I love Rollercoaster’s and there is there is a lot terminology, this is a good summary for those who may not know but always wondered..
Author:
Senior firestarter at BBC R&D, emergent technology expert and serial social geek event organiser.
Can be found at cubicgarden@mas.to, cubicgarden@twit.social and cubicgarden@blacktwitter.io
The ever long line of minorities taken advantage of in Silicon Valley
I saw the story about Clubhouse recording conversations (Found via @aral@mastodon.ar.al of #smalltech).
1. New VC-backed startup enters the scene
2. People flock to it
3. They discover it’s a surveillance capitalist (and still have no clue what that is)
4. They’re shocked (because, see 3)
5. It’s too late, they’re too big and they’ve exited
6. Goto 1
Likewise, I am not shocked or surprised. Its surveillance capitalism in full effect. Worst still, they made their base off the back of minorities like black creators, which is another nasty trend in Silicon Valley. Once the mainstream pile in, the original creators are dashed to the wind or forcefully rejected.
This narrative needs to change…
Publicspaces conference and Mozilla Festival, a busy 2 weeks
My next 2 weeks are looking insane but ever so good!
Publicspaces conference and Mozilla Festival 2021. Both are online and tickets are available for all. Pay what you think its worth.
Facebook removed iCal feeds quietly
The other day a good friend mentioned a birthday invite to me. I was confused, I knew it was their birthday but it wasn’t clear what they were talking about as I asked what they were going to do in UK lockdown number 3.
I looked into what happened and realised the new Facebook redesign removed ical feeds. This was further backed up by google support and Reddit. Worst still the facebook help page doesn’t actually exist any more.
The key seems to be getting access to the old facebook page, which I have tried and tried to get access to, but can not get anymore.
This means all my friends who invited me to events and all my volleyball events will no longer appear on my calendar, unless I see it then export it as a ical. I always thought of Facebook as a massive walled garden but this is getting stupid.
The reasons to be on Facebook just got a lot closer to zero!
Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (Mar 2021)
We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed, hearing Bill Maher rip through a bunch of websites and people looking for new ways to track users now 3rd party tracking is on its way out?
To quote Buckminster Fuller “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
You are seeing aspects of this with more nuanced privacy depth being discussed, participating in Mozilla’s #internethealth challenges moment and hearing Solana talk through the internet health report.
The background story of Tony Abbotts boarding pass
Ian thinks: We all heard the story about the former Australian minster who was hacked after posting his boarding pass on instagram but here is the incredible background story, told by the hacker.
Vaccine passports are not as simple as the media are suggesting
Ian thinks: Heather gives plain and clear reasons why vaccine passports are not the panacea its being made out to be. Its also great to hear Lillian Edwards framework mentioned (May 2020 newsletter) as a way forward.
Gamestop? Rethinking the whole rigged system
Ian thinks: Douglas Rushkoff’s monologue about gamestop needs a listen for a different view, but stay around for the interview with Yaël, previous head of political advertising at Facebook. She tells all and I like the approach of trying to fix it before criticising.
Lets talk about Sharenting
Ian thinks: Shareting is when parents share their kids photos and private information without their consent. Its become a real problem now the millennials are growing up with a digital footprint without knowing.
How Facebook joined the splinter-net while Google throw the open web under the bus?
Ian thinks: Hearing about the absolute mess over news in Australia, its easy to point fingers. But its important to look deeper at whats really happening for the sake of profits not people. I’m with Shoshana Zuboff and others, but I know many people get their news from these massive corps.
A big step for gigworkers, but lets be diligent of next steps
Ian thinks: The Uber case is great news but in a similar legal play to Facebook & Google with Australia, there might be more going on that most are reporting? We got to look a little deeper as monopoly is Uber’s end game.
Using copyright to force takedowns
Ian thinks: This is a devious way to force a take-down of a live stream or any recorded footage. Theres got to be a better way and I think its related to using alternative platforms or self hosting with syndication.
The centralisation of power is the problem
Ian thinks: I like this summary of so many of the problems with Facebook, but it misses the important point of centralisation. It also highlights Noam Cohen’s quote “Mark Zuckerberg is deluded by his own faith in Facebook’s ability to be a force for good in the world”
Public value and purpose into the future
Ian thinks: Mariana is on fire and this summary of work around the BBC puts value under a microscope. I love this line “Value is not just the income generated at the end of the innovation chain–– it is also the creative input at the upstream end, the vital investment in talent, content creation, digital innovation and R&D at the early stages”
Google fires another outspoken AI research, who will be next?
