1984
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Make Every Vote Count
Every semester, I begin my introductory biostatistics class with a simple “show of hands” experiment based on the Bouba-Kiki effect. Prior to the experiment I “volunteer” two students at random to count hands, and when hands are raised, each of my volunteers counts silently and independently. Invariably, the counts DO NOT MATCH. We briefly discuss Read more
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Dust Yourself Off
Phylagen, a San Francisco biotech company, has developed a technique for tracking previous locations of objects based on the composition of dust the object has collected. In another experiment, the sampling technology allowed researchers to determine where a person had walked within 1 kilometer in San Francisco, because of the microbes picked up by their Read more
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The Cyberfascism Bulleting #3: Spring Cleaning Edition
BIG BIZ Uh, oh. The punditry is starting to wise up. Here’s 4 Reasons Why Big Tech is Hazardous to Our Lives. Google AI Ethics Council is Falling Apart. Part artistic ethical differences, part Googloid mau-mauing. Only the truly clueless would use “Google” and “ethics” in the same sentence. Time for a ‘Third-Party Audit’ of Read more
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The Cyberfascism Bulletin #2: April Fool’s Edition
I wish I was foolin’. All this stuff’s real, so the joke’s on us. BIG BIZ An oldie but goodie: Kim DuToit discovers that the Weather Channel app is selling his location data in near real time. He is not amused. Heck, I didn’t even realize that drunken online shopping was a thing. How naive Read more
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The Cyberfascism Bulletin #1: Spring Break Edition
This is the first in a continuing series of “callouts” detailing the onslaught of the ubiquitous surveillance and behavioral influence state. Remember, whether the state seizes industry, or industry seizes the state, the result is still fascism. BIG BIZ Volvo wants to spy on you while you drive. Two thoughts immediately came to mind: (1) Read more
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Cyberfacsism, Canadian-Style
Big Mountie is watching you, eh? Documents obtained by Motherboard from Ontario’s Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services (MCSCS) through an access to information request show that at least two provinces—Ontario and Saskatchewan—maintain a “Risk-driven Tracking Database” that is used to amass highly sensitive information about people’s lives. … Information about people believed to Read more
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Big Brother is watching…
…with this collection of creepy gizmos. Know your opposition. Read it for the cameras, then follow the link to Tattoo Recognition Programs. Tip from the Geek Press. He links, you decide. Read more
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Sorry, you’ve reached your social credit limit
China has blocked millions of “discredited” travellers from buying plane or train tickets as part of the country’s controversial “social credit” system aimed at improving the behaviour of citizens. This is where ubiquitous surveillance by the state (directly or via contractors) eventually leads. This is why you shouldn’t trust the folks who want to dispossess Read more
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The Abolition of Cash, Frisco Edition
Do people not understand the words “Legal Tender?” If you want a hot coffee at Blue Bottle, cold hard cash may not work anymore. The high-end coffee company will ban cash at 12 locations across the country starting on March 11 as part of a month-long experiment that aims to speed up purchases. (photo from Read more
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Big Brother Invades the Ice House
The Surveillance Market is set to invade your local quick-stop, grocer, or ice house. A new digital door technology from a company called Cooler Screens is now being tested in Walgreens, and it sounds absolutely awful. Rather than a basic, transparent glass door, coolers and freezers will be sealed by screens that show a sanitized Read more
The Random Texan 