ETA — Good news: I can still post. Bad news: FYWP’s ‘Schedule’ function still borkt.
Ken Layne trolls his readers at Gawker:
… Today’s scandals are only scandals because we have yet to acknowledge that we carry tracking beacons wherever we go—whether a smart phone or Google Glass or inside our car’s navigation system—and that all of our communications are collected and saved, just in case. Some of it is given voluntarily, like the Tea Party groups self-declaring as tax-deductible non-profits, and some of it is collected by everything from traffic cameras keeping timestamped license plate numbers to Apple or Google keeping years worth of location data collected as you go from home to work to liquor store to strip club to home again…
The logo for the Total Information Awareness Office shows a pyramid orbiting the Earth with its All Seeing Eye gazing over the Arab world. When people freaked out about that logo in the Patriot Act days, it was more about the creepy Big Brother concept rather than fear that all this potentially incriminating data might even be preserved off-world. But it probably is. Most American space missions are classified. There’s a robot space shuttle replacement that flies for months and months at a time, and you can’t get anyone in the American government to say what it’s doing up there. An entire town has sprung up in the Utah desert to monitor and store data tracking the lives of Americans. Not far away, the private backup company Mozy has its own underground city. Maybe you use the service. It’s very convenient.
All the Big Brother stuff you’ve been hearing about and fretting about or possibly dismissing as no big deal, it’s all real. It’s operational. The phone companies opened their data spigots to America’s domestic and (supposedly) foreign intelligence agencies after 9/11. Email, Google searches and Web history are all available to law enforcement. New regulations pushed by Eric Holder last year would let the government legally keep all information on all Americans for five years, regardless of any suspicion of terrorism or criminal activity. And by the time they’re asking permission to do something, they’ve already got it mastered….
I would’ve guessed there’d be a lot more discussion there, but maybe Gawker just isn’t as commentor-friendly as (ahem) some non-commercial blogs?
Ted & Hellen
But this is all OK and great because Obama is in the White House and the domestic spying would have been so very much worse under a Romney administration.
Fuck Obama and the U.S. government in general.
? Martin
BTW, that 2 million square foot data center that is spying on your every move is lagging behind Facebook and Google’s 5 million + square foot data centers that are doing a better job at spying on your every move.
ulee
The man with the megaphone is dead. I don’t know why he was eliminated. I liked him.
? Martin
@ulee: I blame Obama.
David Koch
@ulee:
Dronze!
David Koch
not enough Ben Gazee
Old Dan and Little Ann
As long as you use the incognito window you’re all good.
MikeJ
Holy shit! Point Blank with Lee Marvin coming on TCM, followed by Chow Yun-Fat in The Killer!
This after last night they showed the 400 Blows followed by Masculin Féminin. They are on a goddamned roll.
BillinGlendaleCA
@ulee:
Tunch ate him.
NotMax
mistermix missed a prime opportunity for impishness.
Had the perfect chance to temporarily alter the display of the blog name up top to Fox Juice.
Seanly
Well, if they’re watching me so much, then I guess they have a lot of masturbation footage. I hope they get some kinda thrill out of it.
I look forward to when a Republican is President so all the libertarians on my Facebook shut the fuck up and happily accept our new militarized police state.
Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn
Damn, where’d my Krystal ads go?
FY,WP.
PeakVT
Aw, fuck, the pie filter is broken.
Cleeeeeeeeek! Haaaaalp!
The prophet Nostradumbass
Gawker’s comment system is a load of shit.
MikeJ
@PeakVT: Cleek usually doesn’t jump in until the changes stabalise.
Looking the same on droid,which is fine.
different-church-lady
All I can say is I pity the poor FBI agent assigned to monitor me, because he must be the most bored mofo on the planet.
GxB
This one’s for you Troll & Headtrauma: (and also to test a few more features)
…so I says to Mable, I sayz, “Ya’ know she and Larry waz only married four months – just four months! – before he starts workin’ late and volunteering to work on Saturday… Saturday of all things, you know howz much she had her heart set on more family time…”
To topic, looks like the old Orwell vs Huxley debate can be answered with “All of ’em, Katie!”
