qualia Posted July 26, 2011 A fresh storm has blown into Google’s new Google+ service. The company has been suspending accounts because they contravene Google’s Community Standards – ostensibly to stop fake or spam accounts being created.This means any name Google has determined is not the person’s real name has resulted in an automatic suspension. The suspension has also, in some cases, removed access to all other Google services, including email. Exactly how many users have been affected by this action is not known but it is enough to have mobilised Google+ users to voice their displeasure. One of the more high-profile suspensions was of Limor Fried, also known as Ladyada or Adafruit Industries. Fried was recently featured on the front cover of Wired magazine with an article in that issue about DIY electronics. In addition to selling electronic kits, her business’s website features videos which show how to “hack” electronics to do everything from creating a remote that switches off any television, to creating glowing cufflinks from Apple Mac power buttons. After a brief outcry, Fried’s account was reactivated with no explanation. Others, it seems, have not been so fortunate. Say my name The issue of enforcing “real names” is a contentious one on the internet. In South Korea, for example, there’s a policy requiring all users of sites that allow online comments to be identity-checked. Google, along with many other internet companies, bowed to this policy on its sites, including YouTube, and blocked people from uploading videos unless they had verified their names. Facebook also courted controversy recently when the company closed the account of a Chinese commentator called Michael Anti and told him he needed to use the name on his Chinese Government ID card. The irony of this is that, allegedly, Mark Zuckerberg’s dog has a Facebook account under an alias (yes, this is the real case of “on the internet, nobody knows you are a dog”). Mixed identity Like all things, the argument is not simple. Governments and services will argue that using a Real Name policy will help cut down spam, internet trolling) and general bad behaviour. But there are many legitimate reasons for using a pseudonym or “non-de-plume” that are mixed in with people’s profession, identity and safety. The issue quickly escalates to one of suppression of free speech and, as such, makes its enforcement one more example of companies trying to create an internet that is, in essence, simply commercial. Another difficulty that Google, in particular, faces with the implementation of this policy is that it does so using a computer program that uses an algorithm to determine what is real and what is fake. Google’s reliance on automating these decisions is bound to lead to indiscriminate mistakes. Given this can then lead to an automatic suspension of your email account with no warning, the consequences are severe. This is especially the case with the UN’s recent declaration that internet access is a human right. Companies such as Google and Facebook face an ongoing public relations juggling act between achieving their commercial goals and providing a service supporting a major social infrastructure. At the end of the day, it will always be about business, so discussions about Google’s apocryphal mantra – “Don’t be evil” – are moot. damn, i thought facebook was dodgy. http://theconversation.edu.au/google-requires-real-name-or-else-2493 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tripsis Posted July 26, 2011 (edited) That's reason enough alone to not sign up to Google +, just in case for some inexplicable reason you needed yet another 'social networking' site to waste time on. The next step with be verified photo ID available to whoever wants to look at it, as 'proof' that you are who you say you are. Edited July 26, 2011 by tripsis Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ballzac Posted July 26, 2011 I intentionally didn't get an apple phone because I hate the way they seem to be engineered to force users to use other apple products, so I went with what seems to be the only other viable option at the moment which is Android. Turns out I had to set up a google account to use most features of the phone. I actually stopped using youtube when they started making it compulsory to sign in with a google account, but then they started allowing hotmail accounts, and I started using it again. So I'm really fucked off that they've roped me into using a google account. I hate that sort of shit. It's not that I have anything against a Google account per se, but if they manage to force people to use a particular service, they are testing their level of control. Once they pretty much know you will jump when they say "jump", they can start changing the rules of the game. That's why I like to avoid being cornered. Youtube's fucked these days anyway will all the ads everywhere. Google's really starting to piss me off. They started with a great search engine, then they popularised and improved upon a great browser (chromium). Now they are becoming the next apple with their arse-faced tactics. People shit on Microsoft. I don't much like their products and I think they are over priced considering that there are free alternatives that tend to work better, but at least they still seem to have a smidgen of that philosophy of intercompatibility that actually works out well for consumers...just a smidgen. Arggh, if I can convince my girlfriend to let me install linux on her computer then all six of our computers will be mostly free from the shackles of commercial software. Then I just need to figure out if I can hack my phone and put linux on THAT. Apparently you still need to be running Android in the background FFS. Rant over! 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bert&Ernie Posted July 26, 2011 a phone with linux on it.... now that would be a dream come true Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tripsis Posted July 26, 2011 Out of curiosity, why do you have six computers? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bert&Ernie Posted July 26, 2011 Out of curiosity, why do you have six computers? and yes six computers seems abit of over kill to me lol what's going on? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ballzac Posted July 26, 2011 Haha, well one is my PC which I use for uni work and general internet browsing. One is my shitty little netbook that I take to uni and sometimes use at home when I can't be bothered sitting at my desk and don't need good specs. One is my girlfriend's desktop. One is a server (running ubuntu server 10.04) which pretty much is mostly used for downloading torrents and printing, so we can have all our torrents centralised and don't need a specific PC other than the server to be on in order to print or to add, browse and move torrents. It's also used for some files such as music and pictures that both my girlfriend and I want access to. One is an HTPC in the loungeroom running xbmc live, and containing most of our movie files. Originally the movies were on the server, but the loungeroom computer is wireless and doesn't run most HD movies from the server without buffering often. The final one is the bedroom HTPC, same deal as the loungeroom one but without files on it. We're happy to just watch SD stuff from the bedroom, particularly because it's only a little monitor as opposed to the 55" TV we have in the loungeroom. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ballzac Posted July 26, 2011 To be honest, if I was single I would have at least one computer in every room of the house. One in the bathroom so I can browse the net while I'm taking a dump. One in the kitchen so I can look up recipes, set timers etc. One in the shed to monitor my brewing temperatures... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bert&Ernie Posted July 26, 2011 (edited) To be honest, if I was single I would have at least one computer in every room of the house. One in the bathroom so I can browse the net while I'm taking a dump. One in the kitchen so I can look up recipes, set timers etc. One in the shed to monitor my brewing temperatures... Dito Edited July 26, 2011 by aussiejwerta Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ballzac Posted July 26, 2011 Computers are awesome. I've written a little script that I run on my server, which moves files from the server to the HTPC, then emails me when it's finished moving. Sometimes I stream a tv show onto multiple computers so I can walk around the house, if I'm cleaning for example, and I can just continue to watch it in whatever room I'm in at the time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyAmine. Posted July 26, 2011 Android is Linux is based and you can run linux on it. ;) Ubuntu was one in particular last time I looked. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ballzac Posted July 26, 2011 Yeah, but not on EVERY phone. Mine was only $100, possibly not up to it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qualia Posted July 26, 2011 hmm, i have an android tablet (galaxy tab gt-p1000) here which i got from school, i stopped using it because it's crap, small, and has crap apps and it's crap. i'll get an ipad soon but mostly because i want to play myst on it again (love that game) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyAmine. Posted July 26, 2011 (edited) Where there is a will, there is a way. Maybe you didn't understand what I meant, if your phone is running android it can run linux, they both use the same kernel but different interfaces or skins. Same shit different bucket. On a side note, Linux would be kind of sucky on a phone though, its a command line driven interface so you'd be forever typing out commands on the touch screen keypad. I dont know about you but that doesn't sound like an improvement to me. It would be cool to be able to dual boot it though, like for connecting to servers, or coding etc. The HTC HD2 is a great phone for dual booting and running ROM's (if not the best) plus its going for about $150 these days. It also takes RAM upgrades! Edited July 26, 2011 by AndyAmine. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ballzac Posted July 26, 2011 Everything I've read basically says that you can only run it through an app ON android. How would one go about actually installing ubuntu as a bootable operating system on a smart phone? Not to say that it would necessarily be great as it's not optimised for using on a phone, but it would be fun to try out. And yeah, android uses the linux kernel. It's a shame though that my phone (it's an xperia x10 mini) seems to work fine with windows and not with linux. I can't even charge my phone through usb on my computer, how fucked is that? I'm pretty impressed with the phone for $100, but it has some serious shortcomings. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
etherealdrifter Posted July 26, 2011 (edited) To be honest, if I was single I would have at least one computer in every room of the house. One in the bathroom so I can browse the net while I'm taking a dump. One in the kitchen so I can look up recipes, set timers etc. One in the shed to monitor my brewing temperatures... take adump for info dl ballz balllz is electricity personified maybe balls i s electricity lol he may well be Edited July 26, 2011 by etherealdrifter Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toasty Posted July 28, 2011 i found this sentence quite disturbing O.o Say my name The issue of enforcing “real names” is a contentious one on the internet. In South Korea, for example, there’s a policy requiring all users of sites that allow online comments to be identity-checked. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ballzac Posted July 28, 2011 One time I bought a pre-paid dialup internet card and the connection didn't work so I had to call them. They asked for my details, but unfortunately I'd put a fake name as I always did for those cards. I have not idea why they needed any info other than the username and password. Anyway, I couldn't remember what name I'd put, and they wouldn't help me unless I could tell them. After I hung up I remembered what name I'd put. I lived on a corner at the time, and I'd put the two street names as my name. The streets were "Moodie" and "Queens". So yeah, I had to call back and say, "Hello, my name is Moodie Queens and I'm having trouble with my internet." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
7baz Posted July 28, 2011 google can go fuck themselves. i refuse to use my real name in anything online. real name = more easily to be hacked or scammed. only 2 things have my real name and thats ebay and paypal , and even that is too much lol. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Auxin Posted July 28, 2011 ...at least one computer in every room of the house. One in the bathroom so I can browse the net while I'm taking a dump... *mails some laxatives to ballzac* Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Francois le Danque Posted July 28, 2011 wow i thought my housemate was bad leaving his ONE computer on all the time...what a fucking waste of power though i agree with everything you said about apple and google. i didn't know you could use hotmail for youtube now but yeah it's too little too late imo. though i do miss the endless trolling ability youtube comments engenders... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ballzac Posted July 28, 2011 Well the beauty of having a server is that most of the time it's the only computer on and it's really low specs so it doesn't use much power. Apart from that, they're only on when they're being used. If you're referring to me having several on while I'm cleaning the house, I wouldn't worry about it...I don't clean that often Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
