Geek Stuff category archive

By their status updates shall ye know them.

Science 2.0 reports that how persons behave on Facebook (and likely on other social media sites) betrays whether or not they are narcissists. A nugget:

The researchers found that the number of Facebook friends and wallposts that individuals have on their profile pages correlates with narcissism. Buffardi said this is consistent with how narcissists behave in the real-world, with numerous yet shallow relationships. Narcissists are also more likely to choose glamorous, self-promoting pictures for their main profile photos, she said, while others are more likely to use snapshots.

Untrained observers were able to detect the narcissists also. Observers used three characteristics – quantity of social interaction, attractiveness of the individual and the degree of self promotion in the main photo – to form an impression of the individual’s personality. “People aren’t perfect in their assessments,” Buffardi said, “but our results show they’re somewhat accurate in their judgments.”

One more time, the internet is a public place.

The attorney for a Radnor High School senior arrested in connection with a video that contained a poem with violent imagery said Friday that his client never threatened anyone.

Arthur T. Donato Jr., a Media lawyer, said Zaidee S. Harrison, 18, of Wayne, did not send anything to a public or school official, faculty member, or any other public employee.

Donato said she posted on her best friend’s Facebook page a video of herself reciting the poem. Her friend was not threatened by the poem or its images, Donato said.

More at the link, including excerpts.

By these standards, someone might report somebody for “Who Killed Cock Robin.”

Aside:

This is not just a case of overreaction on the part of the authorities. It is a logical result of Facebook’s default position to strip every user’s data naked on the net.

There is an old joke that a negligee is something you think you can see through, but can’t.

Facebook “privacy settings”* are something you think others can’t see through, but they can.

It’s this kind of stuff that’s going to kill Facebook and Twitter.

_____________________

*It is to laugh.

The Nissan Leaf is tracking its drivers.

I doubt that Nissan is being evil.

Rather, it is being stupid. American companies do not have a monopoly on dumb.

The moral of the story is that doing stuff on the internet for no other reason than because you can may not be a good idea (this website excepted).

The latest news, cited at the link in the first paragraph, is that location data is no longer being published.

Via GNC.

At the Chicago Trib, Mary Schmich considers Facebook and concludes that it’s getting more and more like that guy who sits too close to you one subway. A nugget:

The newer problem is that Facebook has come to feel like a stalker. Not only does it do kinky things with your personal data, its little blue F box is more intrusive and insistent every day.

I go to my neighborhood coffeehouse and on the chalkboard out front someone has sketched the F box with the plea: Find us on Facebook!

When I look up a word, the online dictionary instantly prompts me to “share” it on my Facebook wall.

I buy shoes online, and the seller wants me to “share” my size and style with my Facebook entourage.

Twitta culpa:

Engadget:

. . . after a Malaysian political aide / social activist used Twitter to air a grievance about a pregnant friend’s employer, the publishing company turned to the social network for inspiration. Fahmi Fadzil tweeted an apology shortly after, but BluInc Media wasn’t satiated. The two parties finally reached an elementary school-esque out of court decision, requiring Fadzil to apologize for his initial statement 100 times on the microblogging service.

Via GNC.

Running spyware and malware scans on my Windows 7 box.

Something that is not part of day-to-day life in my Linux world.

It’s probably best not to violate one’s duty as a juror at a place that is basically a humongous database that is designed to remember everything for as long as advertisers want it remembered.

A juror, who contacted a defendant via Facebook, has admitted contempt of court in the first case of its kind in the UK involving the internet.

London’s High Court heard that Joanne Fraill, 40, contacted Jamie Sewart, 34, who had already been acquitted in a drugs trial costing £6m in Manchester.

The novelty is wearing off. From the Guardian:

The number of people using Facebook during May fell in the US, UK, Canada, Norway and Russia, according to new data.

That means the site’s growth has slowed for the second month in a row, even as it approaches 700 million users worldwide.

In the US the site lost about 6 million users, from 155.2 million at the start of May to 149.4 million at its end, according to data gathered from Facebook’s advertising tool by the site Inside Facebook.

Canada fell by 1.52 million to 16.6 million and the UK, Norway and Russia all saw falls of more than 100,000 users, the site said.

Lower Merion School District, outside of Philly, has been sued again.

That’s the school district that was surreptitously taking pictures of schoolkids via webcams, because they could.

A school district near Philadelphia that paid out $610,000 to settle a complaint over spying allegations related to school-owned laptops has been hit with a similar lawsuit.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports a former Harriton High School student filed suit against Lower Merion School District on Monday over the monitoring software installed on laptops given to students.

The school district claims he’s suing just for the money.

I have little sympathy with them.

Let them pay. Consider it the price of arrogance.

Full Disclosure:

I used to live in Lower Merion, many years ago.

Great place to live.

Excellent schools. Great teachers. Dumb administrators. (Sort of like many other school districts.)

Twisted coverage:

What the author leaves out is that Facebook doesn’t let anyone “friend” anyone else without permission.

What privacy rights and protections do teenagers have on the Internet? In a twist of authority, Facebook won’t let parents “friend” their teens or access their accounts unless kids give parents permission.

Follow the link to read the entire tirade, unless you’ve got something better to do, like get a root canal.