Suffern ACE is a Basset Hound
Hmmmm. So when the solar flare hits, only then will we be free. We need to make the sun god angry. I think that involves sacrificing a maiden who only says she’s pure but really there was that one time that didn’t count.
ulee
@different-church-lady: The FBI report on me would be; 8am-no movement. Noon-no movement. 2pm-subject awake, appears to be brewing coffee. 230pm- subject drove dogs to local cemetery, watched them run around for an hour. 400pm-subject appears to have returned to bed……
lojasmo
Whoa. Just switched to mobile theme accidentally. Now can’t “reply to” any comment.
TaMara (BHF)
LOL. The site upgrade is causing all my recipe threads to email me that Anne Laurie has posted them. This should be fun.
Suffern ACE is a Basset Hound
@lojasmo: @lojasmo: @lojasmo: hit reply. Then hit the button for leave a comment. Hit reply only once or the nym you’re replying to will be repeated over and over again revealing that your probably the type of spaz who keeps pushing elevator buttons nervously.
Suffern ACE is a Basset Hound
@lojasmo: @lojasmo: @lojasmo: hit reply. Then hit the button for leave a comment. Hit reply only once or the nym you’re replying to will be repeated over and over again revealing that your probably the type of spaz who keeps pushing elevator buttons nervously.
Suffern ACE is a Basset Hound
@lojasmo: testing a reply
Suffern ACE is a Basset Hound
@lojasmo: testing a reply
askew
Wait, cleek’s pie filter doesn’t work now. I take back everything nice I said about the update.
It didn’t get a whole lot of attention today, but Minnesota Governor Dayton signed the same-sex marriage bill into law today. It was incredibly emotional to see. I’ve been tearing up all night thinking about how awesome my state is.
David Koch
fucking yankees. they lose half the team to injuries, they have to plug in junk players, and still end up leading the division!
investigate that!
Spaghetti Lee
Well, then I suppose there’s nothing that can be done, is there?
It’s like the frog in boiling water metaphor-you don’t notice until it’s too late. It doesn’t particularly surprise me that such a security-state apparatus would exist, if you go by the theory that powerful people and institutions will always seek more power, until they have as much as they possibly can (and it’s the same with corporations, not just the government). What does surprise me, a little, are all the people who are laughing it off as no big deal, and pointing and laughing at the people who think it’s a big deal. Concerns about privacy and anonymity, it seems, have become not just illogical, but old hat, and sour grapes to boot.
I just finished my final for history class. 13 pages on G.K. Chesterton. Interesting fellow. More liberal than the left gives him credit for.
lojasmo
@lojasmo:
fixt.
lojasmo
@Suffern ACE is a Basset Hound:
Gah. Now can’t select text to copy in iOS.
FYWP.
At least I have the buttons now.
ETA: I can select text to copy unless there’s a comment window open.
Suffern ACE is a Basset Hound
You know, for all the sophisticated equipment, they found the bombers in Boston by issuing a public service bulletin and the bombers’ own stupid and noisy escape plan. And why do they need the phone records if they can just listen to the recordings of the phone conversations of the officials who likely leaked the operation?
Mnemosyne
@Spaghetti Lee:
I think the pointing and laughing are at the people who are desperately concerned about being monitored by the government while they happily provide data on every aspect of their lives to private companies like Facebook.
Me, I stay as anonymous as possible online (I don’t even have a Facebook account), so obviously I am concerned about my privacy, but I admit I really don’t understand the people who freak out about the government seeing their data but have no problem with corporations seeing their data.
Suffern ACE is a Basset Hound
I like the new mobile site a lot. MWAH!
Chris T.
Bluffdale is right across the freeway from Draper. Draper is your bog-standard middle-class-that-thinks-they’re-upper-middle-or-rich bedroom community, full of bog-standard Republican families (or bog-standard for Utah anyway). It used to be far enough from people to hold a state prison, but now that it’s full of suburbanites, the state prison is going to be moved much further away. Meanwhile, Bluffdale is where those who aspire to Draper but can’t afford it, live.
