Not yet a member? No problem!
Sign-up just takes a second.
Forgot your password?
Recover it now.
Check your email for a verification code and enter it below.Don't close this box or you must fill out this form again.
Already signed up?
Log in now.
Forgot your password?
Recover it now.
Not yet a member? No problem!
Sign-up just takes a second.
Remember your password?
Log in now.
Let's Talk About Facebook
This is where I got my understanding of events from:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/03/facebooks-cambridge-analytica-scandal-explained/
But yeah, I hope CA get crucified for their role in this.
They've reported that it secretly, somehow, used granted permission to copy certain personal information from participants as a way to surreptitiously steal far more information than was allowed including the private information of any of their friends, totally against written rules of Facebook, their contract with Facebook, and common decency. Granted, Facebook did nothing to stop them.
There's tons of evidence they used it, but not clear public proof....yet. wait. It took 2 years for this to be public (reportedly Facebook knew years ago and stayed silent).
Again, reportedly they used it to target posts and 'news' individually, specifically contradicting posts and liked stories by individual users.
Yep, Facebook has a lot of blame here, but not all of it. CA are some seriously underhanded bastard all around, see the recordings.
Let's Talk About Facebook
I could well be wrong about this, but my understanding is that the data wasn't really stolen, it was freely shared by Facebook. I also don't think there is any evidence that suggests that CA used their psychoanalytic stuff on the Trump campaign specifically. It sounds like they are targeting voters more on purely their geographical location than any in depth analysis of their social media profile. It seems doubtful to me that CA were the only ones at this game though...
I do think Facebook absolutely shares some blame - They hand over their users data and make app creators etc pinky-swear that they will use it responsibly and delete it once they are done...and then they do absolutely nothing to ensure that agreement is honoured. They either willfully ignored it because they knew the data was likely to be misused, or they were naive to the point of complete incompetence. I really can't see an option C.
Astonished @bobknight33 posted a video about Trump using more stolen data to further manipulate voters. Kudos.
Captain Disillusion Parodies Other YouTubers While Debunking
That was fantastic.
Response to Trump's Video Game Montage - #GameOn
A little bit of Overwatch, which is pretty PG, and Mirror's Edge, which does allow you to kill people but it isn't core to the game. I haven't played The Last of Us, but aren't there still human enemies, not just the infected? I agree it's a fairly tame list though.
Clearly Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy is the only game that should have been in Trump's montage. If that doesn't incite you to violence it will probably destroy any self esteem you might have instead. Ban this sick filth please.
As far as the inclusion of violent games go, I didn't see any here where the object is to kill other humans. There were some where you fight monsters, or corrupted humans (The Last of Us), but I didn't spot any that actually feature / primarily focus on people killing other people. I'll admit to not being familiar with every game featured however.
The White House's Violence in Video Games
To be fair, correlation of gun ownership to gun violence isn't exactly clear cut either. No country has quite as many guns per capita as America, but there are countries with relatively high gun ownership that don't have the same problem with gun violence. Clearly it's a complex issue...
but maybe media is to blame somewhat. The news media. I wonder if the reporting was minimised - i.e. no images of the killer, no details about the killer, just reporting of the incident, the victims etc and then, as callous as this perhaps sounds, on to the next story. The families of the victims aren't helped by the frenzy or speculation and I really think it only encourages the next would-be murderer. It gives an opportunity to have a discussion about gun control (except it comes across as opportunistic...) but America's gun violence problem is larger than mass shootings. To me, it's as much about the stickups that go wrong, the fact every police officer can make a poor decision and end up killing somebody, its about lil timmy accidentally shooting his best friend, its about suicides... not just about tragedies that dominate the news. Oh, and games have fuck all to do with any of it
That is the part that befuddles me with their whole argument. Every other country in the world has these games, movies, and TV... have they seen some of the stuff coming out of Japan and parts of Europe. They all have equally violent games and movies, and they don't have the same problem. And as was pointed out by CrushBug, they are all Rated M games.
