To all of you who thought Big Brother would come from "The Government": Surprise!
Here is where our free society dies...not with the bought-off corporate shills we elect, but far more directly. Even our damaged and fallible version of representative democracy is being rendered irrelevant by corporate executives who simply arrogate to themselves decisions about the kind of society we will have, and the acceptable costs of creating it.
This is what happens when a social or technological innovation allows some organization to gather and use power in a way that outstrips the ability of our democratic processes even to properly evaluate it, much less control it. So some unaccountable, unreachable corporate douchebag decides how many deaths will be an acceptable cost for implementing his personal vision of America. And what are the consequences for this kind of arrogant corporate over-reach? We just put an angry-face emoticon at the bottom of a 100-word comment, and fool ourselves into believing that's the extent of a citizen's duty in a democratic society.
You're preaching to the choir. Damned tiny keyboard dropped out "NOT" understanding the consequences of their decision. The comment still makes sense, so I didn't bother commenting again to correct it. The basic fact of the matter remains, though: nobody's mishandling data. They're handling it exactly the way they want to. Even the victims aren't completely blame free. They knew they were trading privacy for all the things Facebook offers. They just didn't realize they were trading all of it.
"The decision was issued in light of the company's recent privacy concerns over third-party data mishandling."
There had been no mishandling of data. The data were used in precisely the manner intended by all parties involved, except perhaps those who provided it fully understanding the implications of their decision.
You got it. As for why they should get him, the answer's in your comment. They want him, and that's enough. "Excuse me, sir, but it appears you have been walking openly on the street after having been a jerk for five years. That is an extraditable offense. Please come with us."
"An extraditable offense? Since when!"
"Since yesterday, sir, when our eavesdropping equipment let us know you were planning to leave."
It's not Sweden that really wants him. It's the US. And the British Tories can't afford to really piss Trump off right now. So if Assange leaves the Ecuadorian embassy, it won't be Sweden that tells the Brits to hand him over. It will be the US. And they'll get him, too.
Facebook goes out of its way to hide its nature. You and I are aware of what it's about, but as far as most people are concerned, it's a harmless way to give up a little information about yourself and in return stay in touch with a lot of distant relatives and not-too-close friends you otherwise would maybe email every once in a while, if at all. Almost nobody understands how powerful meta-data really is. They're shocked and dismayed when you tell them (and maybe prove to them) that just from harvesting information about their friends and "friends of friends" you can tell whether they're gay but pretending they aren't, fooling around on a spouse, pregnant, deep in debt, their physical location just about 24 hours a day, and a whole lot more.
And don't forget Facebook also makes it difficult and frustrating enough to protect yourself (as much as you can) that even people who are uneasy might give up in disgust and put off securing their privacy 'til another day.
I guess you missed the bit about "friends of friends" also having their data scooped without their knowledge or consent by a third party application they had nothing to do with, and used to target them when they had no idea they were being targeted.
Only an AC could make such a baseless, blatantly fucking stupid allegation. Nice try. Now go back to blowing your dog or if you're tired of that, whatever else it is you do for fun.
Most of the cops I know/have known are just about bright enough to figure out early in life that they're never going to make a lot of money in fields requiring a lot of brain power. So they go for the one where they get power and a pretty good salary without spending a lot of money on schooling.
An unfortunate corollary is that (as we've seen repeatedly), the people in charge of solving crimes generally aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer.
So this leaves us in a situation where the police are constantly demanding more laws, more surveillance, more control. This will not end, because in a standard "survival of the fittest" scenario, stupid criminals will get caught, smart ones will get away. So your basic crook will get smarter, while your basic cop will remain just the same, because he can always whine for more tech and more power from the government to keep up.
If we want to stop this insane march to a cop state, we'd better get proactive.
"Other countries have video games and don't have mass shootings. What they don't have is a school system that was designed over a hundred years ago and has never really changed. Our schools are culturally toxic and need to be radically modified."
"What they don't have is guns fucking everywhere and a culture that values them more highly than children."
Since so many of the sheeple seem intent on trading every scrap of personal information about themselves to marketers, it's obvious attempts to make aggressive data gathering illegal are going to fail for lack of support.
However, there is a kind of legislation might actually be popular enough to succeed. Enact data protection laws that include heavy penalties for failing to protect consumer data. When a corporation is as careless with consumer information as Wells Fargo was, for example, the company/bank/whatever should pay a hefty fine and be responsible for damages. In addition, the board of directors should actually face the strong probability that one or more of them will go to prison.
