[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ColossalContrarian', '[')b]Jotapay, I don’t understand what you think is so different about having a facebook account with links to your friends and family and posting on an internet forum like this one for instance.

[bodigami]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('POAlex', 'B')ig Brother is being watched too, you know.

"The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." (Proverbs 15:3)

Alex

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Voice_du_More', 'A')ctivism won't fix the problem. Deactivism,...nope. There is no fix. Did you know that it will soon be required to have a passport to go to Canada for anything? Why would that be a needed change? How about the expectation of the U.S. military that a) Mexico is a real risk for imploding once their $70 contracts expire or sooner, possibly sending millions of refugess across the southern border and that b) FEMA has been inquiring about the best places to put mass graves outside of Chicago?

You read this forum so I know you do.

Forgive me, and please do not read any ill-will into the posts, it just seems like you don't really see how big and how imminent this thing is. I'm sorry Jotapay but activism is not going to mean anything. The axe is laid to the root of the tree now and it is going to fall soon.

I am guessing you are not Christian so I won't assume you know the verses. There is a place in the Book of Revelation that says

'he who kills with the sword shall die by the sword, he who must go into captivity, into captivity he goes. Herein lies the patience and the faith of the saints.'

It says this because the world will have become so dark at that time that you either become a subject of somebody or you are nobody. I am subject to the Lord and I am only saying two things. First I know how big the problems are and how pressing and second I cannot find anyone other than Jesus who can offer me any solace in the matter. That's all.

We are so far advanced in this 'eavesdropping' thing now that some folks are being met everywhere they go by the NSA welcoming committee. It does not take you long having strangers sit down next to you on a park bench and repeat verbatim conversations you've had apparently in private before you realize something is up and it goes way beyond homeland security.

Just a heads up. Oil is going to go back up, inexplicably some will say, but not to me, the theory is sound and the problem being made worse by the current economic issues.

God speed John Glenn. Welcome to the last forum you'll ever wear. I know, I know, the difference between you and I is that you make that suit look good.

[Voice_du_More]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jotapay', 'e')dit: and I don't wear a suit. I'm a programmer/DBA/sysadmin for a rather large corporation. I would wear sandals and shorts if I could get away with it.

[Tyler_JC]

And the malicious intent of Facebook is....?

I know why they want my information. They want to sell me stuff. I'm perfectly fine with that.

If they can find out what I want and sell it to me, what's the harm?

I'm far more irritated by annoying commercials for products I would never want. The advertisers want to sell products and services and showing me unwanted merchandise is a waste of their valuable TV spot.

They would much rather have one 30 second ad every hour that showed me exactly the kind of product I wanted instead of a dozen 30 second ads that show me products I'll never want.

I, too, would love a world with either fewer commercials or at the very least, fewer irrelevant commercials.

Facebook has a feature that allows you to change the advertisements on the right side of your page to better reflect your interests. You can give a thumbs up or thumbs down to an ad. If you give a thumbs down, you have the option of giving a reason (misleading, offensive, irrelevant, repetitive, etc.). If you flip through enough ads, eventually you'll find something you like or at least can tolerate.

I found a website that sells humorous Tshirts for $6. I didn't buy any of them, but I did get a few laughs out of it.

[Chuckmak]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jotapay', 'I')n all honestly, everything you do using electronic communications (phone, internet, email, credit card purchases) is captured today. All the data is run through fairly complex algorithms to build profiles, predict future behavior and define relationships inside groups/networks or between individuals. Social networking sites make this data mining much easier since you voluntarily define all the relationships and profiles yourself.

If I was going to create computer systems like this, I would first inspect the data gathered from the internet traffic, phone calls, etc. on a random set of test subjects who had rather robust social networking site profiles. Second, I would create/code some modeling algorithms to analyze the data against whatever goal was specified. Finally, I would then use the test subjects' MySpace or Facebook profiles as a validation mechanic for my algorithms. I would use the real data that they provided (voluntarily!) to fine tune my algorithms until my algorithms had an acceptable level of accuracy for whatever the specific goal was. Ta da!

Social Engineering 101. It's not that hard at all with computers.

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('bodinagamin', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('POAlex', 'B')ig Brother is being watched too, you know.

"The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." (Proverbs 15:3)

Alex

[alokin]

I didn't like facebook from the beginning, because this was my first thought: data mining.
There is a differerence in forum websites and face book. Forum websites are thousands and it is a bit of work figuring out who writes what. In facebook there is everything centralized and worse with photos. So, if they come to search you, they will yet have a photo of you.
The worst thing is that even friends can put there a picture of you and you won't know it that you're in facebook.

[Alcassin]

Booo! The bad goobermint! Grab your gun!

Yeah, what I get from facebook is only some annoying corporate spam, no CIA or MI6 watching or proposals to infiltrate anyone.

I show what I want to show, no more or no less. In fear of being spied people stop using their freedoms, and freedom of speech is above all. If you want totalitarism, put fear into heads of everyone. When everyone is suspicious then societies become STASI. If there is going to be a punishment for people using facebook (what I hardly believe), then most crackheads will do nothing instead of fight and really defend what our ancestors obtained.

Sorry guys, but I want to play my toys as long as they are technologically available.
In front of possible destruction of economy facebook users will be the very last target.
First to be killed is the current establishment. Period.

[dinopello]

You would think that Facebook would have a spiffier interface if it was being used as a spy tool. It's so lame. What's with all the gifts and winks and pokes ? I haven't figured that out, nor do I intend to but I get them all the time.

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Voice_du_More', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jotapay', 'e')dit: and I don't wear a suit. I'm a programmer/DBA/sysadmin for a rather large corporation. I would wear sandals and shorts if I could get away with it.

[lper100km]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'A')nd the malicious intent of Facebook is....?

I know why they want my information. They want to sell me stuff. I'm perfectly fine with that.

If they can find out what I want and sell it to me, what's the harm?

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Chuckmak', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jotapay', 'I')n all honestly, everything you do using electronic communications (phone, internet, email, credit card purchases) is captured today.

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lper100km', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'A')nd the malicious intent of Facebook is....?

I know why they want my information. They want to sell me stuff. I'm perfectly fine with that.

If they can find out what I want and sell it to me, what's the harm?

[rangerone314]

Given that the telecom companies were in bed with the spooks with warrantless wiretapping, the idea of Facebook being in bed with the spooks is not so farfetched.

Power corrupts and they have more power since 9/11... hence they are more corrupt since 9/11.

I don't trust people with power, and I don't trust people who known too much about me because knowledge is power.

So right about being someone else's lunch.

People who are equals can barter and negotiate; people with power just take.

[alokin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he Chinese are HUGE bloggers against the government and defeat the government's internet censoring software by using code words for everything.

The internet is a great thing, no one should be forced to abandon it. There are ways to anonymize your activity though so you can move through it undetected or making few waves. Facebook is obviously the opposite of that.

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('alokin', '1')) Don't you think that the government knows the code words as well?
2) And code words make it very difficult for new users and for international forums like this. Not everyone knows them.
3) If you write that there are ways to anonymize your activity, then maybe you could tell us how, for non-experts.

[bodigami]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pretorian', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('bodinagamin', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('POAlex', 'B')ig Brother is being watched too, you know.

"The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." (Proverbs 15:3)

Alex

[alokin]

have to read into the proxies, but I doubt that "they" cannot outsmart these proxy servers.
However I don't use these very modern windows versions but I don' know if it helps anything.

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('alokin', 'h')ave to read into the proxies, but I doubt that "they" cannot outsmart these proxy servers.
However I don't use these very modern windows versions but I don' know if it helps anything.