ZNAK SAGITE — više od fantastike — edicija, časopis, knjižara...

http://www.borba.rs/content/view/1758/116/
Miloš Rančić u "Borbi":

QuoteInternet je demokratizovao javnu reč
Jadikovke o "dobrim starim vremenima" i pozitivne promene koje donose Mreža i okolne tehnologije

U britanskom časopisu Telegraf od 4. septembra 2009, Metju Mur (eng. Matthew Moore) objavio je članak pod naslovom "50 things that are being killed by the internet" (prevod: "50 stvari koje je internet ubio"). U njemu je, uz senzacionalistički naslov, dat raznorodan spisak promena koje su doneli Internet i okolne tehnologije. Članak je koncipiran u smeru "objektivnijeg" prikaza stvari, tako da daje i "pozitivne" i "negativne" strane. Takođe, kako se težilo okruglom broju, neke od tih stvari nisu podjednako relevantne kao većina njih. A ono što nedostaje članku jeste analiza: Šta nam to, zapravo, donosi?


Dobra stara vremena

Kad tražimo poređenja među današnjicom i jučerašnjicom, obično se susrećemo s jadikovkama o "dobrim starim vremenima" koja su za nama, koja su nepovratno prošla i za kojima treba žaliti. U nekom pozitivnom svetlu se može naći jedino budućnost, ona na koju projektujemo svoje vizije, ono dobro što očekujemo. Vrlo retko se setimo da ispričamo neku dobru stvar o sadašnjosti jer loše stvari iz prošlosti obično zaboravljamo, a iste te iz sadašnjosti su nam previše blizu da bismo mogli da ih smetnemo s uma. Zato, hajde da se prisetimo kako su tehnološki izgledala dobra stara vremena:

U dobrim starim devedesetim minut razgovora sa SAD je koštao tri marke. Sat vremena razgovora je koštao 180 maraka. Da je neko želeo da popriča sa nekom sebi dragom osobom svaki drugi dan po sat vremena, morao bi da izdvoji 2.700 maraka mesečno.

... u osamdesetim za razgovetno i brzo pisanje koristila se pisaća mašina. Tek su pred kraj počele da stižu elektronske pisaće mašine, koje su omogućavale da se greška ispravi pre nego što se lupi enter.

... u sedamdesetim "fiksni" telefon je u najvećem delu sveta bio statusni simbol.

... u šezdesetim nije postojao teflon, pa je svako prženo jelo moralo biti dobro nauljeno.

... u pedesetim struja je bila retkost, što znači da je popriličan luksuz bio kupati se u toploj vodi.

I u društvu su "dobra stara vremena" imala neke svoje osobine. Tek su devedesete donele ukidanje aparthejda u Južnoafričkoj Republici. Sredinom osamdesetih, Švajcarska je postala poslednja evropska zemlja koja je na celoj svojoj teritoriji omogućavala ženama da glasaju. U sedamdesetim žena u Francuskoj nije mogla da otvori račun u banci... U tridesetim je rasizam bio dominantan društveni pogled širom Evrope.

Naravno, imamo i pun spisak stvari o kojima će neko u budućnosti da priča na sličan način o današnjim vremenima: Početkom 21. veka, rak i AIDS su bile neizlečive bolesti. U to vreme se, uz poprilično maltretiranja i još više novca, s kraja na kraj sveta moglo putovati najbrže za dan i kusur. Tada je ljudsko društvo bilo toliko psihopatski nastrojeno da im je rat bio uobičajena svakodnevica. Homoseksualci su tek tada počeli da se po pravima izjednačavaju sa heteroseksualcima. U mnogim zemljama sveta žene ne samo da nisu mogle da glasaju, nego nisu smele ni da voze kola...

Kad pogledamo dostignuća Interneta iz te perspektive, onda možemo shvatiti da "problemi" koje on donosi, zapravo, nisu problemi. Da, svaka se tehnologija može zloupotrebiti. Vatrom se možemo ogrejati, ali i zapaliti nečiju kuću. Sekirom možemo seći drva, ali i ubiti nekog. I Internetom možemo komunicirati, ali se isto tako on može zloupotrebljavati od strane državnih aparata, velikih kompanija i organizovanog kriminala.

