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Updates from October, 2016 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Geebo 9:57 am on October 17, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Donald Trump ( 11 ), First Amendment ( 4 ), free press ( 2 ), Peter Thiel ( 13 ), Sheldon Adelson   

  Why is Peter Thiel doubling down on Donald Trump? 

  

  Donald Trump’s campaign for President took a massive publicity hit recently after recordings of misogynistic comments he made in private were made public. This doesn’t help with Trump’s image since many already view him as being xenophobic and racist. So one would have to wonder that after all this controversy, why would venture capitalist Peter Thiel double down on Trump by donating an additional $1.25 million to the Trump campaign?

  As TechCrunch points out, Thiel is not only an immigrant to this country, having been born in Germany, bur he is also openly gay. These are two camps of voters that have not exactly been supportive of Trump. A Thiel representative told TechCrunch that the reason Thiel supports Trump is…

  Thiel is motivated by his view that feels the country ‘needs fixing’, and thinks Mr. Trump pull it off.

  So the question remains, what does Peter Thiel think needs fixing in our country?

  If you go by history, what may need fixing in Peter Thiel’s mind is a free press that he may view as being a little too free. BY now we all should know about Thiel’s backing of Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit that bankrupted Gawker in revenge for Gawker outing Thiel as gay. This is not to mention that there was an alleged Thiel backed motion to threaten Gawker further over a piece they wrote about Donald Trump’s hair.

  You could also surmise that the Trump campaign is friendly to a less free press due to another one of its financial backers, and that’s casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. Adelson also bought the Las Vegas Review Journal newspaper that was previously critical of him. Since the purchase of the Review-Journal it’s long been rumored there that stories about Adelson are not viewed as newsworthy as they used to be.

  Trump is no fan of the media himself so it’s not out of the realm of possibilities for Trump and his uber-rich supporters to form a cabal of billionaires that are willing to buy their way around the First Amendment.

   

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  Geebo 9:52 am on October 14, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: fact checking ( 2 ), Google ( 30 ), Google News, News ( 7 )   

  Google to bring fact checking to News 

  

  With the advent of fake news sites, wild Facebook claims and slanted political sites, Google has decided to enter the fray. Google has added the tag ‘Fact Check’ to Google News along with the already active tags of ‘highly cited’ and ‘opinion’. Google says that they have strict guidelines in place to be considered a fact checking source. It’s almost guaranteed that someone will try to game the system however, Google has a better reputation for content moderation than someone like Facebook.

  Will it be a successful feature though? With the 2016 Presidential Election being what it is, never before have we seen more people clutch to their confirmation bias. Even if a controversial story has been vetted by Google’s fact checking process there will still be a large enough group of people who will refuse to believe the evidence to make the fact check tag irrelevant or they will accuse Google of having a bias.

  People who do actually try to fact check a story generally tend to be like-minded, not necessarily politically aligned, but having the same sense of wanting to know the truth. This group tends not to engage the groups with confirmation bias so there will still be a rather large rift between the two. That’s not to say that the fact check tag isn’t completely useless. As long as someone in our society is striving to find the impartial truth then maybe there is hope for civil discourse after all.

   
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  Geebo 10:09 am on October 13, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Election ( 21 ), Facebook ( 178 ), politics ( 15 ), voting ( 4 )   

  Facebook gives rise to new voters, but are they informed? 

  

  Facebook is being credited with sparking a spike in voter registration thanks to their campaign to get their US users to vote. It really should come as no surprise as Facebook has become a daily utility that has almost become a public service. Providing easy access to state voter registration resources more than likely encouraged many people who may have not registered otherwise.

  While this is encouraging that more people are registering to vote in such a pivotal election that could have repercussions for generations, Facebook is not really the ideal environment for political discourse and learning. When it comes to discussing politics on Facebook, it’s usually nothing more than the reposting of meme, shouting into the echo chamber, or the sharing of misinformed or even completely fake articles.

  While mostly everyone has the right to vote are we raising a generation of misinformed voters? While the internet gives us access to much of the world’s information it also allows us to engage in our biases and surround ourselves in comfortable lies rather than inconvenient truths.

   
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  Geebo 10:01 am on October 12, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: hacking ( 31 ), Verizon ( 10 ), yahoo ( 13 )   

  Yahoo kicking itself while it’s down 

  

  It was bad enough when it was revealed that Yahoo had been hacked to the tune of 500 million users, now it turns out there nay have been more. Many AT&T and SBC-Global email accounts were set up through Yahoo servers and many users have been reporting that they’ve been unable to change their passwords.

