Geek Stuff category archive
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.
The Crypto Con 0
Emma and the crew talk with a caller about the con. (The relevant portion of the clip starts about !:15 mark after a short discussion about China and Taiwan. Short commercial at the end.)
Excerpt:
The companies have huge market caps based on nothing.
Muskrat Love 0
The Los Angeles Times’s Matt Pearce takes a long and thoughtful look at chaos agent Elon Musk’s stewardship (or perhaps that sever-ship) of Twitter. A snippet:
In a related vein, the EFF offers some guidance to those who might be interested in an alternative to Twitter.
Twits off Twitter 0
In case you are a Twitter user turned off by the Muskrat love, I gather that a number of persons are turning to Mastodon.
If you are interested in Mastodon, you may find the EFF’s article about privacy and security on Mastadon useful.
Twits Own Twitter 0
Above the Law’s Chris Williams discerns a madness in the method.
The Crypto Con 0
Bloomberg columnist Allison Schrager muses on the implications of the crypto crash. A snippet (emphasis added):
Barnum was wrong. There’s not one born every minute.
There’s one born every second.
The Crypto Con 0
El Reg explains non-fungible tokens for dummies.
H/T to Harry Shearer for featuring this on Le Show.
Twits Own Twitter 0
Sam and his crew discuss the most fragile ego of them all.
Afterthought:
If Elon Musk destroys Twitter, as seems quite likely at this point, he will have quite inadvertently performed a positive public service.
Twits Own Twitter 0
I have a sneaking suspicion that Musk is in well over his head on this venture. (The discussion on Tuesday’s Bob Cesca Show certainly gave some hints of reasons for optimism.)
Image via Job’s Anger.
The New Gilded Age, It’s All about the Algorithm Dept. 0
At the San Francisco Chronicle, Amos Toh describes how exploitation of workers is baked into the snaring economy. He starts by recounting the experience of one person who drives for Lyft, but doesn’t stop there. A nugget:
(snip)
Algorithms that dispatch jobs to gig workers and manage how they are paid can be gamified in ways that compromise their livelihoods and well-being.
Exploitation is exploitation, be it empowered by whip or by algorithm.
