National Unfriend Day Facebook

WoW, something that makes sense to me about fb "friends".



Have some fun with it

OM

Even George Orwell could not imagine Facebook.

akbeemer said:

Even George Orwell could not imagine Facebook.

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The new "opiate of the masses."

What is this Facebook of which ye speak?

I quit it when my ex wife found me from Hawaii. Hadn't heard from that screech in 40 years. Quitting it and getting it to forget everything I once told it is quite a routine - now maybe not even possible.

I must be some kind of genius for never signing up on the facebook.

(thread hi-jack)

Another interesting conspiracy theory involves ancestry.com. I have heard it suggested that big brother collects DNA profiles from every sample submitted. Thoughts?

James.A said:

I must be some kind of genius for never signing up on the facebook.

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No wonder why I can't figure out when your on vacation and your house is "open"

(thread hi-jack)

Another interesting conspiracy theory involves ancestry.com. I have heard it suggested that big brother collects DNA profiles from every sample submitted. Thoughts?

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I rather doubt it.............however I have no doubt that "someone" knows where a large repository of cataloged DNA is.

"Just because you may feel paranoid............"
OM

Kim Komando told a story about Facebook on her radio show a week ago (Komando is a computer/IT expert who hosts a weekly radio show and website). The story relates the experience of a married couple who suspected they were being listened to when they had Facebook up on their household computer, so they conducted an experiment. The couple has no cat, has never had a cat and has no interest in having a cat. They brought up Facebook on their computer and had a conversation about being low on cat food and needing to go shopping to buy some cat food. Sure enough, shortly thereafter they started seeing cat food ads displayed when they visited Facebook. True? Hell I don't know, but I think Orwell was an optimist.

FACEbook is Big Brother!

akbeemer said:

Kim Komando told a story about Facebook on her radio show a week ago (Komando is a computer/IT expert who hosts a weekly radio show and website). The story relates the experience of a married couple who suspected they were being listened to when they had Facebook up on their houshold [sic] computer, so they conducted an experiment. The couple has no cat, has never had a cat and has no interest in having a cat. They brought up Facebook on their computer and had a conversation about being low on cat food and needing to go shopping to buy some cat food. Sure enough, shortly there after they started seeing cat food ads displayed when they visited Facebook. True? Hell I don't know, but I think Orwell was an optimist.

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Exactly what is surprising about that? The whole point of Facebook is their software reading posts, building a profile on the user, selling that profile to advertisers, then showing ads based on the profile. On Facebook, the advertisers are the company's customers; users are the company's product. That has never been a secret.

James.A said:

I must be some kind of genius for never signing up on the facebook.

(thread hi-jack)

Another interesting conspiracy theory involves ancestry.com. I have heard it suggested that big brother collects DNA profiles from every sample submitted. Thoughts?

Click to expand...

As with most internet claims or rumors, this can be easily checked via a number of reputable fact-check sites. Snopes is good, for example, and here’s what they have on record for Ancestry.com:
https://www.snopes.com/ancestry-dna-steal-own/

Personally, given the current in-flux state of health insurance in this country and the possibility of returning to a structure that allows excluding coverage due to pre-existing or genetically probable maladies, I’d not be scattering my DNA around with ANY such companies. Terms of Ancestry’s agreement would likely let them sell your DNA information to the insurance industry, for example...

Best,
DG

BlueWaterCooled said:

Exactly what is surprising about that? The whole point of Facebook is their software reading posts, building a profile on the user, selling that profile to advertisers, then showing ads based on the profile. On Facebook, the advertisers are the company's customers; users are the company's product. That has never been a secret.

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What is surprising about that is that the data was garnered by listening in on a suposedly private conversation held in the couple's home.... not from sites they visited or something they typed into the computer.

BlueWaterCooled said:

Exactly what is surprising about that? The whole point of Facebook is their software reading posts, building a profile on the user, selling that profile to advertisers, then showing ads based on the profile. On Facebook, the advertisers are the company's customers; users are the company's product. That has never been a secret.

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Surprising? NO - it's disturbing, and more than a little pathetic.

'Friends' are people you know face-to-face, have their phone numbers handy and you actually call them now and then, you visit with these persons, rally with them, share lunch and pics of the grand kids, and 98% of them live close enough to show up for Thanksgiving if invited.

While I use applicable innovations of the electronic revolution, I don't fall under its spell. If you can count your 'friends' in the hundreds or thousands, you're in much more desperate need of true friends than you realized.

The world will not soon shake off this 'opiate' (Psychologists even coined the term "Automation Addition"), but 'friends' help you move, cut your grass if laid up, make it to baptisms, ride in staggered formation, come to weddings and funerals, and will share a cup of coffee with you every Wednesday @ 9.

I am on Facebook solely with my two children, at their request. I have assimilated zero 'friends' in the Matrix, but shake hands with dozens in the real world. I suppose that makes me a dinosaur, but at least not a member of the BORG collective.

Gotta' run (or at least, lumber) - Java and a French crueler await me at Dunkin' Donuts this morning with .......... a friend.

akbeemer said:

What is surprising about that is that the data was garnered by listening in on a suposedly private conversation held in the couple's home.... not from sites they visited or something they typed into the computer.

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Since the day of devices like the Remco walkie talkies, non-powered remote listening has been possible-



In the early days of "simple" cable TV's, there has been concern with unauthorized monitoring of conversations.....Since then it has become much easier although it seems to be less personal. For example, it is listening to a device and picking up the preferences of the device and through an algorithm, determines the rest.
Scotch tape over the camera helps
OM

So, are there any companies selling tinfoil helmet liners yet?

GTRider said:

So, are there any companies selling tinfoil helmet liners yet?

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Amazon.com of course. Free shipping with a Prime membership. Get the 0.94 mil thick foil.

greenwald said:

but 'friends' help you move

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Friends will help you move. REAL friends will help you move a body.

beemerphile said:

Friends will help you move. REAL friends will help you move a body.

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So true!

akbeemer said:

They brought up Facebook on their computer and had a conversation about being low on cat food and needing to go shopping to buy some cat food. Sure enough, shortly thereafter they started seeing cat food ads displayed when they visited Facebook. True? Hell I don't know, but I think Orwell was an optimist.

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So, they have an 'open mic' so to speak, on their computer? How does that work?

flymymbz said:

So, they have an 'open mic' so to speak, on their computer? How does that work?

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Most computers have a mic (and a camera too). Software turns it off and on - whether surreptitiously by an installed or rogue program, or overtly by user control. Taping over the transducer defeats software (moreso for the camera). Network attached security cameras (with mics) in your home can be reached from outside if you haven't properly secured them (and your network). All bets are off with the new round of interactive devices such as Amazon Echo, Google Home and their ilk. They do whatever their designers tell them to do.