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We have become Big Brother


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Don't worry, we'll all be nuked soon thanks to two brain dead morons.

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Don't take it that seriously. Somehow we haven't been nuked thus far and btw Clinton thought it was a swell idea to give them time for chilling.

 

Totally agreed on the Google scandal and on NSA.

 

On NSA there is at least one lawsuit in progress: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_v._NSA

"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

- 2 July 1844 letter to James Russell Lowell from Edgar Allan Poe.

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  • 6 months later...

https://betanews.com/2018/03/13/aclu-tsa-searches-lawsuit/

 

"This is not a joke, people! Dozens of plane hijacks have been successful because the terrorists threatened to make the passengers listen to 32kbps mp3s of the shittiest 80's music if the passengers didn't comply during the hijacking!" Therefor, it is our duty to let TSA go rummaging through the contents of our laptops and smart phones at random when we travel, because binary data on a flash chip/hard drive totally poses a threat to fellow passengers on a plane.

Edited by kano
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There was a hilarious Reddit AMA with a TSA agent that ended up in the AmaDisasters sub after he ended up getting roasted in the comments.

 

https://np.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/7d6lfh/iama_transportation_security_officer_ama/

 

Some of his answers are actually interesting, but his inability to understand the pointlessness of searching the bags of pilots (yes, they do this apparently) was simply jaw-dropping. I think they literally believe that the only possible way of hijacking or crashing a plane is with a bomb or weapon, and that a rogue pilot sitting at the controls of the plane wouldn't be able to do anything as long as his bags were clean.

 

I suppose with the phone and laptop searches, their argument would be that certain (stupid) terrorists might give the game away by having lots of pro-ISIS propaganda or bomb-making manuals on their electronic devices, rather than the devices themselves being dangerous.

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This will be used to identify people (like me) who use system encryption, to then target us with extra harassment.

 

"give us your passwords or we won't let you fly. If you don't give us the passwords, we'll image the drive (making me miss the flight), or confiscate the hardware."

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That's why I would always travel with a clean machine. Don't keep any personal information on it, or have "suspicious" encryption passwords etc. Assume that security or customs agents will force you to log in, and make sure you have at least one clean account which you can log in to without giving anything away.

 

If you do need to carry information securely, put it inside an encrypted volume whose existence is not noticeable to anyone who logs in, e.g. a truecrypt file-based volume in a non-obvious or hidden directory.

 

I suspect that merely having two accounts, one clean one and one "secure" one, would be sufficient, provided that your login screen doesn't list all the accounts on the machine (which annoyingly some tend to do by default). However I wouldn't necessarily rely on this assumption.

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  • 2 weeks later...

In fairness, I suppose searching pilots bags would catch an inefficient terrorist (they're not all high-trained experts but do make mistakes) but for the expert terrorists, it does restrict what equipment they can get into the cockpit. So, yes, they can try to nosedive the plane but with no gun they might not be able to hold off others wrestling with them.

 

On the Cambridge Analytica front, am I right in thinking Facebook holds real names and other real ID? If so, all the pieces of the jigsaws are coming together. As I've said before, we only know our friends and relatives by the thousands of anonymous bit of info we know about them - so does Google. Each bit is like a jigsaw piece - anonymous on its own. Big data traders exchange jigsaw pieces, then do pattern matching. If they find a few pieces match pieces they've already got they can put those pieces into the correct puzzle until they've got enough picture to identify the subject. But with Facebook data they also can match it with real people.

 

FOOTNOTE: Why does Opera 12 add a 'Main' entry to its quick action button menu whenever I select a Dark Mod topic. I've never noticed that before. I daren't click it in case it's a virus. It's just called 'Main' right at the bottom of the menu. It doesn' show on the Dark Mod Forums home page or even a sub forum but only when I select a topic. Is it a way to get back to the home page of the forum? It disappears when I quit the topic.

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I just read today that you can download your profile from Facebook (officially as a backup) and apparently some people found in there that Facebook stored all calls they made from their phones. So they did not just collect and store all messages you sent via Facebook but also all contact data completely unrelated to the app. I know why I never installed it myself on my phone... It is not really unexpected (I read an article about BigData over a year ago, where this was already predicted), but it is stil terrifying.