In other words, the Wired article’s claim that:
is full of, er, fertilizer.
MikeJ
Two different comments eated without a trace on the previous thread. Can I comment on this one? Let’s see.
ulee
6pm-subject up and moving. Has walked around the blocke with dogs. 630pm-subject has prepared meal consisting of pasta, parmasagn cheese, and butter. And beer. 800pm-Subject utilizing computer, contiuing to drink beer, in additional to Merlot.8pm-Midnight-subject utilizing computer, television on, subject continues to drink,again walks fucking dogs. Midnight-agent tired of this billshit,has gone to Subway, filled out application.
Spaghetti Lee
@Mnemosyne:
Well I’m concerned about both and I think they’re of a piece. I do think the hypocrisy can be funny.
PeakVT
Extended Krugmania at the NYRB.
ulee
Has anyone heard from George Jones? It’s a few days now and I’m getting a little concerned.
TaMara (BHF)
@MikeJ: Spooky that you just said that. Just finished watching the Twilight Zone where the X-wing pilots disappear one by one and no one remembers them. Maybe that’s happening to y
TaMara (BHF)
@Mnemosyne: The gubbermint will come and take your guns and wives and stuff. Corporations will just try and sell you stuff. Capitalism!!
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
What cracks me up is the people who don’t want a national ID and don’t seem to connect the fact that your driver’s license can be looked up by any LEO in any state.
MikeJ
@PeakVT: Extra riding in my car at NRBQ.
Mnemosyne
@Spaghetti Lee:
We probably both agree that information gathering should be better regulated no matter who’s doing it, government or private business. Unfortunately, it sometimes seems like that ship already sailed and trying to put the brakes on now isn’t going to do much good.
Doc Stankus
Tracking device
With a microphone.
And two cameras.
And I pay to carry with me everywhere.
Doc Stankus
Tracking device
With a microphone.
And two cameras.
And I pay to carry with me everywhere.
MikeJ
@Mnemosyne: @Mnemosyne: There have been businesses that have tried to limit the information you could disseminate about your dealings with them.
If a business can’t keep information about transactions they’ve had with you, would you be allowed to keep information about transactions you’ve had with them? Post reviews on the internet?
MattR
@Mnemosyne: I am pointing and laughing that the media is now finally noticing these things since it finally affects them personally.
The Dangerman
I don’t think that facility in Utah is what Wired claimed; I think it’s just p0rn production moved out of San Fernando Valley after LA started making them put on the love glove (Utah just made sense to get closest to their most loyal customers).
ETA: My text appears bigger than everyone else’s text (HA HA /muntz); is that the way to identify your own posts or did I take the wrong pills tonight?
Jane2
@Ted & Hellen: Pretty much.
Suffern ACE is a Basset Hound
@TaMara (BHF): well that is true, kind of. The issue with the corporations is how much they are able to monitor their workers. But I think that those battles are probably lost. I know full well that everything that I post from work is probably being monitored. And since the social media policy is such that I can participate in forums as long as I don’t comment on certain things, (such as the specifics of the social media policy!), I just don’t bother. Thankfully, we don’t discuss my industry much.
Jane2
@Seanly: It’s already militarized.
Jockey Full of Malbec
I’m going to start a 501(c)4, and donate to myself.
jl
Maybe not many comments because Layne’s column misses the mark. What spy eye in the sky stuff is involved with the AP and IRS scandals (though the more I learn the more I am leaning towards ‘scandals’)? They sound like things were done the old fashioned way. Phone taps. Jack booted big government bureaucrat says you fill out these forms or you don’t get your bogus social welfare organization any tax-exempt status.
If we were in the total information age, why would big government have to ask who was at the astroturf tea party meet up organized by an ordinary local guy who happened to have a long history in corporate political communications? They would know already, right?