Ipak, postoji nešto što Internet donosi; nešto protiv čega se ne mogu boriti upravo oni čija je namera da ga zloupotrebljavaju. Internet povezuje ljude. Internet pamti. Internet otkriva.


Večni septembar

Problem sa neuljudnim diskursom jeste najznačajniji problem Interneta i istina je da do sada nije uspešno rešen. Postoje, naravno, mesta po Internetu koja su to manje ili više uspešno rešila taj problem. Ipak, svako javno mesto na Internetu donosi vrlo agresivan diskurs. Klasičan primer za to je sajt Youtube, na kome se mogu videti najgluplji i najagresivniji komentari (ispod postavljenog videa). Iz rane internet kulture poznat je termin "Večni septembar". On se odnosi na vreme koje počinje u septembru 1993. godine, kada je kultura na Internetu doživela veliki preokret. Izraz se odnosi na uticaj koji od tada donose novi korisnici Interneta. (Kako 1993. godine Internet u ovom obliku nije postojao, to se odnosilo na Juznet (en. Usenet), sistem vrlo sličan današnjim forumima.)

Juznet je nastao na univerzitetima, pa je svakog septembra veliki broj novih studenata dobijao pristup njemu. Bilo je potrebno neko vreme da se ti studenti prilagode etici Mreže, netikeciji. Posle oko mesec dana novi korisnici bi teorijski naučili kako se komunicira na Juznetu. Zato je septembar uvek predstavljao mesec sa najviše pridošlica koji su opstruirali rad Juzneta.

Provajder AOL (America Online), 1993. Godine, počeo je da nudi pristup Juznetu. Isprva je pristup imalo desetine hiljada korisnika AOL-a, a kasnije i milioni. Tako veliki broj korisnika AOL-a bio je prevelik zalogaj, pa stariji korisnici nisu uspeli da prenesu kulturu međusobnog uvažavanja. Tada je nastupio Večni septembar, koji je prenesen i na Internet.

Često se svuda po Internetu postavlja pitanje zašto žene ne učestvuju više u različitim konstruktivnim projektima. Ako kažemo da je programiranje kulturno usađeno kao "muški posao", pa na osnovu toga možemo da kažemo zašto žene nisu toliko česte među programerima, postavlja se pitanje zašto je situacija slična i, uzmimo, na Vikipediji.

U ranim danima, kad god bi nam neko stigao na Vikipediju i počeo da koristi agresivan diskurs, odmah bismo mu pokazali gde su vrata sa konstatacijom da Vikipedija nije forum. To je, ipak, moglo samo do tačke kada je Vikipedija bila relativno nepoznata. Otvoreni agresivni diskurs zamenjen je prikrivenim agresivnim diskursom i može se slobodno reći da su za rad na svakoj Vikipediji neophodni solidan želudac i konjski živci. Ipak, Vikipedija je i dalje značajno bolje mesto na Internetu nego većina drugih. Sama konstruktivnost posla, a ne takmičenje u sujeti, ipak donose neku prevagu. Tako Vikipedijanka nije vanzemaljka, već je pripadnica manjinske populacije od 20-30%.

To dostignuće je ostvareno mukotrpnim radom: "podrazumevaj dobru nameru", "budi pristojan" i sl. su principi ugrađeni u same osnove Vikipedije i stalno se ponavljaju. Takođe, postoje mnogi predeli Vikipedije i drugih Vikimedijinih projekata na kojima se može raditi u miru. Ako se ne bavite politikom, dvadesetovekovnom istorijom niti pravopisnim načelima, vrlo je verovatno da nećete biti u centru sporova.

Ali, to nije ni sve ni dovoljno. Ciničan i ironičan diskurs može biti podjednako agresivan kao i neposredno vređanje. Štaviše, može čak i više vređati. Skoro smo na glavnoj Vikimedijinoj mejling listi imali jednu opsežnu raspravu. Pristup listi je uskraćen jednom dežurnom zvocalu. Veliki deo učesnika na listi je to podržao, pošto je njegove doprinose video kao direktno suprotne interesima Vikimedije. Manji broj nas je digao glas protiv, jer smo to doživeli kao cenzuru i ta osoba je bila vraćena na listu. A onda mi je jedna žena na listi rekla da sam potpuno promašio poentu: agresivan diskurs, onaj o kom smo pričali, nije ekskluzivnost autsajdera, već ga koristi upravo značajan deo insajdera; a takav diskurs ostavlja našu listu isključivo mlađim zapadnim muškarcima. Dobar nauk.