If parents can’t control the “off” switch on the device, their kids are already out of control, and phony phacebook phriendships won’t make a difference. Keyloggers, anyone?

Afterthought:

This occurred to me as I drove to downtown Norfolk this evening:

If permission were not required, what kind of creeps could “friend” kids by claiming to be their parents?

There aren’t many creeps like that out there (despite the sensational press), but one is one too many.

Opera Software ASA, the Norwegian company responsible for the Opera browser, honors Oprah Winfrey by opening its archives of emails sent to them by Oprah fans who apparently believe that, in addition to being Queen of All Media, Oprah is also the world’s best web browser.

It’s a giggle.

Parallel Universes:

Opera provides their own news server with newsgroups about Opera products. Occasionally persons stumble into one of the newsgroups promoting the next performance of La Boheme. We usually suggest that they check out the Opera browser, then look two floors up and to the left for altos and tenors.

Via the Linux Outlaws.

Virtual subpoenas:

Two years after an Australian lawyer caused a stir by sending a foreclosure notice via Facebook, the practice of online legal service is spreading as a means for courts to keep their dockets moving.

Courts in New Zealand, Canada and the U.K. have adopted the Australian example to avoid having cases stall when people can’t be located and served in person. Lawyers said the U.S. may not be far behind in using the world’s most popular social- networking service.

Bet they don’t let you respond with an avatar.

Contagion:

Psychologists have long known that emotions, just like germs, are contagious. People exposed to a person experiencing strong emotions may experience similar feelings, catching them through facial expressions, tones of voice or some other means. But now there is a new means of transmission — social media.

Facebook data scientist Adam D.I. Kramer analyzed postings by about 1 million English speakers and their roughly 150 million friends in multiple countries on the social network to show that the words people use in their status updates drive the emotions of their online friends, even days later. Kramer found people who used emotionally loaded words like “happy,” “hug,” “sick,” and “vile” in their status updates sparked similar emotions in later Facebook postings by their friends.

Microsoft cannot innovate.

Every one of their major products has been bought or copied from someone else.

Now, they are working on Windows 8 and have invented (gasp)

the iPhone:

(One of the TWUUG members showed me this video last night and the level of dumb left me speechless.)

Afterthought:

This, of course, is a great may to make every Windows user buy new touch-sensitive monitors.

128 spam comments between 2:30 p. m., when I did my regular database cleanup and backup, and now. Ten to 15 a day is typical.

The gnomes have been busy.

Akismet caught every one of them.

Learn about the wonderful world of free and open source.

What: Monthly TWUUG Meeting.

Who: Everyone in TideWater/Hampton Roads with interest in any/all flavors of Unix/Linux. There are no dues or signup requirements. All are welcome.

Where: Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital in Norfolk Training Room. See directions below. (Wireless and wired internet connection available.)

When: 7:30 PM till whenever (usually 9:30ish) on Thursday, June 2.

Directions:
Lake Taylor Hospital
1309 Kempsville Road
Norfolk, Va. 23502 (Map)

Pre-Meeting Dinner at 6:00 PM (separate checks)
Uno Chicago Grill
Virginia Beach Blvd. & Military Highway (Janaf Shopping Center). (Map)

. . . because it rewards dumb.

Presenters let Powerpoint use them; they don’t use it.

Some unfortunate conference participant, undoubtedly still suffering flashbacks, who harbours a lingering animus towards Bill Gates and his software, once dubbed the PowerPoint presentation as “Killing You Microsoftly”. Such an invidious metaphor is unfair. To death. At least when you die, you’re fortunate enough to have endured your last PowerPoint presentation. The unlucky who go on living must continue to endure PowerPoint, an invasive species threatening the information ecosystem, the kudzu of software.

And like kudzu, PowerPoint continues to proliferate beyond the boardroom, medical meeting and conference room. It has become a preferred method of presentation for the US Military and Pentagon. The linear, concise format makes it easily adaptable for the standard military briefing, even at the expense of clarity and content. Reportedly, when a critical briefing is required, some senior officers unfamiliar with PowerPoint seek out subordinates who have technical mastery of the software’s nuances, dubbed “PowerPoint Rangers”.

Aside:

I get a kick out of the title segment for the mystery show, Numb3rs, in which the college professor protagonist is shown walking in the glow of a projector between the audience and the screen.

Competent presenters do not do that.

Ever. In one act, it belittles both the image on the screen and the presenter.

I shall be curious how this plays out.

Bourne firefighter Richard Doherty said he repeatedly complained about poor workplace conditions at the department only to see town officials ignore his gripes. So he flipped on a computer, logged into his Facebook page, and vented to his 40 friends.

Soon after, town officials fired him in a letter that accused him of making inflammatory statements not only against his superiors and colleagues but also against gay people. Now, Doherty, a 16-year veteran who said his comments were taken out of context, is alleging that officials violated his First Amendment rights. Yesterday, his lawyers filed a complaint in US District Court, seeking his job back, back pay, and other damages.

Later on in the story, Doherty is quoted as saying that he set his privacy settings in Facebook so that only his “friends” can see his posts.

Privacy. Facebook. It is to laugh.

If the internet is a public place, Facebook is its naturists’ resort.