Wednesday, October 02, 2013
Have YouTube and Twitter gotten out of control?
Al-Shabab the Somali offshoot of al-Qaeda has or had an actual, authentic and official Twitter feed and boasted online of the horrific massacre they pulled off at the upscale Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya. Now one of the most viral videos out there is the one on YouTube involving the hordes of psycho motorcyclists on the West Side Highway in NYC and the only way it got on YouTube was one of the moto-psychos was wearing a helmet cam at the time and recorded the whole thing from before up to and including the motorist who ran over one of his fellow bikers and then the biker gang chasing him down for miles and beating him up in front of his wife and young daughter. Facebook isn't much better with gangbangers having profiles and regularly boasting of their day-to-day and I got to thinking these three major and popular sites have TOS sections that you have to agree to when you first sign up right? A key section usually involves not breaking the laws and not inciting to violence and threatening and harassing people and similar caveats no? From terrorists to common thugs and garden-variety criminals it seems everyone has a site or linkup or feed these days and they're so teched up to the gills that even during the commission of their diverse crimes and atrocities and general social mayhem one of the things foremost on their minds seems to be going online later. Is the omnipresence of Technology doing something to the Brain? or to put it another way does the mixture of criminals and technology make things worse? call it Techno-Porn:)
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At a minimum, the bad guys are voluntarily (if boastfully) providing a lot of potential legal evidence. Along those lines, California has made "revenge porn" illegal. That
ReplyDeleteis the stuff people put on line about their ex's. Where does Wiener fit in all this?
The NYPD has caught more gang members by looking at their FB profiles. It's a law enforcement goldmine. Do we call it anti-social media?
ReplyDeleteA bit enigmatic: folks wanting their persona, no matter how ugly, in the bright light of
ReplyDeletemodern electronic communications, but get in a huff when they might be monitored by NSA.
It's almost like we asked for it.
ReplyDeleteWonder what the proper driving etiquette is when surrounded by 1400
Deletebikers?
Well apparently as one of the bikers on the news said the driver should simply have pulled over and exchanged paperwork with the rogue biker who deliberately slowed down in front of him and caused the problems. Yeah ok. So now the biker who was run over is in a coma and probably paralyzed for life and they're all getting on the motorist's case. Yeah so next time just have a friendly discussion with your local Hell's Angels after they run you off the road.
ReplyDeletePerhaps a clause in the 'carry for protection': to deal with 1400 idiots on motorcycles, permission to place on the roof of your vehicle a50 cal quad mount as
ReplyDeletea deterrent?
Stand your ground. If the asshole in front of you is driving too slow, blow his ass to southern Tunisia. Because that's the American Way, andGod gave you the right when He wrote the Second Amendment.
ReplyDeleteThe Big Apple has become a joke lately. I think de Blasio is gonna have to finetune his anti Stop 'n' Frisk position real soon.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I make a phone call from my desk I am saddened to think that the younger generation will never know how much fun it is to dial a rotary phone. Yes, it takes a little longer... yes, you have to hold for the next available representative because you can't press 1 for more options... but it works fine during a power outage (as long as the telephone wires are intact) which means it's not only nostalgic, retro-stylish and fun, it's also a prime (and possibly only) means of long-distance communication during the upcoming Rapture.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am made to understand they don't call them 'telephone poles' any more.... these days they're 'power poles'. Yeah, well... no. I had to give up words in phone numbers (LOrraine 7-6631) but I'm keeping my telephone poles.
ReplyDeleteI remember the rotary as a kid. I also like to know there's pay phones still around. One day on a lark I went from one to the next and scrounged up quite a few loose quarters people left behind.
ReplyDeleteSo I guess the DC police just shoot to kill these days. Geez and there was a little girl in the car too. I guess shooting out the tires is so yesterday.
ReplyDeleteBest argument for some gun control -- if the professionals can't handle guns why would the amateurs?
ReplyDeleteWe can ponder that wild DC driver plowing through the biker bunch...