Ian thinks: Margaret Mitchell and Timnit Gebru show there is something going on with Google AI research. It doesn’t take a lot to guess what is actually going on behind close doors.
Find the archive here
The freedom and space to hear things
Amazing hearing the story of Martin Luther King’s speeches.
One speechmaker inspired millions with his words, the other utterly destroyed his own multi-million-dollar business with just a few phrases.
Civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr (played by Jeffrey Wright of Westworld, The Hunger Games, and the James Bond films) and jewelry store owner Gerald Ratner offer starkly contrasting stories on when you should stick to the script and when you should take a risk.
I was talking to a friend/colleague recently about presentation styles.
When I first started giving speeches and presentations I would create a script but I quickly dumped that idea as it just didn’t work for me. I also use to write notes but found myself reading the notes out rather than focusing on the audience. Finally I also use to do run-through’s with other people but found myself frustrated or even annoyed that in the run run-through’s that I said one thing but am saying something else while on stage.
I do subscribe to the jazz/improvisation approach with guard rails, which is the slides. Without them I tend to go off in many different directions. Although with some time constraints its all good.
Kubricks systematic percussive sequence mix
I have been loving a bunch of tech/progressive trance and decided its time for a nice mix using some of the tunes. I know there is some disagreement about the term, which I guess is closer to the techno category. Especially the tunes by Carlo Ruetz.
Either way its a good mix breaking into some classic trance by the end. The title of the mix is parts of the playlist, and the start is a long lost tune found after listening to one of the very first live mixes I did in Manchester. Roots is a killer start to a mix and sets the vibe perfectly. Reminds me how much I like Tomcraft actually.
Hosted again on Mixcloud but unlike the last one, hopefully it won’t fall foul of the mixcloud rules over using the same artist too many times. (note to say I have got a new self-hosted platform but anonymous web access isn’t ideal)
Enjoy the mix and here is the complete playlist.
- Roots – Tomcraft
- Trick – Carlo Ruetz
- Percussive thinking (Meat Katie & Elite force remix) – Frome
- Kubrick (Extended mix) – Jerome Isma-Ae
- Rheninkraft – Oliver Klien
- System hack – Carlo Ruetz
- Running up the hill (Jerome Isma-Ae bootleg) – Placebo
- Opium (Stan Kolev remix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
- Sequence (Extended mix) – Estiva
- Floyd (Extended mix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
- Outlaw (Extended mix) – Fatum
- Tears (Protoculture remix) – Dakota
Update: Feb 28th 2021
As I thought, without the Mixcloud restrictions mentioned above, this mix has made it to the 95th place in the Tech trance chart.
Very tempted to see what happens if I rename the playlist for Pattersons pandemic run.
Bumble, their retention policy and my GDPR
I’m sure I have said this multiple times, I really want to like Bumble but every-time I try it again, I’m left with a bad after taste (like poor chocolate). I must learn dating apps don’t get better just worst.
Out of frustration, not with the people on the site (thats a whole different story). The mechanism was painful and annoying to say the least (not because of the females pick first).
So I deleted the app and requested my data from Bumble under GDPR law, as I have done for others previously.
Sent the request on 21st Jan, got the first reply on 23th Jan with the usual identity check. I replied on 24th Jan with the credentials which was made easy with my emails asking Bumble to change a profile element in late 2020. Then on 26th Jan I got this…
Hello,Just to let you know, I have passed your email on to my supervisor here at Bumble who will get back to you as soon as possible.
We’re currently experiencing an incredibly high volume of emails, so it might take a little while longer than normal to get a response from a supervisor.
While we are working super hard to get to everyone, it may be tempting to send a chase regarding the status of your query. However, please bear in mind that we work on a queue-based system here. This means that sending an additional email may push your query further down in the queue and create a longer delay than we’d like.
Please know we haven’t forgotten about you and we really appreciate your patience during this busy time!
Joel
Bumble Feedback Team
Usually I would be on this like a hawk but I kind of forgot as I lost faith in OKCupid and others too. So Bumble sneaked under my radar till the 26th Feb when I finally received this email.
Hello,Thank you so much for your patience in waiting for our response.
We’ve been dealing with an incredibly high volume of emails recently and have been working hard to get to your query.
Unfortunately, we are unable to proceed with your request as it appears as though your account was deleted more than 28 days ago.
