Category: Internet

We Live in Remarkable Times

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I was getting off the Metro on the way to work, and, not for the first time, noticed the green light underneath the escalator.

So I fired up search on my phone, “Why is there a green light under an escalator?” and immediately found the answer: the lights are there to limn the edges of the steps, so as to reduce the possibility off placing one’s feet between stairs, which might cause a fall.

This is a technical development that was unimaginable to the most technologically forward looking science fiction author just 30 years ago.

Of course those same authors had me commuting to work with a jet-pack, which has not yet happened.

I still want that jet-pack, damn it.

Posted via mobile.

Way Too Much Free Time………

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On Google using the Lynx text mode browser

Some guy took his early 1980s vintage TRS-80 Model 100 and set it up to surf the net:

The true test of a man’s patience is crimping pins onto the end of a cable that leads to building a custom serial cable—especially if it’s the first time you’ve even handled a serial cable in a decade. So as I searched under my desk, using my phone for a flashlight, I wondered whether I had finally found the IT project that would send me over the edge. On a recent day, I set out to turn my recently acquired vintage Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100 computer into a working Internet terminal. And at this moment, I crawled on the floor looking for a DB-25 connector’s little gold pin that I had dropped for the sixth—or maybe sixteenth—time.

Thankfully, I underestimated my patience/techno-masochism/insanity. Only a week later, I successfully logged in to Ars’ editorial IRC channel from the Model 100. And seeing as this machine first saw the market in 1983, it took a substantial amount of help: a Raspberry Pi, a little bit of BASIC code, and a hidden file from the website of a certain Eric S. Raymond.

I respect how the author has gotten his geek on.

It means that he is doing his bit to prevent overpopulation, because with that under his arm, he is so never going to get his porcupine whacked.

This Is a New Social Networking Service That I Approve Wholeheartedly

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It requires no computer, though it does require a functioning elbow. It is called pub:

A middle-aged visionary has launched an offline service called ‘pub’, which allows friends to interact in a building.

Overweight, balding 46-year-old Martin Bishop sees ‘pub’, known locally as The Woodcutter’s Arms, as a place where people can verbally communicate while drinking beer.

He said: “There’s Steak Night on Tuesdays and a ska band every third Friday. Hopefully we’re getting the toilets done next month because they’re a bit grim at the moment.”

24-year old blogger Nikki Hollis commented: “I love going to the pub because it’s so interactive and exciting. For example, my friend will say something about her life, and then I comment, and then she comments back, and then I comment, and so on.

………

However police have warned about the potential dangers of ‘pub’: “People in the pub aren’t always who they seem to be. A middle-aged man could claim to be a small girl. Stay alert, use your eyes.”

I’m wondering if they could come up with a sports themed version of this.

I think that “Sports Pub” could be a real winner.

Internet Firm Going Public, but Not in a Good Way

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It appears that, Ashley Madison the dating site for people who want to cheat on their spouses, has gone public ……… prematurely, and much like their clients, prematurely is not a word that you want to hear:

Large caches of data stolen from online cheating site AshleyMadison.com have been posted online by an individual or group that claims to have completely compromised the company’s user databases, financial records and other proprietary information. The still-unfolding leak could be quite damaging to some 37 million users of the hookup service, whose slogan is “Life is short. Have an affair.”

The data released by the hacker or hackers — which self-identify as The Impact Team — includes sensitive internal data stolen from Avid Life Media (ALM), the Toronto-based firm that owns AshleyMadison as well as related hookup sites Cougar Life and Established Men.

Reached by KrebsOnSecurity late Sunday evening, ALM Chief Executive Noel Biderman confirmed the hack, and said the company was “working diligently and feverishly” to take down ALM’s intellectual property. Indeed, in the short span of 30 minutes between that brief interview and the publication of this story, several of the Impact Team’s Web links were no longer responding.

………

In a long manifesto posted alongside the stolen ALM data, The Impact Team said it decided to publish the information in response to alleged lies ALM told its customers about a service that allows members to completely erase their profile information for a $19 fee.

According to the hackers, although the “full delete” feature that Ashley Madison advertises promises “removal of site usage history and personally identifiable information from the site,” users’ purchase details — including real name and address — aren’t actually scrubbed.