  Then, in what could be considered a bad PR move, Yahoo has temporarily disabled email forwarding. That means if you were leaving Yahoo and wanted your email forwarded to your new address, you wouldn’t be able to do that now. It can be understood that Yahoo would want to stop hemorrhaging users, but to use technical sleight of hand to prevent them from leaving is questionable at best.

  So it should come as no surprise that with all of Yahoo’s problems, Verizon is asking for a $1 billion discount in the asking price for Yahoo. Can you blame them? It shouldn’t come as a surprise if Verizon even decided to back out of the deal.

  If Yahoo continues to have these kind of controversies it may find itself in the ever-increasing graveyard of tech companies that failed to achieve their full potential.

   
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  Geebo 9:57 am on October 11, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Facebook ( 178 ), Free Basics, internet ( 9 )   

  What is Facebook’s ‘Free Basics’ and why is it controversial? 

  

  In a move that may seem philanthropic Facebook has plans to bring its Free Basics internet service to the US. Free Basics is a plan to bring free but limited internet to rural and poorer areas. Facebook sees it as a way to be able to bring much-needed access to government and health services to low-income families. Facebook tried to bring this service to India, however the service was largely rejected because of what Facebook limited the service to.

  Opponents see Free Basics as another way of Facebook trying to keep its users in their walled garden. Facebook has an alleged reputation of trying to keep its users on Facebook without going to other websites or apps. Since Facebook just happens to be one of the services offered in their Free Basics that fear may not be unjustified.

  However, Facebook has almost become a public service with its safe notifications when natural disasters or major tragedies occur. In that maybe a limited internet is better than no internet at all.

   
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  Geebo 9:51 am on October 10, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Kim Kardashian, Safety ( 45 ), security ( 46 ), social media ( 79 )   

  What Kim Kardashian can teach you about social media security 

  

  One of the bigger entertainment stories last week was the armed robbery of reality TV presence Kim Kardashian. She was said to have been robbed of $10 million in jewelry while in her Paris hotel room. Some reports have alleged that the perpetrators may have used her ubiquitous presence on social media to plan the heist. The truth is that you don’t have to be famous to have your social media betray you like that.

  Apps like Twitter and Instagram are constantly trying to get you to post your location. If you’re out in public and away from home this can present a number of problems for your real world security. Mashable, has a great blog post about how to disable your location in several apps. Another safety issue is with check in apps that announce where you may be such as a restaurant or concert. Instead of checking in as soon as you get there you may want to wait until after you leave before checking in.

  The biggest security flaw that has come back to bite social media mavens is being on vacation. It’s become common place to announce your vacation plans on social media before documenting the entire trip. This has the potential to let one of your followers know that you may not be home for a while which has led to burglaries in the past.

  Instead of documenting every moment of your life on social media as it happens, maybe put some time aside at the end of the day to do more of a ‘day in review’ type of update. Your safety and security is not worth a handful of likes and emojis.

   
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  Geebo 11:18 am on October 7, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Backpage ( 69 ), Carl Ferrer ( 15 ), sex trafficking ( 3 )   

  Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer arrested on sex trafficking charges 

  

  Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer

  Yesterday, Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer was arrested on prostitution and child prostitution charges after departing a flight from Amsterdam at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport. The warrant, out of the state of California, issued by California Attorney General Kamala Harris, alleges that 99% of Backpage’s revenue comes from the money it makes off of prostitution ads. Along with Ferrer’s arrest, the offices of Backpage in Dallas were also raided and arrest warrants have been issued for Backpage shareholders Michael Lacey and James Larkin. They’re being charged with conspiracy to commit pimping. Lacey and Larkin were Backpage’s founders and at one time its owners.

  While this may appear to be a victory for the victims of sex trafficking, One has to wonder how this will affect the Senate investigation into Backpage? To date, Backpage has caught just about every legal lucky break in their controversial history. However, those were either for legislative or civil lawsuit issues. Will these criminal charges stick? Many hope they do but it shouldn’t come as a surprise if the charges were somehow to be dismissed.

   
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  Geebo 5:08 pm on October 6, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Google Fiber, internet ( 9 ), Webpass   

  Is Google Fiber coming to your home? 

  

  If you’ve never heard of Google Fiber, it’s Google’s internet service that is supposed to be the fastest in the U.S. It’s only been rolled out to select cities like Austin, Texas, and Kansas City, Missouri. One of the good things about Google Fiber is not only does it give consumers another choice for internet service, but it also causes the established ISPs to step up their game. This usually can mean a drop in price and higher speeds from the entrenched ISPs.