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Its why since day one (original Samsung galaxy S), I have been rooted, using a firewall and Adblocker. Before I added any accounts (google or otherwise) I would disable or remove all the associated sync services (google calender, contacts, browser etc) . When i upgraded to an S4 I also started using a permissions manager (Xprivacy). Had to use Whatsapp for the last contract I was on and the damn app wouldnt work without having access to my contacts, its was after the fact I found modded versions like 'GBwhatsapp' that work without having access to your contacts and have the customisable gui. But since FB bought whatsapp a backdoor has been found that means FB "users_are_dumb_fucks" CEO can see all your msgs and calls.

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Hm, it is quite telling that the second article you posted is eight years old and even then Facebook was known for selling your data. But it has always been conveniently ignored by its users. Sadly, I cannot exclude myself from that crowd, although at least I have not constantly updated my whereabouts (like "Hey, I am currently visiting this bar") or provided any data you could not get anyways simply by googling my name. I also persistently avoid to give my phone number, but through cross referencing it with WhatsApp they surely have it. I am not sure I want to know how much these suckers actually know about me...

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I just read today that you can download your profile from Facebook (officially as a backup) and apparently some people found in there that Facebook stored all calls they made from their phones. So they did not just collect and store all messages you sent via Facebook but also all contact data completely unrelated to the app. I know why I never installed it myself on my phone... It is not really unexpected (I read an article about BigData over a year ago, where this was already predicted), but it is stil terrifying.

 

I can confirm. A couple of years ago I created what I thought was a disposable Facebook profile with a single-use email address, no last name, no friends etc just to use with websites that require Facebook authentication (such as Tinder — which I quit after a week because it was a waste of time filled with morons).

 

Facebook now requires a confirmed cellphone number in order to register, and as soon as I logged in, I was immediately spammed with a whole load of friend suggestions of family members, as well as I guy from my photography club with whom I had once exchanged a couple of SMS messages.

 

Note that this was a new account, accessed with a web browser on my PC, not my Android phone. But because other people had used Facebook on their phones, my cellphone number was already in their database and they could use this information to suggest people to me.

 

Conclusion: it doesn't matter whether you have never used Facebook, or if you don't use it on your phone. If you know even one person who does, they have your phone number and probably all the calls you have had with that person.

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Well, let's wait and see.

 

Attempts by governments to regulate technology are often disastrous or just an annoying waste of time (remember the stupid cookie law?), but GDPR does at least seem to be well-intentioned and not totally overreaching or tech-illiterate, so perhaps it will make a difference in cases like this.

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The only way to not be tracked today, is to not sign in anywhere, and use the dark net. Though I find that just slows me down. What I object to most

is the loss of freedom of speech today. You have to be careful what you say in terms of politics. ie Donald Trump is a clear case. The guy is a lunatic

and if ever there was a clear case for <blank> it's him, but you can't say that. You'd have the feds on your doorstep. So much is taken out of context

today, or even legitimate questioning of polticians can be misinterpreted as a violation of some law.

 

Privacy is becoming a thing of the past, and we sign it away too fast on EULAS most of which wouldn't pass a constitutional test.

I have an eclectic YouTube channel making videos on a variety of games. Come and have look here:

https://www.youtube.com/c/NeonsStyleHD

 

Dark Mod Missions: Briarwood Manor - available here or in game

http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/18980-fan-mission-briarwood-manor-by-neonsstyle-first-mission-6082017-update-16/

 

 

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You have to be careful what you say in terms of politics. ie Donald Trump is a clear case. The guy is a lunatic

and if ever there was a clear case for <blank> it's him, but you can't say that. You'd have the feds on your doorstep. So much is taken out of context

today, or even legitimate questioning of polticians can be misinterpreted as a violation of some law.

 

In the UK you can be arrested and potentially imprisoned for making jokes (full disclosure: I wrote that article).

 

In many parts of Europe you can be arrested and fined for criticizing immigration or the ethics of Halal butchery.

 

Trump may be a terrible president, but if you think that he is the biggest threat to free speech today, you're not paying nearly enough attention.

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The only way to not be tracked today, is to not sign in anywhere, and use the dark net. Though I find that just slows me down. What I object to most

is the loss of freedom of speech today. You have to be careful what you say in terms of politics. ie Donald Trump is a clear case. The guy is a lunatic

and if ever there was a clear case for <blank> it's him, but you can't say that. You'd have the feds on your doorstep. So much is taken out of context

today, or even legitimate questioning of polticians can be misinterpreted as a violation of some law.

