Geek Stuff category archive
The Crypto-Con 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Richard Maxwell and Toby Miller examine why persons fall for the crypto-con. Here’s how they start their piece:
Marketers celebrate this moment of “pester power” for its shattering of rationality and the cultivation of a lifelong vulnerability to the shopping frenzy. Never mind that kids can learn to identify those frenzied feelings and develop tools to deal with them, which include slow and deep breathing to calm the body and soul. That psychological skill is not much welcome in our culture of consumerism.
This brings us to the latest craze to gin up the masses—cryptocurrency and the useless stuff you can buy with it in the hope of a big payday.
Follow the link to see how they end it.
Geeking Out 0
A VirtualBox virtual machine of the recently released Slackware v. 15 with KDE running on Mageia v. 8 with the Fluxbox window manager. Firefox is shaded, that is, “rolled up” into the title bar, in Slackware (you can’t do that with Windows). The Mageia wallpaper is from my collection; the Slackware wallpaper was included in the install.
The Deleteriousness of the Disinformation Superhighway 0
Psychologist Michelle Druin is less that optimistic about the effects of the internet on dis coarse discourse (and, by “the internet,” I think, based on the examples she cites, that she refers primarily to “social” media). She cites five negative effects that she has observed; follow the link for a detailed discussion of each.
- It’s pushing us towards inauthenticity . . . .
- It may be increasing our paranoia . . . .
- It’s making us care too much about what other people think . . . .
- It’s pressuring us to create stage-worthy moments . . . .
- It’s making us want the impossible
Focus-Pocus 0
Thom and his guest discuss the myth of multi-tasking and how it is destroying attention spans.
Facebook Frolics 0
BadTux sees a glimmer of hope.
Stray Thought, Devolution Dept. 0
I suspect that future historians, should scholarship survive the impending floods and famines made inevitable by our societal paralysis in the face of accelerating climate change, will conclude that one of the tipping points in the self-destruction of our society came when persons stopped thinking of themselves as fellow participants in the polity and starting thinking of themselves as brands battling for “likes” and “followers.”
I am not sanguine.
Geeking Out 0
Mageia v. 8 with the Fluxbox window manager. Thunderbird and Firefox are shaded in a tabbed window. Xclock and GKrellM are on the right. The wallpaper is from my collection.
A Picture Is Worth, Facebook Frolics Dept. 0
Don’t believe me? See for yourself.
It’s All about the Algorithm 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Arthur Dobrin explains that algorithms are amoral. Here’ are his key point; follow the link for his reasoning.
- Machines making decisions has become commonplace.
- The choices machines make reflect the biases and values of the programmers.
- Morality is too complex to be solves by an algorithm.
- Machines can’t be any more moral than the people who program them.
Aside:
Methinks the last point goes a long way to explaining why “social” media isn’t.
It’s All about the Algorithm, Forensic Science Fiction Dept. 0
The EFF questions the justice of trial by algorithm. Here’s a bit from the introduction to the article (emphasis added):
The software vendors claim both that the software contains valuable secrets that must not be disclosed and that their methods are so well-vetted that there’s no point letting a defendant question them. Obviously, both can’t be true, and in fact it’s likely that neither is true.
Remember, those magical “forensic” results you see on television shows like the CSI’s and NCIS are fiction. Based on actual forensics, yes, but carried to extremes. For a dose of reality, watch Forensic Files.
Aside:
I do like NCIS (the original, that is), but one thing I find really annoying is the flying windows on the computer screen when McGee is hacking into a computer. Real hacking is not like that (I know–I’ve studied it in legal–and safe–tutorials). Real hacking is almost all tedious command line activity. And the last thing any hacker wants to do is use so much of the target computer’s computing power that it attracts notice. All those flying windows would put the target computer’s cooling fans into high gear . . . .
Grumble grumble grumble.
The Disinformation Superhighway 0
I think I have noted before that I regularly turn off “autoplay” in Youtube because I don’t want Youtube’s algorithm making choices for me, and Youtube turns it back on when I’m not looking.
And around and around we go.
Recommended Listening, It’s All about the Algorithm Dept. 0
I’m behind on my podcast listening because I am not alone in the house and I can’t bring myself to go around with earbuds in my ears all day, as I did when I pursued a solitary existence. I can be rude, but not that rude.
So I only recently listened to this episode of Bad Voltage when I took one of the cats to the vet for routine maintenance. It is a thoughtful and reasoned discussion by persons in the tech industry regarding methods by which Facebook (and, by extension, other “social” media platforms) might ameliorate the algorithmic amplification of malevolent messages.
I commend it to your attention.
Geeking Out, Christmas Dept. 0
Ubuntu MATE with the Fluxbox window manager and Xsnow. The wallpaper is from muy Christmas collection.
A Taxonomy of Tale-Telling 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Susan A. Nolan and Michael Kimball discuss the differences among misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation (yeah, that last one is a new one on me, also; they define it at the link and methinks it a useful coinage). It’s a worthwhile read in these days of viruses, viral memes, and “social” media.
Speaking of the “Social” Media Surveillance State 0
Toni Birdsong offers seven hints for protecting your digital privacy.
Decorated 0
Ubuntu MATE with the Fluxbox window manager. The wallpaper is from my Christmas collection.
I have been having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit this year. Part of the problem is that it’s been a year of lousy news, but I think an even bigger issue has been that the climates they are a-changing. When the temperature’s in the 70’s, it just doesn’t seem very Christmasy for these parts.
For Pete’s sake, I drove to the recycling center with the top of my new(er) Mustang convertible down a couple of weeks ago.
In December.
(I must admit, though, that the last few days have felt a bit more like winter late fall.)