In line with our retention policy, we begin to erase or anonymise your information upon the deletion of your account, following the safety retention window.
Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about how we use your data and your rights. You can read more about our privacy policy at: https://bumble.com/privacy
Please note that this only pertains to the profile registered to the email address you’ve contacted us from. If you have any profiles registered on Bumble with different contact details, please contact us using the relevant methods linked to those accounts.
Hila
Bumble Feedback Team
This answer absolutely drove me to rage because Bumble are hiding behind their retention policy. The only reason their retention policy kicked in is because they left it over 28 days. Its outrageous and I’m not standing for it.
I have given them 3 days to change their stance before I report them to the ICO. Although I still didn’t hear anything else from the ICO about Houseparty.
Expect to hear more soon!
Mozilla Festival 2021 – Its all virtual and you are invited!
Its finally here, Mozilla Festival 2021 and its looking excellent.
I can’t tell you how long I have spent this evening looking at the hu
I can finally tell you two of my three submitted sessions were accepted. The big one is a workshop around adaptive podcasting which will happen Monday 15th at 2015-2115 GMT. Don’t worry there is calendar invites for all the sessions including mine.
Its a hour workshop and its unlikely we will get the point of creating podcasts but there will be follow up sessions on the Mozfest slack and Storytellers United community.
Of course Adaptive podcasting will appear elsewhere outside of Mozfest, so keep an eye on the blog for more information around that.
My other session is the advantages of neurodiversity, which is a follow up to 2019’s the advantage of dyslexia, which is highly influenced by the amazing book by the same name.
Last year we explored the advantages of dyslexia at the brand new Neurodiversity space. This year we are back looking for people to explore and understand the advantages of different types of neurodiversity. Look out for this one, as this art piece relies on your thoughts around the advantages of neurodiversity.
What is adaptive/perceptive podcasting?
I recently did a video for the EBU about Adaptive Podcasting (use to be called Perceptive Podcast). I say I did but it was all done by our BBC R&D video powerhouse Vicky. I did plan to get to work in Kdenlive or openshot but it would have been pretty tricky to emulate the BBC R&D house style.
I recorded the video, once another colleague sent me a decent microphone (and G&B dark Chocolates), wrote a rough script and said the words. I also decided I wanted to change my lightening to something closer to how I have my living room lights to encourage a level of relaxation. Vicky took the different videos and audio, edited it all together and created this lovely package all before the deadline of what the EBU wanted. If you want more you might like to check out the Bristol Watershed talk I gave with Penny and James.
Wished I had shaved and was a little more aware of the wide view of my GoPro, lessoned learned. Hopefully the video will get an update in the near future but the video should serve as a good taster for my Mozilla Festival workshop in March.
Enjoy!
The Australia Facebook wake-up call
There is so much I want to say about Facebook removing Australian news media from their platform, but I’d rather let things shake out a little because I’m sure it will change everyday in the next week. Similar to not really talking about the Gamestop news last week.
However I mainly agree with Prof Zuboff about Facebook. As soon as it doesn’t suit there business model they will forcefully remove it from their platform. This is wakeup call for all not just the Australian government.
This has been super clear for years and having just finished Adam Curtis’ Can’t get you out of my head. Its once again clear, this is a important point for democracy and freedom.
Unfortunately I think its clear where I think this will go…
Publicspaces conference: towards a common internet – March 11-12th – tickets now available
I previously blogged about the publicspaces conference.
On March 12, 2021, PublicSpaces, Pakhuis de Zwijger and Waag are organizing a conference to save the internet.
This event will happen mainly in a virtual form of course, however there might be something in person in Amsterdam’s Pakhuis de Zwijger. The conference will make up part of the Mozilla Festival 2021, also in Amsterdam and mainly virtual currently.
Now we can reveal more details for the conference and you can get your tickets now. The conference runs from late afternoon (5pm CET/4pm GMT) of Thursday March 11th (English speaking) and Friday March 12th all day (partly English mainly Dutch speaking).
I’m really happy to say I’m one of the people behind Thursday evening and we have some great keynote speakers presented by the amazing Marleen Stikker of Waag. Paul Keller of the Open Future foundation, Katja Bego of Nesta and Eli Pariser of Civic Signals; will all present short keynotes followed by a communal Q&A.
After a short break there will be several community announcements, followed by a panel discussion on an open letter launched by the SDEPS calling for digital European public spaces. Before a summary and plans for the Friday.
On Friday (10am CET/9am GMT) which is mainly Dutch language but has English tracks, the conference continues with 4 tracks.