Ipak, smatram da to uopšte nije problem koji je doneo Internet, već pitanje koje je Internet otvorio. Do Interneta javna reč je bila privilegija odabranih. I danas postoje mediji koji objavljuju samo reči odabranih. Internet je demokratizovao javnu reč i sada smo u mogućnosti da vidimo kako nam, zapravo, izgleda kultura. To što do javnosti nisu dopirale pretnje, sirove svađe i različiti oblici verbalnog maltertiranja - uopšte ne znači da to ranije nije postojalo. Ne sumnjam da je svakom ko je živeo u dobu bez Interneta u pamćenju upravo takvo ponašanje. A danas, kad se značajan deo života provodi na Internetu, svako ima na umu da prema onom što govori mora da postupa sa značajno više razmišljanja. To ne znači da će pojedinačni ekscesi biti uzimani na zub, ali to isto tako znači da će svako ko se dugo opstruktivno ponašao u različitim društvenim sredinama imati svoje odgovarajuće, ne baš prijatno mesto u društvu.

Internet nam tu nije doneo ništa novo, već nam je ukazao na problem koji već dugo postoji. A kultura izražavanja se ne stvara posrednom ili neposrednom cenzurom, već obrazovanjem.


Koncentracija

Koncentracija je sledeći problem sa kojim smo počeli da se suočavamo od pojave korisnog Interneta. Svaki oblik rada koji podrazumeva korišćenje računara, a danas računari uglavnom imaju pristup Internetu, uglavnom se svodi na seckanje rada pregledanjem mejla, Fejsbuka i drugih internet stranica. Teško je sastaviti sat-dva rada koncentrisanog na konkretnu stvar.

Ovo je, svakako, novina koju je Internet doneo. Možemo reći da je nešto nalik tome postojalo još od vremena radija, ali nikako u obliku u kom danas postoji. Pre Interneta pisalo se papirom i olovkom ili pisaćom mašinom. Verovatno je da su sve novine bile već pročitane i da je retko ko ostavljao čitanje novina tako da ga to prekida u radu. Teško da je u istu svrhu neko ostavljao pisma koja je dobijao. Da, telefoni su odavno u prilici da nam prekidaju rad, ali i to se moglo nekako izbeći. I ne samo kad je u pitanju intelektualni rad. Štaviše, mnoge vrste rada i danas podrazumevaju popriličnu izolaciju od Interneta, ali danas je mnogo veći broj kancelarijskih poslova, a oni uglavnom podrazumevaju prisustvo računara i Interneta. Ipak, pitanje je koliko je to problem, a koliko to upravo pozitivno utiče na naše intelektualne kapacitete.

Gledajući ljude oko sebe, shvatio sam da upravo od pojavljivanja ovakvog Interneta ljudska vrsta doživljava jednu funkcionalnu evoluciju. Da li ste sebe uhvatili kako četujete sa više od jedne osobe u isto vreme? Ako se bavite samo četovanjem, sa koliko ljudi možete funkcionalno da razgovarate odjednom? Troje, četvoro, petoro? E, ako se bavite time treba da znate da upražnavate aktivnost - odvojeno funkcionalno razgovaranje sa više osoba - koju homo sapiens nije mogao da upražnjava do kasnih osamdesetih godina dvadesetog veka, a nije je masovno upotrebljavao do kasnih devedesetih.

Jeste li kad probali da vodite dva naporedna razgovora u jednoj prostoriji sa dve različite osobe? Možda jeste, ali je to stvarno zahtevno. Jeste li ikad probali da razgovarate sa dve osobe na dva različita telefona? Nešto češće, ali je, svakako, vrlo frustrirajuće. Ali, razgovor sa tri osobe pomoću nekog od čet programa uopšte nije zahtevan. Štaviše, možete odjednom voditi par privatnih razgovora i par javnih, u čet sobama.

