Facebook terms of service change

February 17, 2009 under metablogging

Your data no longer expires when you close your account.

Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, has a response on the facebook blog:

“In reality, we wouldn’t share your information in a way you wouldn’t want. The trust you place in us as a safe place to share information is the most important part of what makes Facebook work. “

Sorry, Mark. Not going to cut it, I’m afraid.

In his defense, Mark does trot out the example of messages, which are copied when sent. You don’t want your received mail disappearing when the original sender leaves Facebook. Facebook is going to keep the message around after they de-activate they account. It’s just like my internet service provider (or Google), storing my e-mail, right?

Ummm… no. Not even a little bit. Neither Google nor my ISP force me into the following (from the Facebook TOS):

“You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof. You represent and warrant that you have all rights and permissions to grant the foregoing licenses. ” [Emphasis mine]

If my ISP decided they were going to perform a dramatic reading of my e-mail on Broadway, you can bet I’d see them in court. But Facebook? Anything for you, Mark! You’re so shiny!

The other half of Mark’s argument boils down to, “Managing content is really hard”. If someone posts a comment on an item, who owns the comment? The commenter or the original item poster? What happens when the item is removed? The event cancelled? Can you keep a comment around that has lost its original purpose?

This is a general problem – conversations which were previously transient are now permanent. We used to be able to say things with the knowledge that they would be forgotten. We never before had to argue over who owns words – the speaker or the hearer? When one person hates the memory of an Event and wants the record expunged, but to another, it was a priceless memory and should be upheld forever… That’s the makings of an argument.

Facebook is left as the mediator of the argument, and their answer is, “It’s all ours. We’ll do with it whatever we want.”

Saying, “This content is ours forever” is unacceptable for content that is more of a passive publishing mechanism, such as Notes. On a traditional blog, the blogger has the option to edit or delete content. If someone submits a comment to The Happy Moron, they own the copyright on the comment, but I can delete it if I so choose. I can wipe away the whole kit and caboodle. If you really think that your comments are that valuable, repost them on your own blog.

All of the complex questions around, “Who owns the data?” can really be mitigated by three very simple principles:

  1. If you want something to stick around, don’t post it exclusively somewhere it can be deleted.
  2. If you want something deleted, don’t post it where you can’t delete it.
  3. If you want to keep ownership of something, don’t post it on Facebook.

Suffice to say, nothing that I care about, even just a little bit, will be authored on Facebook.

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For some reason, this is fascinating

February 12, 2009 under Uncategorized

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_gestures

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The desire to be known

February 11, 2009 under Uncategorized

memes.

Where does it come from?

Why is it so strong?

Ps 139

It frightens us.

Knowledge as power over us?

the dangers of misunderstanding things, misunderstanding ourselves

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Writing Recipes – III

February 8, 2009 under technical

In the last installment, I was left wondering why recipes have rules rules above and beyond normal English language rules. What is so special about a recipe?

If I want to talk about onions, I should be able to talk about onions! Recipes only allow me to talk about onions if I list them in the ingredients… Not Fair! Why do recipes feel the need to rain on my love parade? Why is it so important that they put me down?

Because I’m not taking any sort of scientific approach, let’s play around with the idea of what a recipe is. Let’s not try and prove anything or develop any kind of convincing argument, lets just muck around with recipes.

Can you read a recipe? Absolutely!
Can you write a recipe? Of course!
Can you vacuum the living room with a recipe? Ummm… maybe if the recipe calls for vacuuming.
Can you marry a recipe? Probably not, recipes aren’t animate.
Can you date a recipe? Maybe by adding figs. As inanimate objects, they’re not very relational.
Can you follow a recipe? Yes, you can, even though recipes aren’t animate and they don’t move anywhere of their own volition.
Can you obey a recipe? Yes you can, they contain instructions. ‘Obey’ is a synonym for ‘Follow’ when talking about recipes.
Can you make a recipe? Yes you can. Generally making a recipe means to make whatever the recipe tells you, rather than the recipe itself. Generally if we talk about the construction of the recipes themselves, we are forced to say that we write the recipe.
Can you execute a recipe? Hmm….

Can you execute a recipe? It’s not common terminology….

Can you execute a recipe? Yes, why yes you can!

Recipes are programs, and that the language we write recipes in is a programming language.

Recipe C Program

Ajvar

Yield: 6 servings

  • 2 lg Eggplants
  • 6 lg Red or green sweet peppers
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 1 Garlic clove; minced
  • 1 Lemon; juiced
  • 1/2 c Oil, preferably olive oil
  • Parsley; minced

Bake eggplants and sweet peppers at 350 F until tender when pierced with a fork. Peel skin from hot vegetables and chop or mince the vegetables.Season to taste with salt and pepper and stir in the garlic and lemon juice. Gradually stir in as much of the oil as the vegetables will absorb. Mix well. Pile into a glass dish and sprinkle with parsley.

 
#include <stdio.h>

int i = 0;
char string[] = "Pretty smooth\n";
float f;

int main(void){
    f = 2.0;
    printf("%d and %f \n",i,f+i);
    printf(string);
}

The big difference between a recipe and a C program of course, is that one was written to be executed by a human and the other was written to executed by a C compiler and a microprocessor. One produces food to be eaten, and the other produces a computer program which can be run.

The reason I’ve listed both side by side is because they’re essentially the same. Both start out with a few declarations, “You have two eggplants,” “You have an integer named ‘i’”, and then continue with some instructions as to what to do with the declared items.

Incidentally, if you try to write a C program where you work with undeclared variables, the compiler will complain and spit out several errors. If you write a recipe with undeclared ingredients, the cooks who try and make your recipe will encounter similar “Does not compute” moments. Both the recipe and the C program are simple procedural programs.

I think in the next post I’ll look at the differences between writing programs for people and programs for computers.

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How far do people go?

February 6, 2009 under Uncategorized

Brokenness manifests itself in the strangest of ways.

I don’t think there’s any length people have not gone to, driven by brokenness. No decision too irrational, no fear too paranoid, no action too evil, no cry so desperate…

Fourteen children will not keep you from being lonely. Keep you from having any spare time, perhaps.

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Thursday Poetry – Escalate

February 5, 2009 under poetry

my mini-molehill
may mask a mighty mountain…
maybe I’ll manage

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Wednesday Poetry – Entropy

February 4, 2009 under poetry

fight uncertainty
stare down the eyes of chaos
banish fear and doubt

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Tuesday Poetry – Inexorable

February 3, 2009 under poetry

a river flows on
which none may dam or channel
time waits for no man

not to distract from the poem….

‘inexorable’ is a marvellous word.
‘in’ – negation
‘ex’ – out, outside
‘ora’ – spoken, prayed
‘able’ – possible

exorable – something which can be prayed out, successfully appealed against
inexorable – something which is impervious to prayer or appeal

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Doing it right

February 1, 2009 under curios

What does a good banker look like?

It’s always so difficult to look at tainted jobs (banking, politics, soldiering, law, corporate management) and envision a different way, a better way. When someone lives out a better way, it’s worth paying attention.

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