We have already seen massive data leaks that potentially have national security implications. If it's true, as we are repeatedly told, that severe penalties are a deterrent, then people responsible for such leaks should pay a heavy personal and financial price. They assemble detailed information about large segments of the population for their own ends. Then, because there are no real consequences for failing to protect these vast stores of information, they leave it vulnerable to any foreign spy agency with enough interest to go after it. Or they simply release it themselves due to carelessness, greed and stupidity.
I can't honestly say I'm surprised. Designers should never have made the holster for Master Chief's "Cranny Axe" weapon look so much like Trump's face.
No doubt they meant it as a compliment, but still...
"We are exploring utilizing location-based marketing as a way to help enhance the overall experience..."
"We are exploring exciting new ways to rape the wallets of people stupid enough to give a corporate predator unfettered access to their personal lives.
No doubt the bill will include exemptions for elected officials and law enforcement. And then there's the next step: a $30 fee to access websites critical of elected officials and law enforcement.
TFA isn't clear, but a lot of the state doesn't really have a grid. It would be good to know how many of those walls will wind up in places like Kauai, where they still provide power to buildings by running diesel generators.
Why would you care? Unless you've had a lot to say about fossil fuel subsidies totalling $5.3 trillion (more than 6% of the entire planet's GDP), you should probably just relax about a few bucks going to solar power, especially when it keeps getting cheaper and cheaper to install and use.
Slashdot Mirror
"...the victim had made several complaints to Tesla about the vehicle's Autopilot technology prior to the crash...
So the guy who has complained not once, but repeatedly, that his car's autopilot is inadequate engages it and completely ignores what it's doing.
This takes a special kind of stupid.
Somehow I found the strength to ignore the low-hanging fruit: that this potential Darwin Award winner was an Apple engineer.
To all of you who thought Big Brother would come from "The Government": Surprise!
Here is where our free society dies...not with the bought-off corporate shills we elect, but far more directly. Even our damaged and fallible version of representative democracy is being rendered irrelevant by corporate executives who simply arrogate to themselves decisions about the kind of society we will have, and the acceptable costs of creating it.
This is what happens when a social or technological innovation allows some organization to gather and use power in a way that outstrips the ability of our democratic processes even to properly evaluate it, much less control it. So some unaccountable, unreachable corporate douchebag decides how many deaths will be an acceptable cost for implementing his personal vision of America. And what are the consequences for this kind of arrogant corporate over-reach? We just put an angry-face emoticon at the bottom of a 100-word comment, and fool ourselves into believing that's the extent of a citizen's duty in a democratic society.
You're preaching to the choir. Damned tiny keyboard dropped out "NOT" understanding the consequences of their decision. The comment still makes sense, so I didn't bother commenting again to correct it. The basic fact of the matter remains, though: nobody's mishandling data. They're handling it exactly the way they want to. Even the victims aren't completely blame free. They knew they were trading privacy for all the things Facebook offers. They just didn't realize they were trading all of it.
"The decision was issued in light of the company's recent privacy concerns over third-party data mishandling."
There had been no mishandling of data. The data were used in precisely the manner intended by all parties involved, except perhaps those who provided it fully understanding the implications of their decision.
You got it. As for why they should get him, the answer's in your comment. They want him, and that's enough. "Excuse me, sir, but it appears you have been walking openly on the street after having been a jerk for five years. That is an extraditable offense. Please come with us."
"An extraditable offense? Since when!"
"Since yesterday, sir, when our eavesdropping equipment let us know you were planning to leave."
It's not Sweden that really wants him. It's the US. And the British Tories can't afford to really piss Trump off right now. So if Assange leaves the Ecuadorian embassy, it won't be Sweden that tells the Brits to hand him over. It will be the US. And they'll get him, too.
Anonymous Coward: free to be a cocksucker.
Facebook goes out of its way to hide its nature. You and I are aware of what it's about, but as far as most people are concerned, it's a harmless way to give up a little information about yourself and in return stay in touch with a lot of distant relatives and not-too-close friends you otherwise would maybe email every once in a while, if at all. Almost nobody understands how powerful meta-data really is. They're shocked and dismayed when you tell them (and maybe prove to them) that just from harvesting information about their friends and "friends of friends" you can tell whether they're gay but pretending they aren't, fooling around on a spouse, pregnant, deep in debt, their physical location just about 24 hours a day, and a whole lot more.
