Geek Stuff category archive
Farcical Recognition 0
Madison Square Garden Entertainment uses facial recognition to ban a mother from seeing the Rockettes with her daughter because of her day job.
Via C&L, which has commentary.
Click Bait 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Nancy Darling discusses why we click what we do. A snippet:
Think about these three headlines:
1. Dogs need daily exercise.
2. Feeding dogs too many treats can lead to vomiting.
3. Throwing balls to dogs causes obsessive behavior.
Which would you click on?
Headline 1 is something you probably know—it doesn’t make you curious and it isn’t worrying, so you’re unlikely to seek more information.
Headline 2 is worrying, but not really surprising. I might click to see what they mean by “too many.” (I was surprised to read that my dog’s favorite liver treats are only supposed to be given a few at a time, several times a day. Oops.). A post on common human foods poisonous to dogs—chocolate, grapes—is more likely to get clicks.
But 3? I would definitely click. Why?
Folloq rhw link for her answer.
And, remember, “social” media isn’t.
Stray Thought 0
I near as I can tell, the most significant (and harmful) effect of “social” media has been to turn us into a society of exhibitionists, all jumping up and down screaming, “Look at me!“
Twits Own Twitter, Ad Hack Dept. 0
To borrow a term from Bob Cesca, more muskery. From Techdirt, via Above the Law:
It appears that Musk’s solution to this is to force people to cough up their private info.
It’s All about the Algorithm 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Bonnie Zucker offers more evidence that “social” media isn’t. A snippet;
Geeking Out 0
Ubuntu MATE with the Fluxbox window manager. The wallpaper is from my camera, a picture taken at Norfolk’s Gardens by the Sea during a Lantern Asia exhibit.
It’s All about the Algorithm 0
At the San Francisco Chronicle, journalism professor Edward Wasserman argues that algorithms employed by “social” media to “attract eyeballs” and “promote engagement,” may serve to foment hate and hate-fueled violence by feeding those inclined to hatred and bigotry more of the same. He argues that, in too many cases, this has lead to hate-fueled violence and offers multiple examples thereof.
He also notes that the Communications Decency Act, passed in 1996, “when the internet was young,” shields internet platforms from liability for user-generated content.
Then he looks at the difference between then and now (emphasis added).
Nowadays, the argument (in a lawsuit he refers to elsewhere in the article–ed.) goes, the entire business of internet services has undergone a radical transformation. No longer docile whiteboards, social media are mega-businesses built on aggressively monitoring and manipulating user behavior — dangling incentives and promoting content with pitch-perfect lures, all to maximize the time users spend online and goose the ad revenue their engagement brings in.
I commend his article to your attention. And, remember, “social” media isn’t.
Geeking Out 0
Listening to Ten Years Later with the QMMP media player on Ubuntu MATE under the Fluxbox window manager. Dolphin is shaded–that is, rolled up into the title bar (you can’t do that on Windows). Xclock is in the upper right and GKrellM with the Glass (that is, transparent) theme, so it’s hard to see in this screenshot, in the lower right. The wallpaper is from my collection.
Twits off Twitter 0
Charles Blow reports that, anticipating the effects of Muskrat love, he severely cut back on his Twitter usage last spring. He says that withdrawal was difficult, but that
Follow the link to learn more of his experience.
And, remember, “social” media isn’t.
The Crypto Con, One More Time 0
Writing in the Portland Press-Herald, Adam Lee unveils a new cryptocurrency based on a renewable resource.
The currency is going to be based on how many poops our dogs take in our yard per day.
Follow the link for details.
The Crypto Con 0
Rebecca Watson digs into NFTs. She is less than impressed with what she finds.
Of, if you’d rather read, there’s a transcript.
