Your government at work

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ISSUE 21.35 • 2024-08-26 LEGAL BRIEF By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq. While most of the world was distracted by the question of whether anyone in their r
[See the full post at: Your government at work]

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ibe98765, Norio, Steve S., SueW, rizzquery, Alex5723, DLivesInTexas, Geo, fisher75

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Excellent article.

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I have that cat and mouse game played on me from ebay.  I go in unsigned and it has a low price listed . I sign in and it disappears.  Other times I want to buy the same item and it isn’t listed.  I go into purchase history and  it has buy again.  In which I do.  Sometimes deleting the cookie gives a different result.

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rizzquery, Mr. Austin

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Max Stul Oppenheimer wrote:

It’s a concept that has translated to the Internet as “If something is free, you’re the product.” Free services, for example Gmail, are offered so that the provider can collect data relating to the use of the service. As data collection, aggregation, and analysis have become more sophisticated, concerns have grown as to what use might be made of a personal dossier created by combining the data collected by multiple service providers.

I’ve been using a plethora of ad blockers, tracking blockers etc. for a few years now.  About four years ago I developed the habit of never going from one site directly to another.  I always (always!) go through DuckDuckGo.

As a result, the only place I see ads is my Facebook feed, and I delete them as soon as they appear.  This results in a reprieve of 3 to 5 days when Facebook doesn’t show me any ads in my feed.  My Facebook friends are indeed friends and family.  I have no Facebook friends whom I don’t know (and often visit) on a personal basis.

I use Amazon for online purchases, and I expect Amazon to have a user profile.  That’s OK, although their algorithms are a bit loosey goosey; if I buy, for example, a coffee maker, I’ll get multiple offers/emails for coffee makers.  Good for a laugh, I suppose.

I have a handful of gmail and MS accounts, used only for registering on sites that require registration.  I never check the email on these accounts, or interact with them in any way.  I refuse to set them up with 2FA.  And since I always jump through DuckDuckGo, that tracking history only includes that single account and DuckDuckGo.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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ibe98765, Sueska, rizzquery

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Thank you for a very good article!

Please give us a link to

“detailed description of Google’s history, strategy, and innovation, including how its competitors saw and responded (and is well worth reading for that.)”

— AWRon

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See whether you can match the post-decision comments with the speaker!

I have not read Mehta’s opinion nor do I plan to slog through all 277 pages. Please tell us the answers to the quiz! Very interesting stuff.

I have pondered whether Microsoft and Google (perhaps Apple, too) have become so dominant that they are de facto natural monopolies and should be subject to regulation like public utilities.

Breakup of the Bell System into the Baby Bells did little to improve prices or service, merely creating a multi-headed hydra instead of a single one.

It seems to me that, under existing US laws, utility regulation would be preferable to breakup. I am not a fan of any of these companies and believe they should be kept on a tight leash. The question is how best to accomplish that goal.

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gwt10

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If Trump wins all these including Lina M. Khan will be Swept under the rug.

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@moppenheimer – You have real skills! Thank you.

Human, who sports only naturally-occurring DNA ~ oneironaut ~ broadcaster

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RE:

bbearren wrote:

I’ll get multiple offers/emails for coffee makers

Wow you also get emails ads from Amazon? I do get the promotion ads (the “you may also like”) while I am logged on to Amazon. So far I have only got emails regarding what I purchased, delivery dates, credits, expiration date reminders, and an occasional included with your order promotion. hehe “loosey goosey” great description

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Sueska wrote:

I do get the promotion ads (the “you may also like”) while I am logged on to Amazon

I don’t know why but I get once a week ‘you’re eligible for business-only pricing’ mail from Amazon.

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Would any one in their right mind swim in the Seine River in Paris? That’s like asking would someone from New York, would you go for a swim in the East River or the Hudson River? In those rivers you don’t swim, you dissolve!  Would anyone in their left minds do so? If the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only the Left Handed are in their right minds! Heh, heh, heh!

EFL, ELA, History, Civics, and Social Studies Teacher

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To me, there is no such thing as a student who cannot learn. All students can succeed, and as a teacher, it is my place, my goal to give them the tools to succeed....

Our problems are man made; therefore

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Excellent article.

It’s a subject matter that I find so few of my family, friends and acquaintances are even slightly interested in understanding the seriousness of. For far too many people it seems that convenience, habit and disinterest usually trump any initial concern about privacy, manipulative dark patterns, surveillance or consumerist propaganda.

I do understand that the rapid pace of life, the lack of time and/or technical knowledge and other factors can all lead us to gloss over the slow erosion of personal autonomy. Sometimes it seems simply that the old saw “ignorance is bliss” is standing the test of time.

I’m glad there are some signs of governmental actions. I fear it’s an uphill battle that won’t easily succeed.

The educational system should require classes in critical thinking and provide students early on with knowledge about various propaganda and manipulative techniques, dark patterns, adaptive pricing, surveillance and so on. I believe these are required survival skills if one wants to learn and retain cognitive liberty. Forewarned is forearmed I say.     (Corporations would no doubt fight this idea tooth and nail!)

 

 

 

Win10 Pro x64 22H2, Win10 Home 22H2, Linux Mint + a cat with 'tortitude'.

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wavy

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As an unmarried “childless cat daddy,” I have zero need for Facebook.

In fact, I proudly do not belong to ANY social media platforms whatsoever.

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California legislature passes sweeping AI safety bill

The California State Assembly and Senate have passed the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act (SB 1047), one of the first significant regulations of artificial intelligence in the US.

The bill, which has been a flashpoint for debate in Silicon Valley and beyond, would obligate AI companies operating in California to implement a number of precautions before they train a sophisticated foundation model. Those include making it possible to quickly and fully shut the model down, ensuring the model is protected against “unsafe post-training modifications,” and maintaining a testing procedure to evaluate whether a model or its derivatives is especially at risk of “causing or enabling a critical harm.”..

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wavy

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