🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Talk of ‘Civil War,’ Ignited by Mar-a-Lago Search, Is Flaring Online - The New York Times'

- kudos:

I am growing more and more nervous about our future. link to ‘Talk of ‘Civil War,’ Ignited by Mar-a-Lago Search, Is Flaring Online - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'The Onion Files Hilarious Amicus Brief In An Important Case, And Actually Makes A Key Point In The Best Way Possible | Techdirt'

- kudos:

Amazing stuff here. link to ‘The Onion Files Hilarious Amicus Brief In An Important Case, And Actually Makes A Key Point In The Best Way Possible | Techdirt’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'When School Superintendents Market Surveillance Cameras'

- kudos:

Lot of worrying stuff in here. Edtech needs to take surveillance tech more seriously, because the two are increasingly simultaneous. link to ‘When School Superintendents Market Surveillance Cameras’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'A tradition ends: Paris says goodbye to iconic paper Metro tickets'

- kudos:

Love the paper tickets, and this makes me sad. link to ‘A tradition ends: Paris says goodbye to iconic paper Metro tickets’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'In Washington, Putin’s Nuclear Threats Stir Growing Alarm - The New York Times'

- kudos:

Russia is currently demonstrating just how powerful and dangerous nuclear weapons are—and, unfortunately, how complicated disarmament is. link to ‘In Washington, Putin’s Nuclear Threats Stir Growing Alarm - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Rand Paul declines to debate Charles Booker on KET – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville'

- kudos:

Unsurprising but disappointing. link to ‘Rand Paul declines to debate Charles Booker on KET – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Elon Musk’s Starlink Satellites Won’t Fix Iran Internet Censorship'

- kudos:

Good read on the emptiness of recent Musk bluster. link to ‘Elon Musk’s Starlink Satellites Won’t Fix Iran Internet Censorship’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Gab Founder Andrew Torba Wants to Build a Christian Nationalist Internet'

- kudos:

Good reporting on a scary but important subject. I’ve been collecting Gab blog posts to eventually study some of this Christian nationalism. link to ‘Gab Founder Andrew Torba Wants to Build a Christian Nationalist Internet’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'How ‘Lord of the Rings’ Inspires Italy’s Giorgia Meloni - The New York Times'

- kudos:

Very interesting article on how Tolkien can inspire far right thinking. [link to ‘How ‘Lord of the Rings’ Inspires Italy’s Giorgia Meloni - The New York Times’](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/21/world/europe/giorgia-meloni-lord-of-the-rings.html?action=click

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'https://www.techdirt.com/2022/09/26/subreddit-discriminates-against-anyone-who-doesnt-call-texas-gov'

- kudos:

This is juvenile enough that I feel guilty finding it funny, but it’s a good demonstration of the problems with this backlash against content moderation. link to ‘https://www.techdirt.com/2022/09/26/subreddit-discriminates-against-anyone-who-doesnt-call-texas-gov’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'AI Is Probably Using Your Images and It's Not Easy to Opt Out'

- kudos:

Ooof. AI-generated art is fun, but it comes at a price, and we can’t afford to forget it. link to ‘AI Is Probably Using Your Images and It’s Not Easy to Opt Out’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Not All Bots Are Bad, and Twitter Knows It | WIRED'

- kudos:

This is a good response to Musk’s complaining about bots. link to ‘Not All Bots Are Bad, and Twitter Knows It | WIRED’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Transgender religious leaders use the Bible to make churches more inclusive : NPR'

- kudos:

Lots to love in this article, but I especially appreciate the point that God and Creation resist binaries. link to ‘Transgender religious leaders use the Bible to make churches more inclusive : NPR’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'The Most Famous Blunder Of Content Moderation: Do NOT Quote The Princess Bride | Techdirt'

- kudos:

Great movie, great example of the difficulty of content moderation. link to ‘The Most Famous Blunder Of Content Moderation: Do NOT Quote The Princess Bride | Techdirt’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'The Ungodly Surveillance of Anti-Porn ‘Shameware’ Apps | WIRED'

- kudos:

I had heard about this kind of software at a conference last year, but reading about it just makes it scarier. link to ‘The Ungodly Surveillance of Anti-Porn ‘Shameware’ Apps | WIRED’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Asian American council candidate fights Communist rumors | Lexington Herald Leader'

- kudos:

What a dumb allegation. Just makes me want to vote for Wu even more. link to ‘Asian American council candidate fights Communist rumors | Lexington Herald Leader’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'The Sad Clown Joke That Became a Beloved Meme | WIRED'

- kudos:

My optimism about internet culture has been waning for several years, but I still appreciate a deep-dive into how rich and complex a given meme can be. link to ‘The Sad Clown Joke That Became a Beloved Meme | WIRED’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Too much trust in machine translation could have deadly consequences.'

