Monday, November 25, 2013
Remember when I wondered if Google was getting too big, and too inquisitive?
Now, does Google want your DNA? Do you realize how much that test would cost if it weren't subsidized? Why would anyone want to subsidize it?
I don't like the answer.
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Showing posts with label invasion of privacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label invasion of privacy. Show all posts
Monday, November 25, 2013
3803 I never got my penny
Monday, November 25, 2013
There's a huge world-wide Secret Santa network being set up through Reddit: http://redditgifts.com/about/.
I guess I'm a cynic, because I don't believe it at all. I don't believe the numbers of people, I don't believe the numbers of countries, and I especially don't believe that everyone will actually send decent gifts. I do, however, believe that this is one heck of an idea for gathering names and addresses, AND interests! Google ain't got nuttin on Reddit!
Back in the olden days of pen pals and love letters, there was something called a chain letter. You'd get a letter with a list of the names and addresses of five people. You were to send some token, like a penny or a postcard to the top name on the list, then make five copies of the letter with the top name/address removed and your name and address added to the bottom, and send it to five new people. In theory, each person would receive over 3,000 pennies.
I always always always sent a penny to the top name. Always. And since I had no allowance and felt so poor, I made ten copies of the letter (handwritten, of course, we're talking about the late '50s) and used my mother's stamps to mail them, hoping that I would get over 6,000 pennies back.
I never got a single penny or postcard. Never. Not one. No one I ever asked ever got a penny. The only people in the entire world who ever got a penny were, apparently, the ones I sent pennies to.
Way to feel like a patsy. Maybe this is what contributes to my cynicism.
...and then there were the kids who bragged that they didn't add their name to the end - they jumped the line and added themselves to the top, so they'd get pennies sooner. They didn't see the hole in that, no matter how many times I tried to explain it.
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There's a huge world-wide Secret Santa network being set up through Reddit: http://redditgifts.com/about/.
I guess I'm a cynic, because I don't believe it at all. I don't believe the numbers of people, I don't believe the numbers of countries, and I especially don't believe that everyone will actually send decent gifts. I do, however, believe that this is one heck of an idea for gathering names and addresses, AND interests! Google ain't got nuttin on Reddit!
Back in the olden days of pen pals and love letters, there was something called a chain letter. You'd get a letter with a list of the names and addresses of five people. You were to send some token, like a penny or a postcard to the top name on the list, then make five copies of the letter with the top name/address removed and your name and address added to the bottom, and send it to five new people. In theory, each person would receive over 3,000 pennies.
I always always always sent a penny to the top name. Always. And since I had no allowance and felt so poor, I made ten copies of the letter (handwritten, of course, we're talking about the late '50s) and used my mother's stamps to mail them, hoping that I would get over 6,000 pennies back.
I never got a single penny or postcard. Never. Not one. No one I ever asked ever got a penny. The only people in the entire world who ever got a penny were, apparently, the ones I sent pennies to.
Way to feel like a patsy. Maybe this is what contributes to my cynicism.
...and then there were the kids who bragged that they didn't add their name to the end - they jumped the line and added themselves to the top, so they'd get pennies sooner. They didn't see the hole in that, no matter how many times I tried to explain it.
.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
3700 Stupid programs
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Some people are worried at the evidence that "someone" out there is watching over our shoulders, whatever we do on the internet, and then targeting our "interests".
"They" know where I am. The info is used in side-column car insurance and mortgage ads which claim to be specific to my state or my town. They are annoying and look painfully obsequious.
I bought a toddler pedal car for Nugget's 2nd birthday (next month) on Amazon. Now every time I turn around, I'm getting ads from toy stores for toddler pedal cars. How many of them do they think I'm likely to buy? They are pissing me off more than attracting me.
Youtube keeps track of what I watch, and then when they make recommendations of what I might like, the list consists mostly of videos I've already watched. That is obviously stupid. They've managed to put together a list I'm pretty much guaranteed NOT to be interested in seeing. (Watch out for the Eastern Europe trap. Once I watched a Russian video, and for the next week all the recommendations were Russian! I didn't even know what they were about!)
EBay likes to take something you bought, then make recommendations of other similar things you might like. That might be useful to your shopping, but the execution is very annoying. You just bought a unique handmade item, and eBay informs you that "Others who bought this [photo of your unique item] also bought this, this, and this [photos of other unique items that are still for sale]." It's obviously a lie! No "others" bought any of those items!
Ok, maybe computers are getting smarter, but programmers are getting stupider. I don't think we need be worried.
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Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds.
-- Einstein --
-------------------------------------------------------
Some people are worried at the evidence that "someone" out there is watching over our shoulders, whatever we do on the internet, and then targeting our "interests".
"They" know where I am. The info is used in side-column car insurance and mortgage ads which claim to be specific to my state or my town. They are annoying and look painfully obsequious.
I bought a toddler pedal car for Nugget's 2nd birthday (next month) on Amazon. Now every time I turn around, I'm getting ads from toy stores for toddler pedal cars. How many of them do they think I'm likely to buy? They are pissing me off more than attracting me.
Youtube keeps track of what I watch, and then when they make recommendations of what I might like, the list consists mostly of videos I've already watched. That is obviously stupid. They've managed to put together a list I'm pretty much guaranteed NOT to be interested in seeing. (Watch out for the Eastern Europe trap. Once I watched a Russian video, and for the next week all the recommendations were Russian! I didn't even know what they were about!)
EBay likes to take something you bought, then make recommendations of other similar things you might like. That might be useful to your shopping, but the execution is very annoying. You just bought a unique handmade item, and eBay informs you that "Others who bought this [photo of your unique item] also bought this, this, and this [photos of other unique items that are still for sale]." It's obviously a lie! No "others" bought any of those items!
Ok, maybe computers are getting smarter, but programmers are getting stupider. I don't think we need be worried.
.
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