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shorterexcerpts: You should always, always read those legal...

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 15:26:33 -0400

You should always, always read those legal disclaimers from Apple…

South Park takes on Apple, Steve Jobs in season premiere

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 09:58:55 -0400

For 14 years, South Park has taken the news and given it a unique and timely twist with a no-holds-barred candor that often leaves viewers in stitches. Tonight’s Season 15 premiere—which took on the issue of Apple’s secret tracking of iPhone and iPad users and added a disgustingly sinister twist courtesy of Steve Jobs—continued that tradition in truly stellar form. Here’s our handy little highlight reel.

Kyle: “You’re telling me that every time you guys download an update for iTunes, you read the ENTIRE terms and conditions?”

Kid: “Of course.”
Butters: “Well how do you know you agree to something if you don’t read it?!”

Kyle: “Well, I turned off all my Apple stuff, they can’t locate you if you don’t have your stuff on, right?”

(via Gawker TV)

Kerry, McCain, and your online privacy

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 23:21:17 -0400

Kerry, McCain, and your online privacy :

The collection, use and dissemination of sensitive consumer data is one of the greatest causes of concern in today’s online data tracking environment. Companies can easily access the most intimate details about you and compile them into comprehensive profiles that can then be sold to the highest bidder, without your permission or control. This bill gives some power back to consumers by requiring companies to get your permission before collecting or using this information, with only a few very carefully defined exceptions.

It’s not perfect, but given that it attempts to give consumers protections that we don’t currently enjoy, it is definitely a step in the right direction.

(via Huffington Post)

This Is Why Your Tumblr’s Down (via laughingsquid)

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 23:14:00 -0400

This Is Why Your Tumblr’s Down

(via laughingsquid)

"Advertising-backed web services must get large numbers of users and collect as much data about them..."

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 23:13:00 -0400

“Advertising-backed web services must get large numbers of users and collect as much data about them as possible to add value for their customers, the advertisers.”

- Marco

(via brycedotvc)

City libraries say 'checking out' porn protected by First Amendment

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 23:10:00 -0400

City libraries say 'checking out' porn protected by First Amendment :

“Customers can watch whatever they want on the computer,” said Brooklyn Public Library spokeswoman Malika Granville, describing the anything-goes philosophy that’s the rule at the city’s 200-plus branches.

And that has religious leaders and library patrons — even some librarians — hotter than an XXX flick.

Make this fun for yourself and go straight to the comments because according to them, protecting elderly perverts at libraries is the new liberal agenda, and I really really love imagining those protests and campaigns.

They’ve already complied with the filters, so just to cover their bases, they could probably supply headphones since many of them seem to provide a “privacy screen” (prevents people from viewing the screen when viewed sideways).

And if people really want to have a discussion on how libraries are spending our taxpayer dollars, then I would like to make a comment about how I do not appreciate that XX% of my income goes towards funding the 5.5 hours of time wasted each day by a former high school classmate who was just laid off and can barely afford rent, let alone internet access, who keeps sending me Farmville invitations over Facebook in between messages and emails to join his pyramid-schemed-designed business that would make even Bernie Madoff blush. Let’s talk about that, hmmm?

(For more information on this matter, read United States v. American Library Association.)

Why you need to secure your wifi network

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 21:40:02 -0400

Why you need to secure your wifi network:

In February, federal agents raided the home of a man in Buffalo (throwing him down the stairs in the process) and arrested him for possession of child pornography. It took three days for the authorities to realize they had the wrong guy: The suspect’s neighbor had accessed his unprotected wireless network and used it to share child porn.

Honestly, I’m surprised they figured this all out in three days. The article makes a good point that investigators can determine whether there is an unsecured signal, which raises the possibility that someone else is responsible for the downloads. … but seriously, people. Secure your networks.

(via Gawker)

Judge to Facebook Debt Collector: Stop. Now.

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 09:49:41 -0400

Judge to Facebook Debt Collector: Stop. Now.:

Debt collector stalking you on Facebook? Melanie Beacham says it’s harassment and took debt collector MarkOne Financial to court, trying to get the company to stop sending her Facebook messages about the debt she owed. The company also allegedly sent such messages to everyone else on her Facebook friends list.

This was clearly harassment but I wonder why she didn’t just change her privacy settings and block MarkOne Financial from sending her messages? I guess taking them to court was more fun.

(via Mashable)

iPhone keeps record of everywhere you go

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:46:25 -0400

iPhone keeps record of everywhere you go:

chartier:

Charles Arthur:

Security researchers have discovered that Apple’s iPhone keeps track of where you go – and saves every detail of it to a secret file on the device which is then copied to the owner’s computer when the two are synchronised.

The file contains the latitude and longitude of the phone’s recorded coordinates along with a timestamp, meaning that anyone who stole the phone or the computer could discover details about the owner’s movements using a simple program.

"That’s not an accident. The e-book business seems determined to repeat the early mistakes of the..."

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 23:28:59 -0400

“That’s not an accident. The e-book business seems determined to repeat the early mistakes of the music industry with “digital rights management” restrictions. But this time around, I don’t feel compelled to back their early investments with my own money.”