They all have "mentally ill" people too... and don't have the same problem. Another argument that makes no sense, given that one of their first actions was to make it easier for "mentally ill" people to get guns. Though as I understand it that hasn't gone into effect yet, it's still the principle of saying "it's mental illness" while making it easier for those you are blaming. Not to mention every version of their attempts to get rid of Obamacare included massive cuts to mental health programs.
The fact that all these people are the same people who scream "right to life" in regards to abortion, and that's why they vote Republican (a party that loves war and the death penalty), is a bit odd since they seem to love their right to own a gun far more than the tons of lives snuffed out by said guns each year. I'd be more or less happy enough, for now, to just end the Dickey amendment and see how the data works out. But no, they still refuse to do that... probably because the NRA has an idea of where that data will go.
The White House's Violence in Video Games
I like how they ripped things straight from people's youtube channels.
Also, they do understand that the rest of the world has access to these games right? Kind of shits on any correlation they want to make there, doesn't it?
How politicians troll the media
aka, why to ignore headlines that have question marks in them. Poor journalism enables these trolls imo.
Two polite drunk men try to pass one another
At least they didn't make a pass at one another...
Blade Runner 2049: Most Complicated Sex Scene of All Time
Yeah, I can totally understand that. Certainly the plot didn't require it and normally I could do without some romantic subplot... but as you say, I think it was deliciously symbolic and complimented the themes of the movie really well. Apart from arguing over whether Deckard is in fact a replicant or not, the topic of debate among friends was the nature of K and Joi's relationship. I mean, for this scene...the real person is faking an intimate relationship, and the fake person...well its not really clear if she is faking it or not. It's simultaneously real and it isn't. I thought it was excellent.
I thought it felt tacked on; I think artistically or symbolically it had significance, but I don't think it added much for me; maybe it could have been part of an extended version for the hard core Blade Runner people
the value of whataboutism
Hmm. I think Trump's healthcare and economic policies have consequences in human lives. War is not the only injustice.
Idk. Context is important, but then... life is meaningless and ephemeral - soon there will be nothing. It seems there is always a bigger picture to reach for to diminish somebody's argument.
I don't disagree with what Bush said about the state of politics now. If it was an anonymous comment I'd still agree with it, but it would less interesting. Perhaps it is fair to "whataboutbush" because so much emphasis was on the "who" of the comment rather than the "what". I think to the left we hope our acceptance of his comment is evidence to our impartiality. "look", we say, "we even agree with BUSH on this! Objectivity!". It seems to me to entirely be a concession to the opposition...but I can understand those who cannot abide any concession.
"I would have run into Florida School ... Unarmed" trump
Yes. Lets confront the issue of mental health. The unhinged shouldn't be allowed access to any weapons, be they pistols, rifles....atomic bombs...
Blade Runner 2049: Most Complicated Sex Scene of All Time
Quite possibly.
Interestingly the people I went to see it with thought the film would have been better without Joi... personally I would have missed it, if not for anything else then for this scene alone.
Thanks. I thought it was arguably the most interesting scene in the movie.
Comparison of Trump and Obama Responding to School Shootings
Niiiiiice
Tools are useful items that do work.
3D engine entirely made of MS Excel formulae
Ok, next I want to see Minecraft recreated on Excel on a computer which is itself a virtual machine simulated in Minecraft. I heard u like to go deeper etc.
ps. remember that flight sim easter-egg that older version of Excel had?
Man saws his AR15 in half in support of gun control
You're not wrong...soooo ban them all? Wow, never thought we'd agree.
You have inner city gang killings that no one cares about.
Thousand youths murdered yearly and no one cares.
You have mental people killing children at schools and now we must ban guns.
50 murdered / year and all hell breaks loose for gun control.
When American stop being two faced then may be we can address the issue.