Protest Against BP scheduled for NYC

Facebook page, Flash Protest of BP Oil Spill announces:

"On May 28th, nearly 40 days after the beginning of this disaster, we shall come together as citizens of NYC and march to the BP station on the corner of Housten and Lafayette. There, we will be dressed in all white with gas hoses wrapped around our bodies and necks symbolizing the asphyxiating hold the oil companies maintain on the world. We shall enter the station and for two minutes stand in a formation that demonstrates our solidarity against BP and other companies guilty of the same crimes. There will be a speaker demanding that BP, TransOcean, and Halliburton halt all drilling world wide till the oil spill is totally cleaned. After the speech, we will chant: “BP your heart is black, you can have your oil back." We will then dump buckets of “oil” (black water) over ourselves and the station. Then we will disperse.

"This is a peaceful, non-destructive piece of performance art that will last two minutes. It will be videotaped, edited, and digitally disseminated. A flash protest if you will." (excerpt)

Among those who have RSVP'd that they will attend this protest is filmmaker Shirin Neshat, who directed the prize winning feature, "Women Without Men," currently showing in select theaters.

Pakistan blocks YouTube & Facebook for "Sacrilegious Content"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_asia/10130195.stm

HOW TO: Get Notified When Someone Hacks Your Facebook

Samuel Axon reports: "Facebook just announced a tool that notifies you by e-mail or SMS text message when someone logs into your Facebook profile from an unknown computer...The idea is to help you recognize when a hacker has broken into your account so you can respond quickly by either changing your password (if that’s still possible) or contacting Facebook."

Facebook Data Mines Info After Users Quit

Joe Moe reports: "…you can…delete your account once and for all. You’ll never see that data again. But Facebook will. They still have that information and will continue to use it for data mining."

Facebook's Anti-Privacy Backlash Gains Ground

Yikes! Other people can eavesdrops on Facebook chats now!


"The backlash against Facebook's new anti-privacy policies is only getting stronger. It's time for the social network to respond." --Robert X. Cringely, Infoworld 

Congress asked to push Facebook probe

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2010 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A number of privacy watchdog groups this week urged Congress to push a federal investigation of Facebook's new privacy policy.
The watchdog groups included the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, the Center for Digital Democracy, the Center for Financial Privacy and Human Rights, the Center for Media and Democracy, the Consumer Federation of America, the Consumer Task Force for Automotive Issues, Consumer Watchdog, the Foolproof Initiative, Patient Privacy Rights, Privacy Activism, Privacy Journal, the Privacy Rights Clearing House, the United States Bill of Rights Foundation and U.S. PIRG, PC Magazine said.

Redhead Meltdown Generated by Taunting

I wonder if this kid inspired the M.I.A "Born Free" video. Viewer discretion: L

He seems extreme, but watch his earlier video. And watch the news video about redhead kids being physically assaulted in schools after the Southpark "Kick a Ginger Day" episode generated a Facebook group.

Steve Jobs: Flash No Longer Necessary

Read the full article here.

"First, there’s 'Open'.
"…HTML5, the new web standard that has been adopted by Apple, Google and many others, lets web developers create advanced graphics, typography, animations and transitions without relying on third party browser plug-ins (like Flash). HTML5 is completely open and controlled by a standards committee, of which Apple is a member.

"...Apple began with a small open source project and created WebKit, a complete open-source HTML5 rendering engine that is the heart of the Safari web browser used in all our products. WebKit has been widely adopted. Google uses it for Android’s browser, Palm uses it, Nokia uses it, and RIM (Blackberry) has announced they will use it too….

"Second, there’s the “full web”.

"...video is also available in a more modern format, H.264, and viewable on iPhones, iPods and iPads. YouTube, with an estimated 40% of the web’s video, shines in an app bundled on all Apple mobile devices, with the iPad offering perhaps the best YouTube discovery and viewing experience ever. Add to this video from Vimeo, Netflix, Facebook, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ESPN, NPR, Time, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, People, National Geographic, and many, many others. iPhone, iPod and iPad users aren’t missing much video.

"...There are more games and entertainment titles available for iPhone, iPod and iPad than for any other platform in the world."

"Third, there’s reliability, security and performance.

"Symantec recently highlighted Flash for having one of the worst security records in 2009. We also know first hand that Flash is the number one reason Macs crash…

"In addition, Flash has not performed well on mobile devices....

"Fourth, there’s battery life.
"...Many of the chips used in modern mobile devices contain a decoder called H.264 – an industry standard that is used in every Blu-ray DVD player and has been adopted by Apple, Google (YouTube), Vimeo, Netflix and many other companies.

"Although Flash has recently added support for H.264, the video on almost all Flash websites currently requires an older generation decoder that is not implemented in mobile chips and must be run in software. The difference is striking: on an iPhone, for example, H.264 videos play for up to 10 hours, while videos decoded in software play for less than 5 hours before the battery is fully drained.

"When websites re-encode their videos using H.264, they can offer them without using Flash at all. They play perfectly in browsers like Apple’s Safari and Google’s Chrome without any plugins whatsoever, and look great on iPhones, iPods and iPads.

"Fifth, there’s Touch.
"…Most Flash websites will need to be rewritten to support touch-based devices. If developers need to rewrite their Flash websites, why not use modern technologies like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript?

"Sixth, the most important reason.

"…We know from painful experience that letting a third party layer of software come between the platform and the developer ultimately results in sub-standard apps and hinders the enhancement and progress of the platform. If developers grow dependent on third party development libraries and tools, they can only take advantage of platform enhancements if and when the third party chooses to adopt the new features. We cannot be at the mercy of a third party deciding if and when they will make our enhancements available to our developers...."

Facebook Data Miners Strike Gold

And the internet is forever...
http://developers.facebook.com/docs/api

Senators see privacy problem in Facebook expansion.
Newsvine: "SAN FRANCISCO — Four U.S. senators want Facebook to make it easier for its more than 400 million users to protect their privacy as the website develops new outlets to share personal information. The call for simpler privacy controls came in a letter that the senators planned to send Tuesday to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The Associated Press obtained a draft of the letter signed by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.; Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo; Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska; and Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn."

Web attack 'aimed at one blogger'

You may have noticed problems with Facebook yesterday.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8189162.stm

Facebook as HAL

Facebook had an open window which beckoned users to write something following,"[name] is:__________." Now Facebook uses the voice of a separate entity--- directly asking users, "What's on your mind?__________" This reminds me of the quasi-therapeutic quasi-concern that the 2001: A Space Odyssey computer, HAL, showed for the astronaut, Dave, whom HAL would later attempt to murder.

I'd find this pretty humorous, if not for the fact that Facebook recently tried to seize the rights to all content posted to Facebook, and the content within websites in links posted on Facebook.