The ‘Eggs In One Basket’ Index – SplatF Dan Frommer take a look at major tech firms, and what percentage of their revenue is generated from for their largest revenue source. I was saying the other day that I would be happy to pay google a lot for their services, in exchange for an advertising-and-tracking free experience. I look at this chart, and I realise that it might even make (some) sense for Google to offer that option, just from a diversification-of-revenue point of view. I don't expect they will, and I'm sure there are big hurdles in their way that would stop it, but still, there's an awful lot of eggs in the advertising basket, there.
Britons give more to donkey sanctuary than abuse charities | Money | The Guardian This statistic is four years old, but I bet it's still true. People always look at me funny when I occasionally express my serious disgust with people who given to animal charities. I'm familiar with the walk-and-chew-gum theory, and indeed, use it myself when arguing for things like funding for the space programme, but that's an apples-and-oranges comparison – tech progress vs. abuse – while this is directly a "which abuse is worse" like-for-like comparison, at least to me. And many people appear to prefer to spend the money that they have available to spend on animals, instead of people. Because it really matter when someone shoves a cat in a bin, but much less when someone shoves their fist in someone else's face.
Who the hell do Camden Council think they are? Unfuckingreal. Local council decide that what residents really want, when hanging out in communal gardens of their flats, is a) to be on camera, and b) to have that camera tell them in the disembodied voice of authority to move on, or their photos will be "sent for processing". This photo of them, in their own garden.
What will happen with the NHS bill, in 5 tweets. By the time this posts, you'll probably already have seen this. If you live in the UK, and haven't see this already, go and look, because this is the future of your healthcare we're talking about.
Why Twitter’s new policy is helpful for free-speech advocates | technosociology Are you one of the people going on about how Twitter's new censorship policy is the beginning of the end, and a disaster, and how Twitter should be ashamed for caving like they have? No? Good. If you are, then read this, and shut up. There new policy was quite clearly a model for how to handle this sort of shit, and the on-line wailing completely bewildered me. I was going to write about it, but someone smarter than me has already done so.
Bootstrap, from Twitter Really want to check this out proper like, and maybe build something using it. I've kept on promising myself a custom-designer blog for years, but have never gotten around to it. Maybe now's the time.
Google tracks consumers’ online activities across products, and users can’t opt out – The Washington Post I was able to opt out of using Facebook when I didn't like their privacy settings. I welcome any suggestions on how to avoid using Google products. At this point, I'm just consoling myself with the thought that the company will probably be dead (or at least, much reduced) within the next 10-15 years, and I'm just hoping they don't damage our norms around privacy too much along the way.
SOPA/PIPA blackout | MetaTalk Another story about what it's like to get a bogus takedown letter. 2 weeks of work and stress, without getting compensation from the party that caused the work and stress.
Takedown Hall of Shame | Electronic Frontier Foundation Just in case you're thinking that this SOPA business is a fuss over nothing, than that it is what its supporters say it is – an act targeting pirates and criminals, and that it won't hurt the average innocent internet user – here is a link to a page collating the worst abuses of the existing law in this area, the DCMA, which is what companies currently use to require takedowns of infringing material. Take a look at the list of companies who have used the existing law in a way that was never intended.