Track 1: Towards an ethical internet
Most of the essential applications on the internet have turned into vehicles for political control and economic profit, in which citizens are no longer subjects, but objects. How can public organizations reclaim again the internet as a public space and offer their audiences services that embody public of which they subscribe the ethical values?
Track 2: The Digital Public Spaces Ecosystem
We are seeking to build digital public spaces that are in line with our common values: we want them to be open, democratic, and sustainable. Many initiatives exist that work on alternatives that can be part of this ecosystem of change. In this track, we will get both an overview of what organisations and projects are already out there, get a sense of how they can work together, and build new connections between initiatives and networks that operate in this ecosystem. Central to this track is a map that we are working on and build on during the sessions in this track. We invite participants to join us and add to this map as well as to find new potential collaborations so that together we can make these digital public spaces a reality. Ian Forrester, BBC R&D, will moderate the sessions in this track and invite you to join us on the shared ‘map of change’.
Track 3: Meet the disruptors
Silicon Valley and the world of venture capital revolve around the notion of radical disruption. Those ideas that change the world instantaneously. The question: ‘what comes after the break?’ is deliberately postponed until a later date. First, innovate, then improve is the device. In order to move towards a better internet, incremental change is not enough. In fact, it may actually be the mentality of ‘ship first, fix later’ that may have led to the problems that we are currently facing. In this track, we want to highlight the trailblazers that aim to create a different form of disruption. People that do not only want to change the world for a moment but those that have the stamina and patience to persist.
Track 4: Matchmaking track
In the matchmaking track, supply and demand come together and new alliances are forged and partnerships are built. The purpose of the round table sessions is to bring new parties from different disciplines together around one topic. The conversation serves as an introduction and starting point for a workgroup or collaboration, also after the conference.
Sounds great? Go get your tickets now.
Why is Slack storing passwords in plain text on Android devices?
https://mas.to/@cubicgarden/105712244073779967
I posted about Slack’s bug on mastodon. I knew this was going to be a pain the ass changing all those passwords, even with them all sitting in my password manager and most using 2fa.
However some of the users of Mastodon asked the question, why does the Slack app store the passwords on the device at all?
I thought about this and they are right. The app connects to a remote server and should request the user login. Once logged in, it should provide some kind of secure key/cookie/hash on the device not the actual password. On top of this, it certainly shouldn’t be in the form of plaintext.
Mistake, bug or not, this should not happen.
Port trunking/Link aggregation on a TPlink AC2300 router
My new NAS comes with dual 2.5gigabit LAN ports (providing a total of 5 gigabit of bandwidth). Its not much use to me because its plugged into a 1gigabit router, attached to 1gigabit internet and a 1 gigabit internal network.
However I noticed a feature on my router called link aggregation. In theory I can plug both LAN ports into the router and get 2gigabits of bandwidth to the NAS. Ok its only mainly useful for multiple connections to the NAS because everything else is sitting on a 1gigabit networking. But you can imagine uploading a lot of data from the NAS and also editing video on my LAN connected laptop.
When looking at the TPlink help page, it looks pretty straight-forward. However when looking at my router there is no options. No link aggregation options. I checked I have the latest updated firmware and I was thinking of sending it back… till I spoke to a friend and he convinced me to set up port trunking from the NAS side just in case the router has it enabled by default now.
As you can imagine, it worked… I mainly write this as I couldn’t find an answer when I searched for details previously.
Next upgrade for the switches will be from 1gigabits to 2.5gigabits.
Whats been happening with the human values work?
After the podcast series which you can still hear on the BBC 2LO Soundcloud account. You might have noticed a few workshops we did around the human values.
Right up till now, we couldn’t say exactly why or who was funding it. However yesterday we can finally say, we won a Nesta NGI policy in action bid along with a few others. In short…
This project, led by the BBC, seeks to try out a more human-centric focused approach to measuring audience engagement by putting human values at its core. It will do so by putting into practice longer-standing research work on mapping the kinds of values and needs their users care about the most, and developing new design frameworks that would make it easier to actually track these kinds of alternative metrics in a transparent way.
The project will run a number of design workshops and share its findings through a dedicated website and other outlets to involve the wider community.
You can learn a lot more about the project in a longer interview with Lianne. But do keep an eye on the BBC R&D project page, humanvalues.io and for future workshops/opportunities to help us shape the research project into a tangible resource for all.
This is exciting stuff…