“Full Delete netted ALM $1.7mm in revenue in 2014. It’s also a complete lie,” the hacking group wrote. “Users almost always pay with credit card; their purchase details are not removed as promised, and include real name and address, which is of course the most important information the users want removed.”

On NPR, a representative of ALM said that they were using DMCA take-down notices to keep the information off the web, but that makes no sense at all, because a data is not copyrightable, though there may be some trade secret protections that apply.

In either case, there was a bit of schadenfreude for me when I heard about this.

I can understand how some people might look for someone to cheat with, you see this in the personal ads of the alternative press regularly, but making a whole site for this is just really creepy.

H/T Yves Smith.

Why Not to Trust Online Apps

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In addition to users having very little recourse when a vendor creates an update that is worse than its predecessor,* it also leaves you at the mercy of a vendor who can jack up the licensing fees when you are hooked:

Microsoft looks to have increased the price it will charge for Office 365 in the Euro-zone, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Australia, and Canada.

Nicole Sheridan, who works and blogs for Irish distributor MicroWarehouse, has posted a Microsoft missive on the price rises. She also quotes from a Microsoft communiqué that says the price rises are justifiable because “cloud services are rapidly evolving, and Microsoft is adding significant value to our products.”

The translation from Microflaccid speak is as follows, “We are raising prices for the same reason that dogs lick their own genitals:  Because they can.”

*Like when Google, who is particularly awful about retrograde “upgrades” removed the ability to save map locations to contacts when they went to version 7.†
†BTW, as of version 9, they have still left what was an essential feature out of maps.‡
‡The rat-f%$#s who did this should be the first bunch up against the wall when the revolution comes.Ψ
ΨBTW, you can get a link to the old version of Google Maps here. Just be sure to enable the installation of non Play Store apps, and turn off auto updating for the Maps app.

Dumbass

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Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal thought that an open forum on Twitter would be a good thing.

This has been done before, and has failed before, but Jindal did not get the memo:

Someone on Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s campaign staff had the brilliant idea of opening up a discussion between the Republican hopeful and Twitter. The result was a terrible idea, poorly executed.
The first, and possibly most important, set of questions for the candidate:

If you know so little about the Internet that you think #AskBobby is wise, how can you consider yourself a competent 21st Century President?

— Michael O’Neill (@hkeller812) June 30, 2015

he wasn’t dumb enough to do #askbobby. he couldn’t have been.

— Bomani Jones (@bomani_jones) June 30, 2015

Yes — he most certainly was. ………

It goes on from there, and the questions become less “meta” and far more aggressively hostile.

Republicans have been trolling politics since the 1960s, and somehow, they do not understand that there are trolls on the internet.

Not only is Bobby Jindal too stupid to be President, he is too stupid to be allowed around sharp object.

I wonder who is employed by him to cut his meat for him, and I wonder what the f^%$# this benighted soul is going to put on his resume.

My guess is “Nutrition Consultant.”

More Cable Company F%$#ery

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Major internet providers, including AT&T, Time Warner and Verizon, are slowing data from popular websites to thousands of US businesses and residential customers in dozens of cities across the country, according to a study released on Monday.
The study, conducted by internet activists BattlefortheNet, looked at the results from 300,000 internet users and found significant degradations on the networks of the five largest internet service providers (ISPs), representing 75% of all wireline households across the US.

The findings come weeks after the Federal Communications Commission introduced new rules meant to protect “net neutrality” – the principle that all data is equal online – and keep ISPs from holding traffic speeds for ransom.

Tim Karr of Free Press, one of the groups that makes up BattlefortheNet, said the finding show ISPs are not providing content to users at the speeds they’re paying for.

“For too long, internet access providers and their lobbyists have characterized net neutrality protections as a solution in search of a problem,” said Karr. “Data compiled using the Internet Health Test show us otherwise – that there is widespread and systemic abuse across the network. The irony is that this trove of evidence is becoming public just as many in Congress are trying to strip away the open internet protections that would prevent such bad behavior.”

Once again, call your congresscritter, and ask them not to support cable company f%$#ery.

I Never Thought That I Would Her to My List of, “People I Do Not Want to Piss Off.”

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But Taylor Swift has earned her entry into the most noble order of the “People I Do Not Want to Piss Off“.

Taylor: 1 — Apple: 0:

Tech oligarchs aren’t supposed to say sorry. And no, Apple hasn’t formally apologized to the music community for demanding that it works for Apple for free, Apple still comes out of it with plenty of credit.