So, Layne brings up important points, just ones not very relevant to the current tri-scandle-gate.
Or… is it all just a ruse? OK, I gotta go get my Alex Jones fix, or watch Beck cry, or something.
Librarian
@MikeJ: Walker. The man who just wants his share of the money.
joeyess
So, do people still have their noses out of joint about newsmax ads?
Steeplejack
@MikeJ:
Hell, yeah! I watched The Four Hundred Blows for about the zillionth time, and I’ve got The Killer going on the DVR in a bit. I skipped Point Blank because I’ve seen it twice in the last year.
I thought it was slightly odd, but in a good way, that Angie Dickinson was the “guest programmer” for The Four Hundred Blows. Wouldn’t have pegged her as a big New Wave fan.
Also, Rossellini’s Open City at midnight EDT tomorrow.
Hal
@Ted & Hellen: yawn. Domestic spies that obtain subpoenas?
jl
@Hal:
Thanks for reminding me. I meant searching phone records, not phone taps (though that might be in the news next, for all I know).
ranchandsyrup
This place is the Amy’s Baking Company Bakery Boutique and Bistro of the intertr0ns.
http://ktar.com/22/1634318/Scottsdales-Amys-Baking-Company-lashes-out-on-social-media
http://www.yelp.com/biz/amys-baking-company-scottsdale
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@MikeJ: @Steeplejack:
FSM help ya if “The Killer” is dubbed rather than subtitled. Luckily I first caught it subtitled. Watching it dubbed later on, it came across like “What’s Up, Tiger Lily?”
piratedan
still having some issues while accessing via Firefox. The column that houses the ads and recent posts overlays the text at the top of the page for me. I’ve gone ahead and done the page reload, left the site and entered back in and reloaded again and still seeing the same issue. Also looks like the pie filter has been emptied.
not a complaint, just trying to offer some insight as to what is not working on the platform that I use to access the site.
Steeplejack
@ulee:
Noted for when you go on your next emo suicide watch.
Steeplejack
@MikeJ:
Great song!
Steeplejack
@The Dangerman:
Text stabilizes after the five-minute edit window expires and you refresh the page. Shorter: you’re not special.
Hill Dweller
@jl: Also too, the DOJ(and FBI) had been investigating the leak for a year before they issued the subpoena for the AP phone records. On the surface, it looks desperate, but apparently the DOJ/FBI didn’t use the entire two month time frame of the subpoena, which could be a sign they got what they were looking for…or not.
Steeplejack
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again):
TCM is pretty old-school, so I’m guessing it will be subtitled. About to find out in 13 minutes.
Hill Dweller
@Steeplejack: Yeah, I don’t think TCM airs dubbed movies.
The Dangerman
@Steeplejack:
Well, that’s rather, um, deflating, indeed.
/I just got outta the pool (Seinfeld)
lojasmo
@Mnemosyne:
I point and laugh because I know for a fact that I am easily findable online by my ubiquitously unique and broadly common nym.
Anybody who uses anything less anonymous than a pay phone and thinks they have privacy is a fucking fool.
Of course, that includes the AP. Fucking morons, every one.
Stalk away, bitches.
lojasmo +2 (bottles of red)
Pinkamena Panic
Well, the collapsing pie filter still works… but only on replies.
magurakurin
@Hal:
And send “ambiguous” emails informing you of the subpoena and seizure
Not sure what the reporter of this article sees as ambiguous in that email message. Maybe they just didn’t send it to the right person?
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Steeplejack:
No cable here, and just don’t watch a ton of tv when I’m out of the apartment (well, except for sports), so I’ll take your word on it. But I’ll keep my fingers crossed for ya.
I do love the film, too, btw.
ulee
@Steeplejack: Shouldn’t be too long. I’ll be thinking,”I can’t stand people who still use the term emo in a self satisifed way.”
eemom
I still think it looks like address labels.