 

Privacy is becoming a thing of the past, and we sign it away too fast on EULAS most of which wouldn't pass a constitutional test.

 

Sorry, but you have to be paranoid to say that in the EU.

The dark net or at the very minimum proxy whereas for the more advanced users it's not totally discounted to be coerced into using The Tor .onion in Russia. Avoiding state censorship and blocking of sites including lurkmore.to, Kasprov, Horokovsky or anything remotely connected to political stuff. That's a new definition of dictatorship.

 

In the EU and even in the US many cases are dumbed down, ripped out of context to give the impression that a certain decision is unfair. But without reading the arguments on both sides and the full motivation on merits and judgments it's pure speculation to delve any further.

​For example "Town of Castle Rock v Gonzales". Proponents of self-defense with the employment authorization of firearms just come to the conclusion that your own safety is your responsibility. In no country the police will be there when something happens to you without danger in concern to public safety. Everybody knows that.

 

 

Edited by Anderson

"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

- 2 July 1844 letter to James Russell Lowell from Edgar Allan Poe.

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Firearms is a whole another topic IMO. There's huge difference in mindset on this in USA vs. rest of the world. In Europe, we are aware we had to give up basically any violence and killing as part of social contract, a pillar of modern democracy. We rely on external bodies, like police and attorneys, to react to violence, catch, and sentence those who breach that contract. So far, along with very restrictive gun laws, it seems that this approach has more pros than cons.

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Just because the situation in Russia is worse (which nobody here is denying), doesn't mean that censorship in the EU and US isn't a problem. The cases and laws are a matter of public record, and the censorship is happening, not just in the imaginations of "paranoid" people who don't have all the facts.

 

Freedom is not a relative concept. It's not enough to say "at least it's not as bad as Russia/North Korea/Iran/Saudi Arabia". The West should be setting an example for the rest of the word to follow, not trying to emulate the most oppressive countries in the world.

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Firearms is a whole another topic IMO. There's huge difference in mindset on this in USA vs. rest of the world. In Europe, we are aware we had to give up basically any violence and killing as part of social contract, a pillar of modern democracy. We rely on external bodies, like police and attorneys, to react to violence, catch, and sentence those who breach that contract. So far, along with very restrictive gun laws, it seems that this approach has more pros than cons.

 

Except Czech Republic, Switzerland, Austria and a couple of others. Especially handguns for self-defense. Moldova too. It's about gun culture. Not just bragging rights that can have someone shoot themselves in the foot in the best case.

 

 

Just because the situation in Russia is worse (which nobody here is denying), doesn't mean that censorship in the EU and US isn't a problem. The cases and laws are a matter of public record, and the censorship is happening, not just in the imaginations of "paranoid" people who don't have all the facts.

 

Freedom is not a relative concept. It's not enough to say "at least it's not as bad as Russia/North Korea/Iran/Saudi Arabia". The West should be setting an example for the rest of the word to follow, not trying to emulate the most oppressive countries in the world.

 

Very true. You've also mentioned about social justice warriors imposing a certain narrative in the free world, however the question is rather, aren't those laws to protect minorities - muslims, jews acting to safeguard and maintain "The better angels of our nature"? Humans are violent, reckless social animals and that's exactly why this is not just a discussion on free speech but also about taking away a little of that meritocracy, in the name of tolerance, in the name of positive discrimination for the weak among us. Correct me if I'm wrong but in your articles you kinda disagree with all that.

Edited by Anderson

"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

- 2 July 1844 letter to James Russell Lowell from Edgar Allan Poe.

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Wow, that dog, the owner trained to do the nazi salute and look serious when he says "gas the jews". That is hilarious. It actually is funny. UK is known for black humour and now they are doing the witch hunt thing because someone made a tasteless joke. WTF.

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Very true. You've also mentioned about social justice warriors imposing a certain narrative in the free world, however the question is rather, aren't those laws to protect minorities - muslims, jews acting to safeguard and maintain "The better angels of our nature"? Humans are violent, reckless social animals and that's exactly why this is not just a discussion on free speech but also about taking away a little of that meritocracy, in the name of tolerance, in the name of positive discrimination for the weak among us. Correct me if I'm wrong but in your articles you kinda disagree with all that.