Ten days ago, the contracts for Apple’s new Spotify-ish streaming service leaked out, and they contained an unprecedented request. Apple said artists and rights owners would not be paid for music streamed during the service’s first three months. During that time, the service will be offered for free to people, and then rise to something like ten bucks a month.

Typically, streaming pays almost nothing today – fractions of a penny. The segment numbers tens of millions of paying subscribers, and hasn’t achieved scale. But this, from Apple, was genuinely nothing: a big, fat zero. The story flew onto the business pages. Only bottom-feeding pirate websites used artists’ work without paying them, and it looked like Apple was diving into the cesspit of file-sharers.

………

Within hours of the world’s biggest pop star weighing in on the side of the indies, Apple caved in. Taylor Swift livened up Sunday with a devastating open letter to Apple, explaining her music wouldn’t be on Apple Music.

By the evening, Apple’s content chief Eddy Cue was tweeting, and phoning reporters, to tell say the no-royalties period was scrapped. Artist will believe it when they see the new contracts arrive: the trial-period royalty may be lower than the regular royalty. But that’s still an epic turnaround – and Apple emerges looking better than anyone expected last week.

Apple clearly wants Apple Music to succeed – and many artists and rights owners want it to succeed, too. This is surprising on the face of it, given that Apple pays barely more than streaming services. (Again, we’ll wait for the first royalty statements before seeing whether this is true.)

 Well played, Ms. Swift.

Cable Company F%$#ery, Fiber Edition

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Rather unsurprisingly, much like its cable competitors, Verizon* is steadfastly refusing to do infrastructure build-outs that in promised in exchange for its getting a cable franchise:

New York City officials today ordered Verizon to complete fiber builds that the company was supposed to finish a year ago. If Verizon doesn’t comply, the city can seek financial damages.

 “In a 2008 agreement with New York City, Verizon committed to extend its FiOS network to every household across the five boroughs by June 30, 2014,” said the announcement of an audit released today by the city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT).

 Verizon’s FiOS fiber network delivers Internet, TV, and phone service to areas traditionally served by Verizon’s copper landlines and DSL Internet.

 “Through a thorough and comprehensive audit, we have determined that Verizon substantially failed to meet its commitment to the people of New York City,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “As I’ve said time and again, Verizon must deliver on its obligation to the City of New York and we will hold them accountable.”

 The agreement, which gave Verizon a cable television franchise, says NYC may “seek and/or pursue money damages” from Verizon if it fails to deliver on its promises.

 Verizon also failed to meet broadband promises in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, but those states let the company off the hook.

 Verizon is disputing New York City’s findings. Verizon met the requirement to pass all households with fiber, though not all residents can actually buy fiber service, the company says. Verizon last year blamed landlords for delays. It also blamed Hurricane Sandy from October 2012, even though Verizon was still claiming to be “ahead of schedule” in April 2013.

………

 Verizon further said that “it is important to note that it’s not a mere coincidence that the report is made public today, and labor negotiations with our largest union begin on Monday. It’s well known the union has ties to the city administration, and things like this are a familiar union tactic we have seen before.” The Communications Workers of America union has blamed Verizon’s fiber shortcomings on job cuts.

 Verizon has also called complaints about its landline maintenance “meaningless rhetoric and hyperbole from the unions.”

 The city’s audit report said refusal of access by landlords cannot explain the full extent of Verizon’s failure to bring fiber to all residents. Property managers interviewed by the city said Verizon has refused to extend service to buildings unless the company was granted exclusive agreements that would shut out other providers.

If the contract allows for pulling the franchise, I would like to see that.

If it doesn’t, use eminent domain to purchase the fiber infrastructure, and get the money for it from Verizon’s fines.

In a perfect world, of course, Verizon executives would be invited (compelled) to participate on that classic game show, Ow! My Balls!, but I will take what I can get.

What the free market mousketeers refuse to understand about this crap is that companies make more money from maintaining a monopoly and shutting out other competitors, so the free market will not lead to competition and lower prices.

*Full disclosure, I am a relatively satisfied (monopoly rents make them too expensive) Verizon FIOS® customer.

Has John Thune Been Dining on Lead Paint?

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It is amazing just how much stupid can be jammed into just 140 characters:

Six million people risk losing their health care subsidies, yet @POTUS continues to deny that Obamacare is bad for the American people.