Spaghetti Lee
@lojasmo:
See, here’s what I mean. We all know that using gadgets less anonymous than a pay phone is necessary if you want to have a job, have money that isn’t stuffed under your mattress, have any sort of social life, etc. And apparently everyone just decided an acceptable price for that was constant monitoring by government and commercial interests, who can exploit your info at will. I’m not talking about teenagers who are surprised that those naked photos they put on facebook are publicly viewable. I’m talking about how it seems that we’re getting closer to where every bit of existence is monitored and catalogued and no one seems to think this is bad. Hell, a lot of people think it’s good. And you can’t just disagree, you have to say that anyone who thinks it should be different is a moron.
Steeplejack
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again):
Subtitles! May not watch it all tonight, but it’s going on the DVR. I haven’t seen it since I watched a bunch of those ’80s Hong Kong movies 15 or so years ago.
Another great Tsui Hark movie is Time and Tide, from about 2000. (Just saw his name in the credits, as producer, I think.) Highly recommended.
ETA: Nice clean print of the movie. I think I saw it on VHS way back when, and it was muddy as hell.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
A rule to live by:
Don’t buy seafood or videos out of the back of a truck.
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
Hey, it was a legitimate rental from Blockbuster! (Remember those?)
Gex
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): The national ID people are often the same subset as the voter ID people as well. We should never/always be required to carry a specialized ID.
MattR
@Spaghetti Lee: The real eye opener for me were cell phone apps. My phone just notified me of an update to Google Maps. In order to download it I have to agree to give the app the following permissions: Modify/delete SD card contents, change phone’s wi-fi state, disable keylock, prevent phone from sleeping, access phone’s coarse (network based) and fine (GPS) location, directly call phone numbers, record audio, read and write contact data, (and there are more but I am sick of typing them).
taylormattd
Ken Layne went off the deep end into we-should-all-kill-ourselves nihilist conspiracy theories years ago.
Anne Laurie
@Spaghetti Lee:
It’s the bigbrain version of what’s called ‘learnt helplessness’ in lab animals that’ve been tortured. We can’t do anything about the random abuse, but at least we’re still capable of jeering at the newbies who are still capable of outrage! We’ve go so far into luzer, we’ve circled around to WIN!
ruemara
To be fair, people are far more willing to divulge crap all over Facebook, blogs, MySpace and Pinterest than you’d believe. You don’t need a subpoena, it’s all out there.
scav
Bedtime for commenters, but I want to remember this for chasing down tomorrow.
BP and Shell (& Statoil?) raided after allegations they colluded to rig oil prices
plus comperlicated other stuff in there. Need brain to parse.
Violet
Ugh. Went to sleep then woke up with a start and now I can’t sleep. Hate it when that happens.
? Martin
Well, that didn’t take long. Tweet from a friend asking about a home around the corner from me and I noticed the price – we’re right back at the 2007 real estate prices here in my corner of SoCal. Last time they were at this level I was considering cashing out. Maybe I should…
Spaghetti Lee
@? Martin:
Where would you move to?
Yatsuno
@Spaghetti Lee: Long Beach. :P
? Martin
@Spaghetti Lee: Fuck, almost anywhere. I’d walk out with $600K in equity. I’ve just about had it with my job – I just can’t keep cranking out 60+ hour weeks forever. I’m worn out. I only have half my pension, but I could buy a nice place for cash in lots of parts of the country and still have enough left over to send the kids to college. I’ve got a pretty wide range of skills to fall back on – from web design and programming to finish and trim carpentry. Pick up some work here and there to cover groceries. Coast until Medicare/SS/pension kicks in. My dad did that – retired at 50 and moved out to the woods where it was cheap. Became a master gardener and earned some bucks making all the B&Bs pretty.
Hobbes
@? Martin: Adjusted for inflation since 2007?
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Steeplejack:
IIRC, I found a clean VHS copy, letter-boxed, back in the day. Had a spiffy new VCR, too, which probably helped.
This reminds me that I’ve got to get a new copy of “Kung Fu Hustle”. Loaned out the DVD a few years ago and never got it back.