ReplyDeleteThe chick was all crazy as hell but I still don't know why she's dead. The DC police didn't even give her the chance to fall through the cracks of the mental-health system.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting, I've been studying the activity at this here blog the past few days. Kind of slowed down, just really BB, Saty and I batting things around. Funny, the last time I posted an abortion thread it got really hot here for a time, new folks coming 'round posting stuff out of the blue and the common criticism of me (and Beth too) is don't talk about that issue all the time, in fact don't talk about it at all. OK so here's the thing, practically speaking when I speak on other topics people seem to get bored, my new threads are good for a day or two and then they peter out and yet I'm not supposed to speak about the other topic...see where I'm going here? it's a no-win:)
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, I am unable to figure out what makes some blogs get many hits and many comments. I know of excellent blogs, interesting, well written
Deletethat get hardly any attention. Conversely, there are some pretty awful blogs that seem to get all sorts of traffic. Dunno, Z-Man, maybe you should try
'awful'? :)
It's like Phillip Phillips and Katy Perry. He's the better singer/songwriter but she's always near the top of the charts. I mean "Roar"?
DeleteWe started the home improvements saga on Friday. I painted the livingroom, lots of good to say about Valspar Ultra paint, rooms to go furniture, allen + roth 2 blade ceiling fan, new tv, audio rack, dvd cabinet, area rug, drapes, pictures for walls, I'm tired and still waiting on tables and a replacement for the broken recliner.
ReplyDeleteSo the point I was making was that the quiet was just a coincidence.
ReplyDeleteThe tablet thing, I've been more on that lately. Do you have a favorite site for totally free ebooks? It's not that I'm cheap.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteproject Gutenberg. And Amazon.
Even though alot of ebooks are cheap I can't see paying with a credit card when you can just go to a bookstore. Let's say the price online for downloading an ebook is $9 you'll wind up paying more with a credit card what with interest and all. It's like people use plastic at McDonald's to buy a value meal, I can't see it.
ReplyDeleteI have 400+ books on my Kindle and the only ones I paid for were $20 for a complete set of Prabhupada's (A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada) books (there are a lot of them). I have at least 60 cookbooks, dozens of books on religion, a couple of free audiobooks, some of the rare fiction that I will read (think: classics) and a lot of nonfiction on things like physics, palaeontology/geology, knitting/crafts, so on. Most of the books you'll find for free are old ones that have moved into the public domain. This can get really interesting; I'm currently reading Cotton Mather's opus dei all about Puritans and witchcraft and what have you. Anyway, if you're about the bestseller list you won't find that for free, but you can find a lot of great books this way.
ReplyDeleteNow about credit cards.. using It for everything is only good when you have the ability to pay it off completely every month. With the renovations we are using it for everything because it makes it easier to track, but when the bill comes in we will pay it in full. Plus, I'm going to have enough reward points to buy the moon by the end of the year.
Cotton Mather-an enigmatic character on the early cusp between religion and science. He was a friend and admirer of the early British physicist Robert Boyle and a courageous defender of the nascent process of smallpox vaccination. He also played an important role in the Salem witch trials and never admitted that innocents were executed; indeed, he was proud of his role. Happy reading, Saty!
ReplyDeleteHow come there's no Salem Witch Trial deniers like the Holocaust deniers? just sayin'.
DeleteI notice that too with my Aldiko Book Reader all of the older classics are free. This goes into my next question - "Go Ask Alice" comes up with a low price which I don't mind but being from the very early 70's I was a little surprised. Sometimes I prefer the newer older classics, getting out of the D.H. Lawrence time zone ya know?
ReplyDeletewhat's an Aldiko Book Reader....? hmmm I must google..
ReplyDeleteI never heard of it before either but it came with the tablet and it works for me.