— Senator John Thune (@SenJohnThune) June 8, 2015

I am not a big fan of Obamacare, but to claim that Obamacare might be responsible for ending the subsidies that it created is a level of stupid that buggers the mind.

I May Actually Start Reading Gawker Now

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Their writing staff just voted to unionize, marking the first time that a digital news site has assumed the union label:

Wednesday night, Gawker Media voted to unionize. The stats: 107 of 118 eligible voters cast secret ballots, 80 of whom voted yes. Just like that, Gawker will become the first digital-only news site to have a union.

Hamilton Nolan, longtime Gawker writer, announced the editorial staff’s decision to organize in a post this April. At the time, he listed the motivations: that a union “is the only real mechanism that exists to represent the interest of employees in a company,” the continued pursuit of fair and transparent salaries, and the ability to make a little history as the first major site of its kind to organize.

According to Gawker senior writer Sam Biddle, who answered questions via email, “The origin of the union isn’t any particular grievance or crisis—we all love our jobs and our workplace, and thought a union would be a great way to protect that, and make it even better for ourselves and our colleagues.” In his five years at Gawker, he doesn’t recall unionizing being “seriously discussed.”

“I think it happened now because the [Writers Guild of America, East] was so enthusiastic about making this happen for us,” he said. “It didn’t take very much convincing, to be honest.”

One hopes that this jumps to HuffPo, which is according to some comments to a Gawker post, such a bad place to work that, a former assistant to Hunter S. Thompson only lasted two weeks.

I Think That Someone Has Whispered the Words “Obstruction of Justice” in His Ear

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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has backtracked on his 90 days and then delete email policy:

The emails of New York officials will no longer be automatically deleted after 90 days, aides to Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced last week in response to political pressure over the purge policy.

It’s been a slow burn leading to the policy shift. The purge policy was first reported by the Albany Times Union back in mid–2013, but didn’t stir much protest until more recently, following coverage by ProPublica and Capital New York.

At a public meeting Friday, aides to the governor said they had reviewed the policies of other states and, going forward, any email deletion would be manual. That means more communications should be retained and be accessible in response to public records requests or in the case of investigations of wrongdoing.

Good government groups welcomed the move, writing in an open letter that it “shows the power the governor has to lead by example to increase transparency” – rare praise for Cuomo, whose administration has generally been marked by secrecy.

Since the purge policy was in effect for about two years in some state agencies, it’s probable some public records have been lost.

The cynic in me thinks that Cuomo has already managed to delete records that he wanted deleted.

The optimist in me thinks that someone, perhaps his counsel, or perhaps someone from the US Attorney’s office told him that they would either take actions to protect the data, which would be profoundly embarrassing to Hizzoner.

In either case, this is good news, and I am hoping to see Cuomo indicted, because he is clearly corrupt, at least by the ordinary standards of decency, if not the letter of the law.

And so I Must Add Another to the List of They Who Must Not Be Named………

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The Stupid, it Burns Us!

I must add (thankfully former) Twitter “Hashtag activist” Suey Park, who face planted with her #CancelColbert tag about a year ago.

It started with ……… Hell, just watch the attached video.

Short version:

  • Football team owner and contemptible scumbag Dan Snyder, facing criticism for his team’s name, founds the “Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation” in a ploy that not even his own mother would believe.
  • Colbert makes joke about this.
  • Comedy Central tweets punchline bereft of context.
  • Ms. Park has a Twitter fit, despite never having seen the original joke, which goes viral.
  • Colbert answers back (He is actually very gentle to her and savage on the cable news coverage) in the attached video.
  • Ms. Park becomes a laughing stock.
  • Dirtbag misogynists sent threats of murder and rape to Ms. Park, and she gets doxxed.

We can all agree that nothing that Ms. Park did merited the threats against her person.

What is also clear that, even by the incredibly lame standards of “Twitter Hashtag Activists,” Suey Park squandered whatever credibility she once had: She has become a punchline to a very bad joke.

She has made some attempt to rehabilitate her reputation (see link), but, I don’t care about her reputation, or how she feels about herself, or how she might have learned from the experience.

Until she does something that affirmatively proves that her opinions have some insight beyond what could be generated with an ELIZA program, she goes on my list of They Who Must Not Be Named.

That is all.