BillinGlendaleCA
@? Martin: The kid’s sister and hubby just sold their house down in EERRRVine. Bought it a couple of years ago, had 9 offers in 2 days and made a nice bit of cash. Yup the market’s back.
Funny thing is, they found a rental a few doors down from their old place.
The prophet Nostradumbass
I have a relative who posts some of the most grotesque anti-abortion stuff you can imagine on Facebook. In retaliation, instead of directly replying to any of her crap, I have decided to post links to groups like NARAL and Planned Parenthood every time she vomits up some of it. Heh heh.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again):
I love that movie. Very funny and surprisingly touching.
Okay, some site issues with Chrome on the Nexus 7. Bleah.
Debbie(aussie)
Like the way you’ve redecorated.
? Martin
@Hobbes: Yeah, asking around the corner is probably $40K over what the high for that model was FWIR. They’ll probably get $20-$40K over that. It came on the market today, it’ll be gone end of the day tomorrow.
? Martin
@BillinGlendaleCA: Yeah it’s odd though. Commercial rent is still low. Commercial rent and housing prices have always gone together down here, so this is really strange. There isn’t a big employment push to be driving demand up. Not sure what is, to be honest.
? Martin
@BillinGlendaleCA: You want to move down here? Nice place about a mile from me is on the market.
BillinGlendaleCA
@? Martin: Nope, lived in Glendale for the last 26 years. Anyway the kid’s gona be up this way for nursing school at CSULA.
Fred
They’ve always been watching you. They just got better at it lately.
I think the movie title is “Enemy of the State” with Will Smith and Gene Hackman. Just about sums it up.
Narcissus
Hey did Ted & Hellen shit in the pool yet
oh okay comment number one got it
raven
@Narcissus: I dunno, I added it to the pie filter asap!
raven
In 1970 we had VVAW meetings at our house. I have seen the FBI reports via the FOIA and have always assumed I was being watched. Fuck it.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@raven: The pie filter has already been updated?
Also too, much as I dislike the mobile theme, this new theme is completely unusable on a netbook. But I can’t seem to find any way to switch to the mobile theme. Time to look into spoofing the user agent. Don’t have time right now to learn Stylish.
raven
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: I spoke too soon. I saw it there and assumed it worked.
danielx
@Doc Stankus:
All too true, unfortunately – twenty five years ago, if the government had mandated that all citizens over the age of ten had to carry around such a tracking device and pay for it to boot, the uproar would have been deafening with armed revolt a distinct possibility. Nowadays…
::crickets::
But what you gonna do if you need a cell phone? Even a dumb phone can be tracked (although it’s somewhat harder).
Ben Cisco
@Chuck Adams: Will you be publishing an update to Troll-B-Gone? Please advise.
JVader
This shit isn’t that hard to combat. First, if you use a smart phone, get a faraday bag from Amazon and use it. My phones go in when I’m not at work or home as does my laptop. No signals in or out. Second, use burners instead of smartphones. Third, use TOR (The Onion Router) along with Firefox and anonymize your surfing. Fourth, never use google. I also stay away from the timesuck that is FB, twitter, etc. The crooks are now “water holing” social media sites to gather information and rip people off.
Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get me. I work in cyber security and this shit just got real.
Matt McIrvin
A technical quibble: I’ve never quite understood the specific emphasis on space stuff that happens in these rants (well, I guess it’s a Cold War/Space Race holdover). There are urban legends about Keyhole-type satellites being able to read the fine print on your newspaper, but they can’t be true because of basic physical limits. In practice, much of what spy satellites are good for is verifying arms treaties, which on the whole is a good thing. Google’s “Satellite” view is really an aerial view, in the places where the pictures are any good.
The really state-of-the-art surveillance happens at ground level or close to it.
(As for the robot space shuttle, while the Air Force won’t say specifically what it’s for, they say things that pretty strongly imply that it’s doing long-duration testing of spy-satellite parts. Which is also one of the few things that it could reasonably be for, so that’s at least plausible.)
Davebo
Actually no one can track you via your car’s navigation system but other than that spot on.