And don't forget Facebook also makes it difficult and frustrating enough to protect yourself (as much as you can) that even people who are uneasy might give up in disgust and put off securing their privacy 'til another day.
I guess you missed the bit about "friends of friends" also having their data scooped without their knowledge or consent by a third party application they had nothing to do with, and used to target them when they had no idea they were being targeted.
Only an AC could make such a baseless, blatantly fucking stupid allegation. Nice try. Now go back to blowing your dog or if you're tired of that, whatever else it is you do for fun.
...Strikes again.
Most of the cops I know/have known are just about bright enough to figure out early in life that they're never going to make a lot of money in fields requiring a lot of brain power. So they go for the one where they get power and a pretty good salary without spending a lot of money on schooling.
An unfortunate corollary is that (as we've seen repeatedly), the people in charge of solving crimes generally aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer.
So this leaves us in a situation where the police are constantly demanding more laws, more surveillance, more control. This will not end, because in a standard "survival of the fittest" scenario, stupid criminals will get caught, smart ones will get away. So your basic crook will get smarter, while your basic cop will remain just the same, because he can always whine for more tech and more power from the government to keep up.
If we want to stop this insane march to a cop state, we'd better get proactive.
Uhh, you do know that foreign hackers have never been more dedicated to targeting the various levels of the US government, right?
Did you never wonder when they realized, say, how easy it is to get away with it?
It appear's Uncle Sam's recent willingness to drop trou and put his bum in the air for Putin has been noticed elsewhere.
So now China's trying it on.
I wonder who will be next to have a go. Pretty soon, US cyberspace is going to look like Gangbang Night at a Hell's Angels clubhouse.
"Other countries have video games and don't have mass shootings. What they don't have is a school system that was designed over a hundred years ago and has never really changed. Our schools are culturally toxic and need to be radically modified."
"What they don't have is guns fucking everywhere and a culture that values them more highly than children."
Fixed that for you.
Since so many of the sheeple seem intent on trading every scrap of personal information about themselves to marketers, it's obvious attempts to make aggressive data gathering illegal are going to fail for lack of support.
However, there is a kind of legislation might actually be popular enough to succeed. Enact data protection laws that include heavy penalties for failing to protect consumer data. When a corporation is as careless with consumer information as Wells Fargo was, for example, the company/bank/whatever should pay a hefty fine and be responsible for damages. In addition, the board of directors should actually face the strong probability that one or more of them will go to prison.
We have already seen massive data leaks that potentially have national security implications. If it's true, as we are repeatedly told, that severe penalties are a deterrent, then people responsible for such leaks should pay a heavy personal and financial price. They assemble detailed information about large segments of the population for their own ends. Then, because there are no real consequences for failing to protect these vast stores of information, they leave it vulnerable to any foreign spy agency with enough interest to go after it. Or they simply release it themselves due to carelessness, greed and stupidity.
"If I were a serial killer I would be applying for a job at this company.
If you changed "serial killer" to "highly focussed professional stalker", you'd get hired.
I can't honestly say I'm surprised. Designers should never have made the holster for Master Chief's "Cranny Axe" weapon look so much like Trump's face.
No doubt they meant it as a compliment, but still...
"We are exploring utilizing location-based marketing as a way to help enhance the overall experience..."
"We are exploring exciting new ways to rape the wallets of people stupid enough to give a corporate predator unfettered access to their personal lives.
"Bring sheep indoors, and they're labeled as cats. Pick up a sheep (or a goat) in your arms, and they're labeled as dogs."
Run after a sheep with your kilt hoiked up around your chest and they're labeled as Scottish girlfriends.
No doubt the bill will include exemptions for elected officials and law enforcement. And then there's the next step: a $30 fee to access websites critical of elected officials and law enforcement.
You think it's the only Hawaiian island?
TFA isn't clear, but a lot of the state doesn't really have a grid. It would be good to know how many of those walls will wind up in places like Kauai, where they still provide power to buildings by running diesel generators.
Why would you care? Unless you've had a lot to say about fossil fuel subsidies totalling $5.3 trillion (more than 6% of the entire planet's GDP), you should probably just relax about a few bucks going to solar power, especially when it keeps getting cheaper and cheaper to install and use.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_subsidies
Yeah, Warren Buffet is one of the little fish.
Snicker.