Will companies be your friend?

Joy of Tech



Did you know that Facebook is aggregating information about you outside of what you do on Facebook? Facebook is now worth $15B? Its a huge success. 

Unrelated but also succesful is the occupation of Iraq...

...for the defense and security industry. Alright, but what kind of operation misplaces $50 billion? What kind of government can't figure out what happened? 

The exact sum missing may never be clear, but a report by the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) suggests it may exceed $50bn, making it an even bigger theft than Bernard Madoff's notorious Ponzi scheme. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/a-fraud-bigger-than-madoff-1622987.html

In one case, auditors working for SIGIR discovered that $57.8m was sent in "pallet upon pallet of hundred-dollar bills" to the US comptroller for south-central Iraq, Robert J Stein Jr, who had himself photographed standing with the mound of money.

In many cases, contractors never started or finished facilities they were supposedly building. 

Obama is surging troop levels in Afgahnistan. I'm not convinced that the right strategy in Afghanistan starts with more troops.

Some people facing foreclosure are stopping the process by asking their bank for the original mortgage paperwork, which the bank might not be able to find, if they repackaged and resold your loan.

Mr. free-the-markets Greenspan now backs nationalizing banks, just until their back on their feet, so...isn't that a fancy way of suggesting taxpayers just give banks even more money for nothing? Capitalists don't truly nationalize anything, do they?

With friends like these...

For years many of us fought privacy invasions on the web. Now we're voluntarily tagging ourselves. We finally trust the privacy of a web system because we see old friends in it. We have however voluntarily helped create the world's largest database of personal profiles. Facebook is on the cusp of expanding their efforts to monetize what they have for value.

Facebook to Start Porting Profile Data to Other Sites

Facebook is...

... profile information for targeted advertising: "We collect this information so that we can provide you the service and offer personalised features."

Think Facebook only knows what you tell them?

"Facebook may also collect information about you from other sources, such as newspapers, blogs, instant messaging services, and other users of the Facebook service through the operation of the service (eg, photo tags) in order to provide you with more useful information and a more personalised experience."

What's wrong with what we tell them? That's a lot. Why isn't that enough for them that they have to go on an aggressive profile aggregation and enhancement program? To further monetize us.

Facebook is...

...permananent: "When you update information, we usually keep a backup copy of the prior version for a reasonable period of time to enable reversion to the prior version of that information."

The government doesn't have to ask to be your friend.

"By using Facebook, you are consenting to have your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States ... We may be required to disclose user information pursuant to lawful requests, such as subpoenas or court orders, or in compliance with applicable laws. We do not reveal information until we have a good faith belief that an information request by law enforcement or private litigants meets applicable legal standards. Additionally, we may share account or other information when we believe it is necessary to comply with law, to protect our interests or property, to prevent fraud or other illegal activity perpetrated through the Facebook service or using the Facebook name, or to prevent imminent bodily harm. This may include sharing information with other companies, lawyers, agents or government agencies."

Facebook today announced that for the time being they are reverting to a previous privacy policy until the controversy dies downbut the face remains the same, they have a lot of personal information and they need to monetize. I assume we all remember that the government's Total Information Awareness program had to pretend to no longer exist due to bad publicity as well. 

I've heard two stories about users that tried to delete their information en masse and subsequently had their accounts frozen.

I instigated what as far as I know, was the first ever Facebook party. Ok, Facebook already is a party and maybe I wasn't the first, but at any rate, as a party, it like having a few people over to chat around photos of drinks, food and varying entertainment rooms, playing from Jazz to Gwar. I expected conversations to jump around from object to object but only the most committed to the party chose to jump around with "the party". The conversations-around-objects (ie, status updates, photos, etc) paradigm of Facebook was not conducive to real-time conversations with groups. Though it works on a day-to-day basis, limits of talking only with your "friends" also impeded the party possibilities. Ultimately it was more interesting as a social experiment and product test than it was as a party.

Thanks to Facebook, I've reconnected with many old friends. For that, I'm grateful and appreciative of the product. It is however a product. Some other product will improve on the experience and our personal information will continue to be more widely available.

Companies and the government want to be your "friend"! Select one: Accept or Accept.

"A large and growing portion of some of the most valuable demographics are spending more of their time and attention on Facebook and less on other channels and media."

Americans want more sources of energy.

Reactions:

"The 545 people link indirectly made me think of something I've never thought of: that term limits (on any level) encourage lame ducks to do crap they'd be afraid to do if they faced reelection.

Let's get rid of term limits. For presidents too. That's my suggestion for Thing to Do." (Mark Baldridge)

Your Job:

Companies and politicians you don't know personally, are not your friends. It's OK to constructively criticize. I voted for Barack Obama. I'm against bailing out failing companies but I'm for spending on health, education and infrastucture. I can be for one and against the other. I use and appreciate Facebook but I openly critizize it as well. We can do both. Today, pick something that has an affect on you, be it within the government or our culture, and come up with a list of what is good and what is bad about it. Constructive criticism helps us improve.