Category: Spare Me! | Scottie's Tech.Info

Surprise! Big Data doesn’t care about your right to Free Speech

In a shocking revelation that simply re-affirmed what everyone already knew, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals again ruled that internet platforms have nothing to do with the First Amendment because they’re private corporations.

Well, duh!

In a ruling on February 26th, the court said that, “merely hosting speech by others is not a traditional, exclusive public function and does not alone transform private entities into state actors subject to First Amendment constraints.”

Can’t say I didn’t see that one coming – again…

Scottie’s Holiday 2019 Tech Not-Shopping Guide

It’s that time of the year again!

Time to try to figure out what to buy everyone for Christmas – er, I mean, “The Holidays.”

Naturally, techie toys are highly valued gifts.

But ya know, I have a better idea: Don’t buy anything!

Instead, give the gift that’s becoming increasingly rare in this day and age: yourself. Preferably with a bow on your head.

Big Tech shoots itself in the foot, vows to get therapy

This week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg confused everyone (and especially himself) with a speech at Georgetown.

You see, now Facebook is all about free speech. He says we need to let politicians lie on Facebook without censoring or controlling their speech in any way.

Unless you’ve been dead recently, you’re no doubt aware that Big Tech essentially declared itself the Arbiter of Truth & Justice in a stunning effort to put Orwell’s 1984 to shame.

Unfortunately, this led to a few problems – including legal ones…

Are Big American Tech companies a dying breed?

Oh dear God, make it stop.

There was a time when American Big Tech was the end-all and be-all.

It seems those days are rapidly going the way of the dodo.

For sure, there will be many companies that survive – and even flourish.

But it’s becoming painfully obvious that certain political, social, and cultural influences are starting to crush innovation, cripple sales, and piss off a whole lot of ordinary folks…

Why most video games these days suck

Back in my day, video games were simple.

You typed in some cheat codes, kicked butt, and you were done.

My favorite, of course, was Wolfenstein 3D. I remember playing Wolfenstein as a wee young man. There was just something about wiping out Digital Nazis that was sooo satisfying.

Then again, perhaps I should have gotten out more…

Anyway, nowadays, things are different.

You’re not allowed to cheat. Everything is an “open world”. And people get so addicted to video games that they ACTUALLY DIE while playing them for days on end!

So, what exactly went wrong?

The YouTube Algorithm has changed again, and people are pissed

Oh dear god, make it stop…

It’s time once again for The Great YouTube Algorithm Tweaking!

This time, that means even more nonsense, even fewer recommended videos that you actually want to watch, and just general chaos.

Of course, what most people are concerned about is the “curating” of content. Naturally, it’s a bit more complicated than that…

Why “Big Brother” can never win

Well, it’s that time again.

Some recent news items – and people’s reactions to them – have once again compelled me to foam at the mouth about Big Brother.

Every time one of these “revelations” like the Facebook data breach occurs, everyone gets all fired up…

And then many people usually do exactly the wrong thing in response!

Sure, the privacy thing is a problem. It’s prolly going to get worse before it gets better.

But here’s the thing: YOU help to decide how and when that happens.

Get your politics out of my tech!

In recent years, we’ve seen a huge upsurge in “political correctness” and certain “social movements”.

From James Damore being fired for speaking his mind in a very “leftist” corporate culture, to Amazon’s Alexa declaring that she is a feminist, to DNA testing services telling everyone they’re African to “combat racism”…

It seems that amidst all this political/social mayhem, our tech has essentially been weaponized.

We may still have separation of church and state, but it seems that the political and social views of tech corporations are being pushed onto people via their products.

I don’t think that’s a wise course of action…

Cryptocurrency hype and the future of blockchain technologies

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are the wave of the future, right?

So why is all the latest news about their value in US dollars? Isn’t that kind of backwards?

Obviously, these new digital currencies have a ways to go…

It doesn’t help that the systems in place are less than stellar, and we’re still seeing hacking resulting in people losing money.

But what about the future of blockchain technologies as a whole? Those are pretty awesome, right?

Well, yes and no. If you cut out the hype, you’ll have a much better idea about where all of this stuff is heading.

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