Powerful tech companies are the enemies of free speech

[Unbeliever]

Here, try this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYdpOjletnc

[Baruch]

Ah, the early automated version of Trump ;-)  So a younger Trump was hiding in the box, like with The Turk?

[Cavebear]

I think the bigger threat from these big data companies like Google and Facebook and all is that they are the enemies of personal space and privacy -- Google because they think that all data belongs to them, Facebook and Twitter because they try to turn their users' lives into a daily "reality" show^*.

Facebook and Twitter and social media like that take it a step further and try to pretend that every detail of their users' mundane lives are of interest to the whole world, and thereby trick them into willingly surrendering personal information that they otherwise wouldn't have.  And it's all for the mundane, boring selfish reason of corporate profit.  They don't care about whether they're promoting or repressing free speech, as long as they can either monetize it directly, or advertise alongside it.


* - I despise the label 'reality show' -- the deliberately contrived premises of Big Brother, Survivor, et al., are in no way shape or form any sort of day to day reality.  They're nothing more than bread and circuses, a bloodless psychological PG version of the Colosseum games.

"Reality shows" aren't.  Weeding the garden, hacking back the brambles and poison ivy in he back yard is.   Good post!

[trdsf]

"Reality shows" aren't.  Weeding the garden, hacking back the brambles and poison ivy in he back yard is.   Good post!

There was only one 'reality' series I liked, and that was 'The Big Break' on The Golf Channel -- because the contestants had to make it happen with their actual golf skills.  And yeah, there was gamesmanship and psyching each other out, but that actually happens in the game anyway.  Even so, whoever came out on top did so because of their clubs, not group politics.

[Cavebear]

There was only one 'reality' series I liked, and that was 'The Big Break' on The Golf Channel -- because the contestants had to make it happen with their actual golf skills.  And yeah, there was gamesmanship and psyching each other out, but that actually happens in the game anyway.  Even so, whoever came out on top did so because of their clubs, not group politics.

I once got involved with 7 other guys visiting a private golf course one had arranged an invitation to.  There was a guy from work who drove his cart on the fairway (a no-no), trash-talked the other players and brought a wireless mike to the 18th green making fun of the my groups putts..  I was so pissed at him, I picked up my ball and hit him right between the eyes with it.  One of the best days of my life. 

[trdsf]

When Evil Twin and I hit the course, we usually end up trash talking our own games.  Ain't neither one of us any damn good at golf, it's just fun to play.

The one time I tried psyching him out was when I threw a dollar coin down on the tee before he teed off on a par three across a pond, no bailout room anywhere.  "Buck says you're wet," said I.  He stuck it to about ten feet from the pin (getting it in the air for the first time all day, really), and I congratulated him most heartily and honestly.  :D

[Cavebear]

When Evil Twin and I hit the course, we usually end up trash talking our own games.  Ain't neither one of us any damn good at golf, it's just fun to play.

The one time I tried psyching him out was when I threw a dollar coin down on the tee before he teed off on a par three across a pond, no bailout room anywhere.  "Buck says you're wet," said I.  He stuck it to about ten feet from the pin (getting it in the air for the first time all day, really), and I congratulated him most heartily and honestly.  :D

I can't hit a ball 20 yards with trash talk.  But when I played my 5th member-guest tourney at my dad's club (yeah he was really into golf like that) it was so rainy Dad didn't try to tell me how the swing (dads do that) and I had my best round ever.  He was stunned at my shots.  We won.  I have the trophy. 

And it was the last round of golf I've played.  I got him our trophy father/son game win and I was done with it.  When I succeed at anything, I get bored and learn something new.