DeleteHey, I was looking up 'white noise' on Wiki (we got a white noise machine for the bedroom last week.. not one of those with crickets and babbling brooks, one that just makes various pitches of white noise) and while reading through it they said that it's used for tinnitus therapy. Thought you might be interested in that. We got ours at Bed Bath and Beyond, it wasn't the top of the line one but the next one down, about $50. It's very nice, it has four different general tones and then within each tone you can raise or lower the pitch, and even better it has a timer on it so you can set it to turn off in 30-90 minutes. It was recommended to me by a friend because the big guy snores. I can't say that it totally masks that out but I do like it very much in general. I saw a study where it also helps to increase concentration in people with ADHD. And at my doctor's office they have one outside the door of each room to mask the sound of confidential conversations.
ReplyDeleteTrue; my daughter has one for intermittent pulsatile tinnitus. I just use a noisy air purifier, have for years-because I am a light sleeper and a Robin
Deletepulling up a worm five houses away at 4AM awakens me.
That's interesting, I'll look into it. I go to Bed Bath & Beyond rather often and will check it out.
ReplyDeleteSo I checked out the Gutenberg site, seems cool and it's just my take but it seems rather literary like what if I don't want to download Little Lord Fauntleroy?
ReplyDeleteWell what are you looking for? I have found all kinds of things there.
ReplyDeleteMaybe cuisine, nature guides and some older martial arts books. Even though I'm slowly nearing geezerhood I will occasionally dabble in YA Classics.
DeleteI don't know... you'll have to look. Gutenberg has always had stuff I was looking for. Then again who looks for stuff I look for?
DeleteI just ordered a 3 book set of Rick Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy , supposed to be the piece de resistance of WWII Europe history. My library is all hardback, probably
Deletelarger than an e-library, physical space-wise. I am just finishing up a
550 page textbook on Virology and am looking forward to some light reading.
Just as I was getting used to it, that obnoxious analytics-sitemeter pop-up disappeared. Makes ya wonder....
ReplyDeleteProbably part of the gov't shutdown, some young lower-end NSA pt techno-geek doing the spying.
ReplyDeleteWOOWOO! I just upgraded my phone. I didn't want to actually have to pay for anything so I got the LG Intuition... it's enormous but I think it will be fun, it's kinda like halfway between a tablet and a phone... I don't know, but I've had the Blackberry long enough that I'm ready for a change. I will however hang on to it in case I don't like this thing or if I have problems with it. If necessary I can always reactivate the Blackberry for another 2 years. But I think it will be fun!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't know how you are but I always labor with technology at first. My sister-in-law is a whiz with anything, hits a couple of icons and up comes a car chase scene from some movie. Me? I get it eventually but I usually slog through figuring out things on my own like my tablet. There's a minimal instruction booklet and can't seem to find a tutorial on the product although apparently one exists somewhere in the ether. So basically I spend some time at the library figuring it all out on my own. Maybe it's better this way, you learn to solve problems on your own.
ReplyDeleteI see that some folks are calling for a boycott of Ritz Crackers because they sponsor Al Sharpton's radio show, and in 1994 he used the word 'cracker' in a speech. Yes, really.
ReplyDeleteI also see that Ted Cruz doesn't know any more about birth control than Rush Limbaugh does, and that there are some groups of people out there who literally think that everyone getting health care is going to trigger the Apocalypse.
Who needs fiction when you have these jackwagons?
When it comes to Free Speech it's all good. Let it ride, at least it ain't boring.
DeleteAnd as far as technology goes, I always have a sneaking suspicion that my gadgets can do far more than I ask them to do. Once I kind of have them doing what I need, I stop exploring, so I'm sure that they all have untapped potential. I really don't ask a lot of things of my stuff-just the basics will do. I really hope I can get an app to sync the calendar that's on my computer with one on my phone. That's something I really do like. And my Cozi. We use that a whole lot.
ReplyDeleteI'm my own tutorial. I think I finally figured out my own tablet. So what do you think of epub vs. PDF?
ReplyDeleteLots of open space in Big Sky Country , with hundreds of miles between towns. So they drive fast (and probably text)
ReplyDeleteSeems in Gotham there's a loophole, you can text at a red light since the car's not in motion.
