave, one more victim of narcissism.

Get help. Please. You seem to be getting worse.

Addendum (lol): Tux? Meet KOWALSKI... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject: Since I've built my program for Windows & now Linux "penguins all"? Tux met KOWALSKI http://madagascar.dreamworks.c... (area of EXPERTISE - INTELLIGENCE (unlike you, lol))... of Madagascar fame!

* :)

APK

P.S.=> Yes, I think THAT fits nicely w/ https://politics.slashdot.org/... ... apk

This is one discrimination I could have liked

[Opportunist]

What's not to like about NOT getting to see ads?

Re:This is one discrimination I could have liked

[Luckyo]

If ads aren't targeted, they'll have to have more impressions of the same ads to get the same amount of relevant views. Non-targeted ads are also cheaper for this very reason than accurately targeted ones.

So this is going to lead to you seeing more ads, because non-targeted ads are cheaper per impression and they need to show more of them to hit the target audiences.

Re:This is one discrimination I could have liked

[Opportunist]

So this is going to lead to your ad filter having to filter more ads, because non-targeted ads are cheaper per impression and they need to show more of them to hit the target audiences.

FTFY

Re:This is one discrimination I could have liked

[Luckyo]

This is irrelevant to discussion at hand. Adblock working is a completely separate issue.

Re:This is one discrimination I could have liked

[Opportunist]

Not quite. Without ads becoming so incredibly annoying and invasive, most users would not have bothered with adblockers.

Until not that long ago, adblockers were not too common. I mean, let's face it. You have people who put up with 5+ minutes boot times because they can't be bothered to delete old crap that infests their "run at boot" folders. You have people who put up with browser windows that are barely the size of a phone screen because they can't be assed to delete the billion browser bars that got installed with some crap they "must" have.

It got bad enough that THESE people started to install adblockers.

And the worse it gets, the better. Because then more people install adblockers.

Re:This is one discrimination I could have liked

[Luckyo]

That's a really weird and roundabout way of admitting to the point I made above.

Re:Facebook Patent Covers Race-Based Content Acces

[Highdude702]

Its ok to exclude white people, It is not ok to exclude black and brown people.

Confusing summary?

[argStyopa]

The summary talks about FB being in trouble for NOT DISCLOSING political ads, but then continues about an agreement to restrict filtering ad content by certain protected criteria like race...is it one, the other, or both?

So, wait.

[Anonymous Coward]

If a sports equipment store can target football players, why can't a Christian bookstore target Christians?

As is so often the case, attempts to end discrimination wind up themselves being discriminatory.

I am APK the LORD of HOSTS

[Anonymous Coward]

I am APK the great "LORD of HOSTS", a.k.a. AlecStaar or Alexander Peter Kowalski.

See subject & APK Hosts File Engine 2.0++ 64-bit for Linux h t t p : / / I . a m . a . f u c k i n g / a s s h o l e . r e t a r d . z i p (remove spaces between characters & download).

I am the godlike creator of various GUI front-ends for other people's configuration files.

Calling people ne'er-do-wells or Jealous JOWIEs is how I think I win every argument

When people state the truth about me I get really mad and accuse them of projecting which is something I do all the time.

Don't call me out on anything unless you are willing to prove you too can write some strings to a file programmatically

Spamming and being a general pain in the ass is what I do

Listen as I relive my glory days of being a college athlete in the early 80s

You must be conspiring with the Jews and Soros if you disagree with me

Bask in my greatness as I can do a ping as a non root user.

Watch as I whine about my work being flagged as malware by anti-virus software.

Witness my descent into madness

APK

Impersonating me again? apk

[Anonymous Coward]

Tell us of your MILLION$ (of lies) "phantasies" https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... & you admit IMPERSONATING ME https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... + STALKING me by UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous too... pitiful!

WHO'S "DESCENDING INTO MADNESS"? Not I - you clearly are!

* Accept fact: You CAN'T STOP ME &/or "downmodbomb" me via your SOCKPUPPET alternate /. accounts you FARM downmodpoints with - I just systematically methodically RUN YOU DRY of those, lol - every SINGLE time & out of "FrUsTrAtiOn" you begin your f'd up rants when I run you out of those downmodpoints.

APK

P.S.=> You impersonating me proves you wish you were me & imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - but you = poor imitation. Your STALKING me by UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous proves you FEAR me also... apk

Re: Second

[Anonymous Coward]

APK is real, and a bit batty but a good sort. Cremeier is real, but the trolls around him I am not so sure.

The other groups with their machine-like trolling- the Trump imprisonment guy, the "they hate us and want us to die" guy- I have no idea about. They do seem artificial and designed to destroy commentary on censorship-free boards, but I don't know if that is "really Brock" or anything- plenty of groups around the world desperately want free speech to end, that is not some unique attribute of the American left.

The other mystery...

[bagofbeans]

...is why when you or I get caught breaking the law, we can't just sign a legal agreement saying that we won't do it again.

Dear "SiDeWaLk-ShRiNk" of /. (lol)... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

Dear "SiDeWaLk-ShRiNk" of /. - get over your delusions of grandeur you're a degreed licensed practicing psychiatric pro, ok? NPD "Cry of the WOUNDED "ne'er-do-well" & all = YOU (laughable) unless you care to PROVE you're indeed a licensed degreed psychiatric pro (which you can't, lol) that is. Even IF you were you have NOT performed a formal evaluation of my mental condition in a PROFESSIONAL psychiatric environs - which yes, per the Goldwater RULE of law, makes you a LIBELER of myself (hence WHY you "HIDE" behind UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous posts STALKING me (stalker you're breaking MORE laws)).

* My family & I get along VERY well so you know & WHO CARES what you vainly TRY to "order me around" on? I don't LISTEN to DO-NOTHING stalker "ne'er-do-well" JEALOUS "Lil' Jowie" you with no talent or skill - get it? Good...

I never said I was "God's gift to programming" but YOU PROJECT you THINK I am - thanks, but nobody is.

Being 'mocked' by a LOSER like you just makes me laugh @ you. You're living proof of "idle hands are the devil's workshop" & stalking me as you do jealous worm PROVES you DO INDEED have the DEVIL on your back!

APK

P.S.=> Keep WASTING YOUR TIME & life (which it's CLEAR you did your ENTIRE wasted do-nothing life producing zero of value whereas by comparison I can show otherwise from our /. peers https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... & YOU + "your kind"? Certainly can't PROVING you're a waste of LIFE w/ a wasted life, lol)... apk