To vam, naravno, omogućava nešto sporija komunikacija kucanjem po tastaturi, nešto brže čitanje nego što je moguće slušati - jer je govor sporiji od čitanja - i, naravno, mogućnost da se podsetite u trenutku o čemu ste s nekom osobom pričali. Dobro došli u novi evolutivni korak homo sapiensa! Budući pripadnici ove vrste će moći naporedo da razgovaraju sa više osoba i bez pomagala kao što su različiti čet prozori. Kako? Pa, to ćemo već videti.


Novi život

Metju Mur je u svom tekstu naveo i problem koji se tiče mogućnosti promene imidža unutar iste sredine. Čest je slučaj da se neko, pogotovo u mladosti, ne oseća najbolje u svojoj koži, pa zato želi da promeni svoj imidž. Naravno, ovo se ne tiče problema koje imaju transrodne osobe, već mnogo manjih problema koji su onom ko ih ima isto tako veliki kao kuća. Ta osoba ne želi da menja sve svoje identitete, ne želi da odustane od svog imena i prezimena, svojih zasluga koje je stekla tokom prethodnog života, svojih prijatelja; ta osoba samo želi da ofarba kosu ili da promeni način odevanja.

Internet tu stvara problem. Iako ste se promenili, vaše stare fotografije će ostati dugo na Fejsbuku. Iako ćete moći da uklonite oznaku ispod slike da ste vi na njoj, upravo oni koji su vam najbitniji, a to je vaše neposredno okruženje, oni koji su na toj fotografiji s vama, znaće da ste to vi.

I to jeste problem. Ali za nekog rođenog sedamdesetih godina prošlog veka ili ranije. Već mnogima od onih koji su rođeni osamdesetih godina to više nije problem. Oni znaju da su promene normalan deo života. Promene prolaze svi, na nekima se one vide, uočljive su, a na ostalima se vide tek kad se s njima prozbori. Osoba koja se od svoje 18. do svoje 28. godine nije ni malo promenila - ima ozbiljan problem. Internet samo pamti. Ne da vam da lažete. Ali vam ne da ni da dođete u vrlo neprijatnu situaciju kada gledate neke stare fotografije. Da, svi se menjamo. I to je normalno.

The dark side of the web

Quote from: Melkor on 15-03-2010, 12:09:25
The dark side of the web

Uvek ima tamne strane, uvek.... nemojmo se zavaravati. 

http://www.gadgeterija.net/2012/01/19/megaupload-com-zamracenjem-protestirao-protiv-inicijative-sopa-a-drugi-dan-ga-fbi-u-potpunosti-ugasio/

Evo nešto što nije striktno internet ali je demokratizacija tu negde u nameri. U pitanju je najjeftiniji kompjuter široke potrošnje na svetu koga je kreirala firma u kojoj je jedan od ekipe i David Braben (Elite):

Raspberry Pi too tasty as huge demand crashes sites

Quote
   Demand for a new miniature computer designed to interest children in coding sent the websites selling the product crashing earlier today - just hours after it went on sale.

The Raspberry Pi runs from a Linux operating system.The Raspberry Pi – which costs just £22 - is being hailed as a revolutionary new device that could create a new generation of programmers.

It is a rudimentary open circuit board that, once connected to a monitor, mouse and keyboard, works as a conventional computer.

The operating system includes a version of entry-level computer language program "Scratch", which was originally devised at the world renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Using this, Pi is designed to get children into computing coding, a trend that was sparked by the BBC Micro and Sinclair Spectrum in the 1980s.

All proceeds from the project are going to charity as the circuitboard was created by volunteers headed by computer technician Eben Upton.

It triggered so much excitement that two websites selling the Pi crashed this morning. The websites of component companies RS and Premier Farnell were unable to cope with demand – although the sites appeared to be back up and running by midday. But the official Raspberry Pi website had to revert to a static site as high traffic levels overwhelmed it.

"We didn't realise how successful this was going to be," said Mr Upton. "This means we can scale to volume. Now we can concentrate on teaching people to programme."

"The £22 model on sale today [Wednesday] is actually the pricier version of Raspberry Pi - a stripped-down £16 model will go on sale later this year."   