  Recently, Google bought a company called Webpass. Webpass was an internet service provider that would use a type of wireless signal to beam internet to apartment buildings. The only cable they’d have to install would be the ones from the rooftop receiver to the apartments in the building.

  Now, Google has plans to combine the two technologies to provide internet to a wider consumer base. This plan could accelerate Google’s plan to bring its Fiber coverage to the country at large. Since it launched Google Fiber has been relatively slow to roll out, only covering a handful of cities. This is great news for consumers as it may cause companies like AT&T, Comcast, Cox, and Verizon to improve their services and it would also threaten the duopolies or in some cases monopolies that ISPs have in some communities.

   
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  Geebo 11:18 am on October 5, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Netflix ( 15 ), Pasadena, tax ( 3 )   

  Is there a Netflix tax coming soon? 

  

  Since the start of the commercial internet there have been runors and urban legends about certain taxes. There was one that said that the US Postal Service was going to tax every email sent in order to make up for lost revenue. That turned out to be untrue. Then there were rumors that the goverment would be adding taxes to the internet itself, however the government passed the Internet Tax Freedom Act which prevented that. Now there is talk of a tax on Netflix. Is this another urban legend or false alarm? Maybe not.

  With cable prices rising out of control many households are cutting the cord and using online streaming services like Netflix. The more that people start using Netflix rather than cable the more revenue that cable loses. Most cable companies have financial agreements with municipalities to make them the exclusive cable provider of that location. So in turn the more that people Use Netflix that’s money that’s being taken out of the pockets of city governments. At least one city is looking to make up that revenue and Netflix is their target.

  The city of Pasadena, California, is considering taxing Netflix to make up budgetary shortfalls. The proposed tax would only be a dollar but that’s not really the point. This kind of tax requires a public vote which would more than likely defeat the tax. However, the city is saying that the public approved this tax back in 2008 when they voted for a utility tax.

  If Pasadena were allowed to enact this tax it would set a dangerous precedent. Want to watch YouTube instead of TV? That could be a tax. Want to use an antenna to get free broadcast TV? That could be a tax too. Want to use our own site, Geebo? Well that could be a tax to make up revenue that’s being lost from local newspapers.

  The whole cord cutting movement was born out of the fact that consumers have limited choice when it comes to cable providers. If municipalities were to allow multiple cable companies in their area to promote competition then maybe cable priced wouldn’t be so astronomical. Unfortunately cities are very unwilling to give up well established revenue streams without taxing something new that they probably don’t even begin to understand.

   
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  Geebo 9:41 am on October 4, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Facebook ( 178 ), Facebook Marketplace ( 62 ), Online Classifieds ( 12 )   

  Facebook Marketplace already showing abuses 

  

  Facebook recently relaunched its Marketplace section. In a nutshell it’s a space on the Facebook app that allows people to buy and sell various goods to each other. The problem is that it didn’t take long for illegal items and items against Marketplace’s guidelines to be offered for sale on the Facebook App. Drugs, guns, dogs and ‘adult services’ have all been offered for sale on the revamped app.

  Facebook has been slow to remove these ads but has said that in the future they’ll use a combination of community policing and employee moderation to keep future objectionable ads off their site. If history is any indicator it doesn’t seem like Facebook will remove these ads in time. If they take their usual 36 hours to remove an ad, that illegal item could have already been sold. More than likely Facebook will rely heavily on community policing, which if you look at craigslist’s community policing it will be more like the inmates running the asylum.

  Another problem with Facebook Marketplace is that Facebook is trying to keep you in their ‘walled garden’. That means they’re trying to be all things to all people in order to keep them on their site or app for as long as possible. Facebook doesn’t want you to go to any other site besides Facebook. The problem with walled gardens is that walls collapse and gardens die. The more Facebook tries to contain their users the closer it gets to being AOL of the 1990s, and who still uses AOL?

  Instead of using an unreliable service, your best bet is to use Geebo, the safer community classifieds. Here at Geebo we moderate our ads to make sure that nothing illegal or harmful is sold. As a socially conscious service, not only did our CEO Greg Collier eliminate the personals section to protect against human trafficking and other related crimes, but he also eliminated the sale of animals to discourage the use of puppy mills and animal related scams.

  While some online classifieds say that they’re socially responsible, Geebo not only talks the talk but it walks the walk as well.

  Everything old is new again: Facebook Marketplace used for robberies | Greg's Corner is discussing. Toggle Comments