- kudos:

This article provides good examples of how the efficacy and efficiency of a given technology is often less important than deeper questions of reliance and roles. link to ‘Too much trust in machine translation could have deadly consequences.’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'The Advanced Spellchecker in Chrome and Edge Saves Everything You Type—Even Passwords'

- kudos:

I knew my distrust of spellcheck would be validated one day! Seriously, though, this is bad news. link to ‘The Advanced Spellchecker in Chrome and Edge Saves Everything You Type—Even Passwords’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on '‘Ring Nation’ Is a Terrible Idea That’s Unstoppable Because Amazon Owns Everything'

- kudos:

I missed the vertical integration aspect of this in earlier reporting I’ve read. It makes this story even worse. link to ‘‘Ring Nation’ Is a Terrible Idea That’s Unstoppable Because Amazon Owns Everything’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Texas has teed up a Supreme Court fight for the future of the internet - The Verge'

- kudos:

We need to do more work to divorce free speech from content moderation. The world without content moderation would be a much worse world, and we don’t want to live in it. Sure, social media platforms are too powerful, but this is not the answer. link to ‘Texas has teed up a Supreme Court fight for the future of the internet - The Verge’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Dozens of civil rights groups are calling on Amazon and MGM to cancel Ring Nation reality show - The Verge'

- kudos:

This is a gross idea for a TV show, and I’m glad people are pushing back against it. link to ‘Dozens of civil rights groups are calling on Amazon and MGM to cancel Ring Nation reality show - The Verge’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Games, Mysteries, and the Lure of QAnon | WIRED'

- kudos:

This isn’t the first article I’ve read comparing Q to an ARG, but I may still send it to my students next semester. I’m also interested in the book this comes from… link to ‘Games, Mysteries, and the Lure of QAnon | WIRED’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Belonging: The Potions Master (Book 1, Chapter 8) | Harry Potter and the Sacred Text on Acast'

- kudos:

I am very much here for Matt Potts criticizing Hogwarts for not embracing the humanities and the importance of the humanities. link to ‘Belonging: The Potions Master (Book 1, Chapter 8) | Harry Potter and the Sacred Text on Acast’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Trump Rally Plays Music Resembling QAnon Song, and Crowds React - The New York Times'

- kudos:

Trump’s leaning into Q is not a good sign for the future. link to ‘Trump Rally Plays Music Resembling QAnon Song, and Crowds React - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Social Network Parler Restructures, Focuses on ‘Uncancellable Economy’ - WSJ'

- kudos:

Look, Parler isn’t as bad as Gab, but this kind of softball, uncritical approach to the platform is not helpful. WSJ should know better. link to ‘Social Network Parler Restructures, Focuses on ‘Uncancellable Economy’ - WSJ’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Right After Primary Win, Bolduc Reverses Support for Election Lies - The New York Times'

- kudos:

What a cheap, cynical about-face. The fact that candidates think this is something they can do to drum up voters and then change strategy is worrying. link to ‘Right After Primary Win, Bolduc Reverses Support for Election Lies - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Why Race Is Still A Problem In Dungeons & Dragons'

- kudos:

Good article on an important subject. I may have to assign this to my students next semester! link to ‘Why Race Is Still A Problem In Dungeons & Dragons’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'With 'What If? 2', Randall Munroe Is Back to Answer Your Impossible Questions | WIRED'

- kudos:

I loved the original book and hope to pick up the second. This was a good interview on how surprisingly many important things this kind of weird project overlaps with. link to ‘With ‘What If? 2’, Randall Munroe Is Back to Answer Your Impossible Questions | WIRED’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Everyone should join the “cult of privacy.”'

- kudos:

Caring about privacy ought to be common sense. It’s difficult to push back, but that doesn’t mean those of us who do are crazy. link to ‘Everyone should join the “cult of privacy.”’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'A Smartphone That Lasts a Decade? Yes, It’s Possible. - The New York Times'

- kudos:

I hope the Fairphone will be sold in the U.S. one day. It’s an awesome project. link to ‘A Smartphone That Lasts a Decade? Yes, It’s Possible. - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'The Tricky Ethics of Being a Teacher on TikTok | WIRED'

- kudos:

Maybe it’s because of my area of research, but I think the headline here is misleading. Being a teacher on TikTok is one thing, and I’m not opposed to that. Putting your students on TikTok is entirely different, and I struggle to see that being ethically justified. Josh’s research is absolutely the right reference point here. link to ‘The Tricky Ethics of Being a Teacher on TikTok | WIRED’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'New Book Says NSA Pressured GCHQ To Shut Down Publication Of Snowden Leaks By UK Journalists | Techdirt'

- kudos:

Americans should be more worried about the NSA than they are. link to ‘New Book Says NSA Pressured GCHQ To Shut Down Publication Of Snowden Leaks By UK Journalists | Techdirt’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'West Virginia, Kentucky officials repeatedly ignored plans to prepare for catastrophic floods. Residents are paying the price. – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville'

- kudos:

This is a tragic detail in an even more tragic story. Government can absolutely be good, and our allergic reaction to spending, laws, and policy only makes these situations worse. link to ‘West Virginia, Kentucky officials repeatedly ignored plans to prepare for catastrophic floods. Residents are paying the price. – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'It’s Time to Get Real About TikTok’s Risks | WIRED'

- kudos:

It isn’t that TikTok doesn’t pose a real threat, it’s that it’s not alone in doing so. In particular, I appreciate that this article points out that U.S. border agents REGULARLY SEARCH COMPUTERS AND SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS. So, yes, raise concerns, but be consistent instead of creating a moral panic around thus one app (which, by the way, would be a privacy threat even if it were totally owned by a U.

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Twitter’s edit button: You don’t really want it.'

- kudos:

A good case for why the edit button probably isn’t as good as everyone thinks. link to ‘Twitter’s edit button: You don’t really want it.’