Feb 12 2013
Tuesday News: Racism on the internet; CIA spying; and other self fulfilling things
William Shatner calls out Reddit for racism and hate mongering – Reddit is a site that is full of the cutest cat and dog pictures, viral videos at their inception, and interesting question and answer sessions with famous people. Bill Gates was on the site yesterday during an Ask Me Anything where he admitted a fondness for cheap cheeseburgers and a fear of bio terror. He was promoting his work in administering vaccines in third world countries and improving education in the US. He ended his Reddit with this thought “helping others can be very gratifying” and a link to picture below:
It is also a hotbed of misogyny, homophobia, and racism. Original posters are often called faggots. Defenders of a woman’s right not to be molested in public are referred to as white knighters that are trying too hard. If reddit were a bar, you wouldn’t want to be walking there at night. William Shatner has suggested to the moderators that perhaps the hands off approach was not only fostering negative behaviors, but encouraging it. The response by one redditor was to suggest that Shatner change his front page settings, but changing one’s settings doesn’t address the problems that reddit has. Every day that I visit Reddit, I’m hit with the dual emotions of sick loathing and delighted appreciation. In other words, don’t visit Reddit without a friend. Or five. Pando Daily and Reddit
The CIA knows when you’re hitting the gym – I can’t remember if I linked to this video before but it was my first thought when I read about RIOT, a program developed to search every interaction you have on the internet and develop a profile, in seconds. The problem is that public interaction like checking in on Foursquare and posting updates on Facebook are probably not entitled to any privacy protections. Maybe we all need to go into the woods, Thoreau-style. ITworld
2014 International CES, January 7 – 10 – CES is breaking up with CBS and CNET. The latter two companies were sponsors of the Best of CES awards. In January, information leaked that CNET was taking away the award of Best of Show for the DISH Hopper because DISH and CBS were engaged in a fierce copyright infringement battle. CES has cut ties with CNET and will be seeking a new partnership. The worst damage is suffered by CNET given that the scandal taints every arm of its tech coverage. “ CES Press Release
“Today the International CES® announced that DISH’s Hopper™ with Sling® Whole-Home HD DVR is joining the Razer Edge gaming tablet as co-winners of “Best of Show” under the “Best of CES” awards program for the 2013 International CES. The Best of CES awards program is produced by CNET under contract with the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) ®, the producer of the International CES. CNET editors originally selected the Hopper with Sling as Best of Show before CNET’s corporate parent, CBS Corp. forced them to remove the Hopper from consideration due to ongoing litigation between CBS Corp. and DISH over specific features of the Hopper. After the Hopper was removed from consideration and a revote by the editors, CNET awarded The Razer Edge as Best of Show.”
32 Of The Greatest Things That Have Ever Happened On Tumblr – And because most of my news was depressing today, I leave you with this link. Also? I did not get number 32 and a few internet friends had to explain it to me. Thank you internet friends. Buzzfeed
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Feb 12, 2013 @ 06:29:37
Please explain the number 32… asking for a friend. ;)
Feb 12, 2013 @ 06:52:46
Go Captain Kirk! And I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: if people really have a problem with Reddit (I don’t use it at all), take it up with their parent company, Advance Publications. They also own a couple of other things- like Conde Nast.
Feb 12, 2013 @ 07:02:16
Is it just me or does that old Bill Gates photo bear a striking resemblance to Howard Wolowitz on BIG BANG THEORY?
Feb 12, 2013 @ 07:44:10
“I AM THE CRAB LORD” made my day.
Feb 12, 2013 @ 07:49:43
@Carmen That’s who he reminded me of! Yes, a blonde version of Howard from BBTCin
Feb 12, 2013 @ 09:07:12
my lol moment for this morning: “and you finally understand finding nemo”
Feb 12, 2013 @ 09:39:05
Time spent this morning looking at that Tumblr list: a gift from the internet gods.
Feb 12, 2013 @ 09:49:52
I don’t hang out in reddits frequented by bridge trolls, but I see hateful comments, they tend to be down voted into oblivion. Just this past weekend I saw racist trolls go to town on a post on the front page, but their posts were downvoted to hell. For every racist comment, there were far more criticizing their behavior. That’s not an excuse for the negative behavior, but I like to think there are more good people on Reddit than trolls. Yeah, I still don’t like that those people are a part of a site I love, but Reddit is its own society, with the good and bad.
Feb 12, 2013 @ 10:37:39
I don’t get #32 either. *pouts* Explanation plzkthxbai? ;)
Feb 12, 2013 @ 10:44:16
The explanation I received re number 32 was that there is a show called Mr. Noodle and it was the only station that worked on the hotel television station. Each time Mr. Noodle is instructed to wash his hands, he washed a different part of his body – his foot, his face, his elbow.
The poor guy in the hotel was forced to watch this and by the umpteenth time that Mr. Noodle had refused to wash his hands, the guy lost his patience and cursed at Mr. Noodle.
Feb 12, 2013 @ 10:56:57
Mr. Noodle is part of the Elmo segment of Sesame Street. The Noodle family help Elmo demonstrate an activity but it usually takes several tries. Basically it’s kids humor. My boys loooooved the Noodles because they saw it as an adult screwing up something that the kids could do easily. Now as an adult watching that show (you can’t help it unless you’re using headphones), you just want to beat the Noodles with a dead horse. Like Barney. Or maybe it’s just me. :)
Feb 12, 2013 @ 11:05:31
@Christine M.:
@Jane:
I think the funny part isn’t that the poor guy forced to watch Mr Noodle repeatedly failing to wash his hands lost his patience (which he probably did), but that at the fourth or fifth attempt and failure on Mr Noodle’s part the poor guy heard another guest somewhere in the same motel yelling “GODDAMMIT, MR NOODLE!”.
And who doesn’t love a Strothtronaut :)
Feb 12, 2013 @ 11:12:17
Shatner’s criticisms are why I don’t use Reddit. I don’t agree with how they provide hateful groups with a platform and how the trolls don’t stick to their own subreddits. The comparisons to a wide open society or crowd don’t help. The whole reason we have friends and social circles is so we don’t spend out time talking to assholes. Moderation and standards are a feature, not a bug.
Feb 12, 2013 @ 11:17:31
@CG: Slothstronaut bombing your dad? Winner!
OMG…where did my morning go?? Thanks, Jane!
Feb 12, 2013 @ 11:54:27
32: and here I thought it had something to do with limpness…
Feb 12, 2013 @ 15:59:44
Still not sure where the “32″ comes in. I would totally get it if it were 42, of course.
Feb 12, 2013 @ 18:08:48
@willaful:
https://encyclopediadramatica.se/Rules_of_the_Internet : 32. You must have pictures to prove your statements
Rather appropriate for tumblr…
Feb 12, 2013 @ 20:56:06
D’oh! I read what Jane wrote as “I didn’t get why they picked 32 things, someone had to explain the significance of 32 to me” not “I didn’t get what was funny about number 32.”