Thursday, December 6, 2007
It's something of an internets maxim that Thou Shalt Not Send Nary An Email That Thou Would Hide From The World.
Or something like that... The maxim for posting things straight to the publicly voyeurable internets should be doubly emphatic. Maybe Thou Shalt Only Post A Thing On The Internets If You Would Have The Whole Wide World Read It Forever And Ever.
Maybe I'm too paranoid, but it seems a bit too trusting to suppose that you can transmit ANYTHING online "privately" or "100% securely," Including your credit card number on the Amazons and the eBays, et al. (Sorry, "TRUSTe" ... I don't know you from Adam.)
While it's pretty hassle-free to claim fraud on major credit cards, it's surely impossible to do anything about misappropriation of your personal info and internets usage habits.
And yet hordes of people continue to spend a good deal of their time every day ... doing what? ... inputting massive amounts of personal and demographic data into the servers of the MySpaces and the Facebooks, et al. The don't get paid a cent for their time and the priceless information they're surrendering.
The real value for users of these "social networking" sites was already questionable enough (and a huge negative if opportunity cost of time wasted is considered). But the lastest news of Facebook's disregard for users' privacy should be a big wake up call, at least to everyone so eager to be their data entry adjunct. But it gets worse:
"Facebook came under withering criticism from its users and privacy advocates alike when a security researcher revealed that the ad system (called Beacon) tracks user activities on third-party partner sites—including the activities of people who never signed up with Facebook, who deactivated their accounts or who were not signed on to the site. Beacon captures data on what users do and buy on the external sites and sends it back to Facebook."
This isn't exactly a bombshell to anyone who has read Facebook's privacy policy ("We may share your information with third parties, including responsible companies with which we have a relationship.") but, really, who reads those things?
If you're an avid Facebook user caught with your pants down, this guy has posted suggestions for guarding yourself against Beacon.
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Posted by godjilla (Jill Ensley) on December 6, 2007 at 11:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I can't read the whole thing right now, but a quick fix is to go to the blue bar at the top of Facebook, click on Privacy, and you can edit your settings for "External Websites". Not that this whole thing is excusable, but it might help.
Posted by leslie (Leslie vonHolten) on December 6, 2007 at 1:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
hey, I thought I was the curmudgeonly Luddite in these parts! All these kids, wasting all this time--grumble, grumble...
I have nothing to add. BUT--what the hell is this image? and the name? I don't understand--grumble, grumble...
Posted by pc (Phil Cauthon) on December 6, 2007 at 3:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
ha ... were it just the kids. waiting in line at sunflower cable yesterday, 3 of the 4 public-use computers in there were being used by 30- or 40-somethings on myspace. btwn 2ish and 2:30ish. on a weekday.
anyway, i gotta work on my blog tone. either that or blog about things that give me joy. what i think of hardcore users of myspace and facebook isn't born out of resentment at all... it just baffles me. i think a lot of people just don't think about what they're doing... same way they might not think twice about using their work computer to apply for another job, etc
"iatrogenesis" means the caregiver is the cause of the malady, or the cure is the cause. could be applied to something like the "war on terror" or more literally a frontal lobotomy (pictured above).
mostly i just like the word. doesn't roll off the tongue as nicely as, say, "moist" but is arguably more versatile. well, on second thought...
Posted by Joel (Joel Mathis) on December 6, 2007 at 4:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Um...
I think Facebook blogging is MY shtick. Find your own topics, Cauthon.
Posted by beatle919 (Marcy McGuffie) on December 6, 2007 at 6:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Facebook/Myspace can be a fun way to keep in contact w/friends and acquaintances. I'm not ashamed to admit that I often visit these sites (though, if I were "hardcore" w/either site, it would be Myspace). I totally admit to not reading the fine print when signing up for either site...
As far as it baffling you, Phil - the thing is, there are many dumb, egocentric people out there who just don't think of the consequences of their actions! There's no gentle way to say it.
I don't put anything on either of these sites that I wouldn't want "out there." Often, I am amazed at what people will put out there, though. I've read myspace blogs where people go off about their bosses, coworkers, etc and don't even attempt to make it semi-private by limiting it to their friends. They publish the blog where ANYONE can view it. And there is an evil part of me that gleefully imagines their boss logging on and reading some atrocious things.
Posted by DOTDOT (anonymous) on December 6, 2007 at 10:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The contract with myface is as durable as the contract with the server who takes your credit card at the restaurant.
I spent a couple of hours a few weeks ago googling Iatrogenesis and Howard Dully. So there is that.
Posted by smerdyakov (anonymous) on December 7, 2007 at 1:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Damn...hadn't heard the name Howard Dully before. This article
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story...
was pretty intense, esp for a radio site's teaser to the audio story (will listen to that manana).
Agreed, thetom... as ironclad as any semi-legal/capitalistic agreement we might embark upon.
Heck, I thought a 30-year mortagage at 5.25% was a pretty freakin Einstein move on my part. But could be that sub-prime borrowers made an even better financial call. Regardless of the 'justice' of how this shakes out, I hope that this works out for the honest people implicated, sub-prime mortgage holders or not ... if for no other reason so that people can keep their homes thru the winter.
At the very least I hope that the not-so-distant parachute afforded to sub-prime /lenders/ is also given to the sub-prime /borrowers/. It sickens me to know that in all likelihood IT WILL NOT BE SO (more than a token, say, 10% of borrowers), and that no major media outlet will effectively RAISE THE RED FLAG OF WHAT A CONTRADICTION THIS IS.
Hell-the-fuck-llo ... we bail out all the **richest of the rich** speculators at the drop of a hat (this happened in the span of 2 or 3 days—in the name of keeping the economy stable) and then when it comes to discussion of bailing out **the bottom rungs** (predatory lending victims in many cases), we handwring and deliberate for weeks, probably to the point of doing nothing... or if something is done, it's done to late for thousands of people waiting in the wings.
No less depressing than reading the case of Howard Dully ... excepting that we might well be able to affect some change. But how.... ?
Posted by buck (Buck Rowland) on December 7, 2007 at 2:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Phil,
Your tone is just fine, and you bring to the screen what many of us are thinking. And besides, you are just so damned cute. Maybe you should have a picture of your award winning smile on your blog so everyone will SEE how awesome you are. Besides, you are editor, so you can take Joel's topics anytime.
And as I write this from my work PC, I AM thinking about the implications.
Posted by DOTDOT (anonymous) on December 7, 2007 at 2:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"(predatory lending victims in many cases)"
Which I take to mean that "predatory" modifies "lending" rather than "victims". No?
..
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