- E-book business should take a page from music industry and go DRM-free - The Washington Post

(via mediafuturist)

15 iOS To-Do Apps that Sync Over the Air - TNW Apps My personal...

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 23:22:01 -0400

15 iOS To-Do Apps that Sync Over the Air - TNW Apps

My personal favorite is Wunderlist.

(via thenextweb)

Bamboom sends you free, live TV via the Internet, but is it...

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 23:16:00 -0400

Bamboom sends you free, live TV via the Internet, but is it legal?

Bamboom think they have found a legal crack that they can sliver through, by having a separate antenna for each subscriber at their central head end. Your own personal rig there will pick up free over the air TV, and a DVR in the same location can record shows. Then, when you want to watch something, you simply send commands from whatever device you want to use, and your programming is streamed online directly to you.

I can’t wait to see how this turns out. To be honest, I am all for anything that will get me out of the haunches of AT&T or Comcast.

(via dvice)

According to the labels, record sales would have burgeoned if...

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 23:09:09 -0400

According to the labels, record sales would have burgeoned if not for the existence of file-sharing site Napster. The labels’ optimistic forecast comes in the form of a chart included in a trial brief for their case against LimeWire.

Really? Napster? And not, you know, technology? And record labels’ refusal to rapidly evolve? Napster? Okay.

(via Mashable)

Lost privacy: More than half of adults would 'delete everything they have ever posted about themselves online'

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 23:04:59 -0400

Lost privacy: More than half of adults would 'delete everything they have ever posted about themselves online' :

More than half of British adults are so concerned about their online reputation they would erase everything they have ever posted on the Internet about themselves, a survey today revealed.

A staggering 35 per cent believe they could never consider a career in politics due to damaging personal material online.

And nearly a quarter of people admit to having posted a photo or personal information that they wouldn’t want an employer to see, according to a study by security firm Norton.

Someone actually funded this study?

"In 1996, David Foster Wallace described the Internet as a place where “there are four trillion bits..."

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 13:40:32 -0400

“In 1996, David Foster Wallace described the Internet as a place where “there are four trillion bits coming at you, 99 percent of them are shit, and it’s too much work to do triage to decide. So it’s very clear, very soon there’s gonna be an economic niche opening up for gatekeepers… . Because otherwise we’re gonna spend 95 percent of our time body-surfing through shit.”

- Mark Graham

(via soupsoup)

How to prepare for death in the digital age

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:32:05 -0400

How to prepare for death in the digital age:

today:

LifeEnsured allows individuals to make arrangements for the deletion or transfer of online accounts, the sending of final emails, the passing of files, and just about anything else they could want to do as part of their virtual deaths:

Besides having Facebook accounts deleted, users can leave a final status message, disable wall postings, change their bio (theoretically to the past tense) and even transfer ownership of the account.

Some users will be particularly glad to know that the Match.com and eHarmony dating sites can also be dealt with, through LifeEnsured.

[LifeEnsured founder Michael Aiello] explained that there were also even more creative things that could be done with the departed’s data. “One of our options for Yahoo’s Flickr photo service is to have all of the images revert to Creative Commons or into the public domain upon death of the owner,” he said.

Not sure how one crafts a final Facebook status message.

U.S. House votes against Net Neutrality

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 17:36:17 -0400

U.S. House votes against Net Neutrality:

soupsoup:

The House of Representatives approved a measure on Friday that would prohibit the Federal Communications Commission from regulating how Internet service providers manage their broadband networks, potentially overturning a central initiative of the F.C.C. chairman, Julius Genachowski.

The action, which is less likely to pass the Senate and which President Obama has threatened to veto, is nevertheless significant because it puts half of the legislative branch on the same side of the debate as the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in restricting the F.C.C.’s authority over Internet service.

Banned Facebook About to Enter China?

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 10:21:33 -0400

Banned Facebook About to Enter China?:

soupsoup:

Robin Wauters at Techcrunch

Facebook, as I’m sure you know, is blocked in China.

And being banned in a country that boasts roughly 500,000,000 Internet users is, of course, not exactly an ideal situation for a company aggressively looking for growth worldwide.

Now Facebook is rumored to have signed off on a partnership with a Chinese Internet giant in a move to enter the country (which, as some have pointed out, won’t be a walk in the park any way you look at it).

iPhone 4 FaceTime Glitch Takes Secret Photos Of Users, Some Say

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 22:49:24 -0400

Some iPhone 4 users are reporting that their Apple smartphones appear to be taking pictures of them without their knowledge, then displaying these mysteriously snapped photos during FaceTime calls.

Users have taken to an Apple support forum to complain of the issue. According to their posts, they have seen photos taken with the iPhone 4’s front facing camera—but which they themselves did not take—freeze on the phone’s screen during FaceTime calls.

Crazy coincidence with our class discussion today. So many questions - Where are these images being stored? Who has access to the images? Why are our phones doing things without our knowledge or consent?!

(via Huffington Post)

U.S. Department of State Tumblr

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 11:43:29 -0400

publicradiointernational:

nationaljournal:

Welcome to Tumblr, statedept.

(h/t rubenfeld)

Wow. I can see it now. “The U.S. Department of State started following you.” I’m frightened.