 

You're right, I absolutely do disagree with and reject the view that certain "weak" groups of people need to be protected by the state from words which might hurt their feelings, for the following reasons:

  1. Who gets to decide who are the "weak" groups, and who aren't? Currently the focus seems to be on race, religion, gender and sexuality, but that list is expanding all the time. Don't fat, ugly, ginger, unpopular, stupid, poor, uneducated, diabetic, illiterate, autistic, depressed, or one-legged people also suffer disadvantages in life? Should all of these groups have special laws to protect them from insulting words or jokes? What about if people are in more than one of these groups ("intersectionality", to use SJW terminology)? Does a white gay disabled rich person have more, or less, privilege than a heterosexual Muslim able-bodied homeless person? Who gets to play referee in the Oppression Olympics, and how should all of the handicaps be calculated?
  2. Treating people as groups, rather than individuals, is a crude measuring tool which doesn't take into account their varying individual circumstances. Mark Zuckerberg is Jewish, should this multimillionaire still enjoy special protections just because of his religion? What about the insanely rich Saudi Princes, should they get to tell us what we can and can't say, just because they are Muslim?
  3. The idea that words cause violence, and need to be censored in order to prevent violence, has never been supported by any convincing evidence. It is mostly based on correlation fallacies: "Bob abused his ex-wife online, then he assaulted her, therefore words cause violence and censoring his online speech would have protected his victim". Most speech, even offensive speech, is not a prelude to violence, and even if it were, this wouldn't prove that the speech causes violence. This is basically the same nonsense argument that we saw in the last century, when religious whack-jobs were trying to ban comic books because they might make children violent.
  4. Censorship doesn't work anyway. If you throw someone in jail because he is rude about a particular group, he doesn't stop hating that group. He might be more careful about how he expresses his opinions, but he will still hold those opinions. The only difference is that you will no longer know about it. Oh, and he will hate the state for punishing him, and probably aim to "get back at them" in some way, perhaps by supporting even more extreme politics, such as the far right backlash that we are currently seeing in Europe.
  5. As soon as you give the state the power to regulate speech, you have sacrificed the most important right which is necessary in a free democracy: the right to express views, to aim to convince others of those views, and to criticise and mock values which are supposedly sacred. Every important change in society — the rise of science over religion, giving ordinary men and women the right to vote, allowing women to have jobs instead of stay at home in the kitchen — was the result of someone, somewhere saying things which the authorities considered "offensive" and didn't want them to say. When you give the government power to censor other people, you are giving them the power to censor you.
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Every important change in society — the rise of science over religion, giving ordinary men and women the right to vote, allowing women to have jobs instead of stay at home in the kitchen — was the result of someone, somewhere saying things which the authorities considered "offensive" and didn't want them to say.

Amen.

Edited by Bikerdude
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Still, it's scientifically proven that swearing and offensive words reduce stress. Where's the right for women swear in public like men do?

 

I think it's more about finding a way to channel the hate and express emotions in not a socially harmful way.

​But in regards to "weak" categories - most of the ones you mentioned fall into the disabled group, according to the Convention on rights of persons with disabilities.

IMHO, the point is just to raise awareness and inspire empathy in people.

 

After all, if evolution of the human species is about reducing violence and having a more inclusive society - why not step by step attempt to provide benefits to the people who have been historically oppressed? What other way Is there to reduce polarization? You'll probably agree that uniting in the name of common goals and interests brings better results then a principal approach to everything in life. That is exactly such a chance. Nobody knows the end result. But the idea is better than anything before it.

 

Also, aren't the worst liberals less harmful than the worst conservatives?

"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

- 2 July 1844 letter to James Russell Lowell from Edgar Allan Poe.

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People adopt virtues by choice, not by force of law or nothing they do can be considered genuine. I find it a bit ironic that people who blame the system for all their problems have no qualms about using said system like a club to beat us all into submission. This nazi pug fiasco is a perfect example of virtuous intent gone awry.

 

And here's some food for thought. If Count Dankula is a criminal for "hate speech" are the people who liked and shared the video on social media accomplices?

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