Eben Moglen unloads on journalist with excellent observation.
This Moglen guy is right. The really funny part? There's a lot of people screaming about their right to privacy being lost due to Internet snooping, then they will post crap about themselves for the world to see.
Professor is right--albeit paranoid and very angry.
As a journalist, I'm sure FB and twitter are necessities at the moment. The writer can agree with the professor, but in the end, his livelihood depends on social media.
That said, I'm on neither.
It appears that over 200 people have "liked" that article on Facebook. There's irony is that somewhere.
I thought you were going to post this story.
http://rt.com/usa/news/homeland-security-journalists-monitoring-321/
Curmudgeon wrote: This Moglen guy is right. The really funny part? There's a lot of people screaming about their right to privacy being lost due to Internet snooping, then they will post crap about themselves for the world to see.
The difference is that they choose what they post it's not information getting out that they don't want out.
^^^ there's a subtle difference. Moglen says the problem is not what we a person reveals about themself. He is concerned with what they reveal about others. It is worth reading.
That's good.
The comments might be better than the article.
He sounds like my stepdad. "The internet is going to ruin us all!!!!111!!2"
Honestly, I am a very open person, and I have very little to hide. Also, I "work" (if you can call it that) in a journalistic field, and I have to try to build myself as a brand, if you will. Social medium assists in those endeavors, and honestly, if you use them correctly, they can be a very good thing.
The Internet has been a pretty good thing, overall. On the negative side it has, along with its offspring the smartphone, turned a lot of people into shiny happy people because most people don't seem to have any real clue how to properly use this new tool. Or more accurately, it hasn't turned them into shiny happy people it's just made the shiny happy personry easier to see. People are a LOT ruder now than they used to be and that's a fact.
I still find it funny that people will scream about being tracked via the GPS in their whatever device then expect to get an app which tells them how far the nearest 'hip' new sushi bar or gas station is. 
Can't have one without the other, dumbass. I too have nothing to hide. That's why I don't bind up inside at the thought of a GPS in my phone and I am happy to see police around, rather than instantly going defensive.
People squawk about Net privacy, then blog/FB/Twitter about whatever and as Moglen pointed out reveal a lot about those around them as well as themselves. Make up your mind, folks. Which one is it going to be?
What it comes down to is:
Social media gave everyone a forum. Previously, you had to write for a newspaper or be Andy Rooney to give your random thoughts/opinions.
Now all the attention-seekers of the world can get affirmation at any given second of the day--"Look mommy!!! I have an opinion and someone is giving me attention for it--I hope"
(and yes, I see the irony of my typing this on a web forum)
I am not a fan of the facial recognition stuff they are using. I am wondering if I should cut back on the Facebooking. Or is cold turkey the only way to go?
I'm a little schizophrenic about social media. On the professional side, I like social media as a marketing and outreach tool. On the private side, I'm a little weirded out by how readily everyone hands over their privacy and annoyed that I didn't think of a way to exploit people's vanity myself.
Otto Maddox wrote: I am not a fan of the facial recognition stuff they are using. I am wondering if I should cut back on the Facebooking. Or is cold turkey the only way to go?
Well, if you use it as a means to spy on others and never post any real information about yourself you only need to gain confidence enough to be befriended. Anything more and you expose your self to being spied upon.
Even if you have nothing to hide... does it creep you out just a little that anyone who writes a check to Zuckerberg can compile a pretty complete file on you without your knowledge? Imagine if Hoover had that capability while crusading against commies or any of the other government witch hunts that have taken place in the last century. Imagine how easy we have made it for the guys who might like to know who and where your family is when you are mistaken for a mob turncoat. I can think of a whole lot of scenarios where it is really a bad idea... I can't think of one good one that outweighs the bad.
In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:
Hot chicks from high school in bathing suits.
Otto Maddox wrote: In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker: Hot chicks from high school in bathing suits.
You can top that with hot chicks half your age possibly engaged in acts of an illicit nature with just a quick google search. You have to do better than that to justify the future enslavement of all humanity.
In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:
I like the personal touch of chicks I know. Call me a humanitarian. I have a special place in my heart for girls I wanted to have sex with at the age of 16.
Problem B is that even if I gave up Facebook, my wife is on it. And lots of friends who post pictures of me.
Otto Maddox wrote: In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker: Problem B is that even if I gave up Facebook, my wife is on it. And lots of friends who post pictures of me.
There has been a lot discussion of the SSS technique lately; perhaps it could serve you well? 
Otto Maddox wrote: . And lots of friends who post pictures of me.
You have no choice but to fake your own death.
That actually brings up something weird about social media. The whole death angle. I have been watching a woman in her 30s slowly die from cancer. It is creepy. We are friends, but it seems a little too personal sometimes.
Bloomberg Businessweek did a bit on these people recently.
http://www.palantirtech.com/
http://www.cfr.org/defensehomeland-security/bloomberg-palantir-war-terrors-secret-weapon/p26601
Otto Maddox wrote: I like the personal touch of chicks I know. Call me a humanitarian. I have a special place in my heart for girls I wanted to have sex with at the age of 16.
Meh, for me, those women are now approaching 40, most have children and an extreme few look as good in a swimsuit now as they did then.
I'm not interested in updates about their kids.
I doubt I'm missing much by not being on FB. Sure, you "re-connect" with old friends, but I barely see the people who are still "in" my life. It takes a congressional motion just to get together for dinner with people these days.
I should get on FB if only to catch up with friends. Since most of them became addicts, they no longer write email or call. They also do not return emails
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:Otto Maddox wrote: . And lots of friends who post pictures of me.You have no choice but to fake your own death.
I think Tupac once said that...
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