DeleteSo I'm reading Alice and the first thing that struck me very early on was how well written it is this the anonymous diary of a tragic 15-yr. old drug addict and so many memorable literary lines too. Always the Question did Anon. really write it or did Beatrice Sparks?
ReplyDeleteI don't use epub format a lot because so many things come in mobi which is the Kindle format. PDF, I usually send these to my Kindle address and Kindle will convert them to mobi (for free). Otherwise I end up with all kinds of wonky fonts and sizes and things I can't see and can't adjust the typeface or anything. Yeah, I think that whole 'I'm 15 and hopelessly addicted' was like a marketing ploy. Just think how much porn is also written by Anon.
ReplyDeleteI've always had trouble if I'm at a public computer and an article I want to read comes up in PDF format. I don't like it.
ReplyDeleteRe Alice it's a shame because you don't do your cause any good if you fabricate stuff. Also you give the pro-drug movement ammo because they already say the anti-drug movement exaggerates, distorts and melodramatizes.
ReplyDeleteHaving been on the ugly end of all this I can say that when things get bad it's really hard to exaggerate how bad it is. I'm just sayin.
ReplyDeleteI'm still pondering this.
ReplyDelete& now Macy's employees won't be able to enjoy their Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteThe social media seems made for 'cyber bullying'. Glad I don't have it. Beast
ReplyDeleteBiesterfeldt in 5th grade was bad enough....
I remember this dopey obscure website I went to once, I only went there 'cause I used to work with the guy but one day one of the commenters posted "Deli Joe is a homo, I just wanted to get that on the Internet." Well Deli Joe needn't have worried, no traffic to speak of at that site and (2) just 'cause he had a tongue piercing does not a homo make Chris Rock's thoughts notwithstanding but yeah what's disturbing is the malice involved. I actually think they should call it anti-social media.
ReplyDeleteOn the plus side, you might be able to text and get a date with Miley Cyrus.
ReplyDeleteAt my age if I twerked I'd probably herniate a disc.
ReplyDeleteYou and Bob Dole.
DeleteI'm not even sure Viagra works in his case.
ReplyDeleteSort of....it gave him a runny nose.
DeleteGuy I work with saw a really old black guy with a cane, must've been upwards of 90 and he went into one of them porn emporium shops up by where he lives and we were both laughing about it. We kinda agreed with each other that at that age you had your day in the sun, just sit back on the edge of the bed and stare out the window:)
ReplyDeleteNonagenarian pervert. Beware The Cane!
ReplyDeleteYou know how they have books about Sex After 40/Sex After 50? Sex after 80 and 90 isn't even covered, it's uncharted territory. Can you make creative use of a walker?
ReplyDeleteCreative use of a walker? I'd start with twerking.
DeleteIs there Sex after Death? Enough with the Beatific Vision, let's get down to the nuts 'n' bolts.
ReplyDeleteIn the animal kingdom, the dominant male does all the sexting. When he has fathered sufficient cubs or fawns, some young stud comes along and drives him off. He wanders around lonely and passes away. Be thankful
Deleteyou are not a buffalo or whatever.
On the flipside the female black widow and praying mantis have a somewhat more dominant role over the male, Nature's version of female empowerment.
ReplyDeleteNature has devised some strangely complicated means of propagation.
DeleteI'm thinking your smartphone is safe, now that NSA is busy on Angela Merkel's.
ReplyDeleteShe doesn't look too pleased about it either. Just what did the NSA expect to get from her anyway? Carney at this point is just a lackey.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile in the beautiful tourist destination of Somolia, drones one, El Shabob zero.
ReplyDeleteer....Zero as in zero .
DeleteAlways remember though drones are like some loans, they always require some collateral.
ReplyDeleteWhat's up with Ann Coulter ? Isn't Al Roker available?
ReplyDeleteJimmie Walker, you mean JJ?
DeleteTwitter went public with a stock market IPO. Shares are selling like mad, even though Twitter has lost money every quarter. I'm waiting for Twerking, Inc to issue
ReplyDeletestocks.
Had a better debut than the FB IPO that's for sure.
Delete