The circuitboard can be plugged into older analogue television sets as well as digital counterparts and it harnesses power from mobile phone chargers.

Once the setup is complete users can boot up the open-source Linux operating system included on the inserted SD card. The Pi also contains an Ethernet port, allowing it to connect to the internet.   

Hacker Who Leaked Nude Photos of Scarlett Johansson Sentenced to 10 Years

Christopher Chaney, a 35-year-old Florida resident who hacked into email accounts belonging to Scarlett Johansson, Mila Kunis, Christina Aguilera and others, was sentenced to 10 years in prison today. Earlier this year, Chaney pled guilty to nine felonies, including charges of theft and wiretapping.

Prosecutors originally sought a six-year sentence, but U.S. District Judge S. James Otero raised it to 10 years, saying Chaney had shown a "callous disregard" for the the privacy of others.

"It's hard to fathom the mindset of a person who would accomplish all of this," Otero said. "These types of crimes are as pernicious and serious as physical stalking."

The sentencing occurred after the court watched a videotaped statement from an emotional Johansson. "I have been truly humiliated and embarrassed," she said, apparently crying. "I find Christopher Chaney's actions to be perverted and reprehensible."

The Associated Press also noted that Johansson's nude photos were intended for Ryan Reynolds, her then-husband, just in case you were wondering.

Kunis and Aguilera waived protection of their identity in order to draw attention to the case, with Aguilera telling the court last week: "That feeling of security can never be given back and there is no compensation that can restore the feeling one has from such a large invasion of privacy."

Actress and singer Renee Olstead also testified Monday, telling the court she attempted suicide after Chaney leaked her nude photos. "I just really hope this doesn't happen to someone else," she said. "You can lose everything because of the actions of a stranger."

Last year, Chaney apologized for his actions (without admitting any guilt), blaming them on his "addiction" to spying on celebrities.

Once he is released, Chaney will face three years of supervised probation, which will include notifying authorities of his online activities. That, however, wasn't enough for Judge Ortero, who said he wished he could sentence Chaney to a "lifetime supervision, " and for good reason; after Chaney was first arrested, he continued pursuing his victims, even though the FBI had confiscated his computer.

http://gawker.com/5969257/hacker-who-leaked-nude-photos-of-scarlett-johansson-sentenced-to-10-years

How the internet became a closed shop

Quote
A borderless frontier has morphed into a set of gated communities, writes Asher Moses.


A LITTLE over a decade ago, just before the masses discovered the digital universe, the internet was a borderless new frontier: a terra nullius to be populated by individuals, groups and programmers as they saw fit. There were few rules and no boundaries. Freedom and open standards, sharing information for the greater good was the ethos.
Today, the open internet we once knew is fracturing into a series of gated communities or fiefdoms controlled by giants like Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon and to a lesser extent Microsoft. A billion-dollar battle conducted in walled cities where companies try to lock our consumption into their vision of the internet. It has left some lamenting the ''web we lost''.
The same firm in some cases now provides not just the content we consume but the devices we consume it on and a plethora of other services to help manage our digital lives, be it email, online storage or e-commerce.
Increasingly, the web kings are expanding into each other's turf and butting heads with smaller pretenders to the throne, such as Twitter, locking competitors out of their ecosystems but, more importantly, locking us, the consumers, in.


''There's no question that we are witnessing a clash of the titans over 'our' data'', says Jennifer Zanich, serial Australian entrepreneur and now co-founder of start-up Paloma Mobile.
Data is the oil of the digital age, handed over willingly by consumers seduced by the latest flashy new web service. Big data is where the big money is made on the web today, and famous US venture capitalist Mary Meeker describes it as the ''Wild West'' of the internet.
The amount of global digital information created and shared by consumers has grown exponentially over the past few years to 2.8 trillion gigabytes in 2012, according to analyst firm IDC. Each big tech firm wants to capture as much of that data as possible.
''It's important to remember that if you aren't paying to use a product, then you are the product; your data is being sold to advertisers who are paying,'' says Ryan Junee, technologist, investor and founder of fashion recommendation app Inporia.
Where once the battleground was hardware, networking and software, areas dominated by companies such as HP, Cisco and Microsoft, respectively, today the big dollars are in your bytes, says Anthony Goldbloom, founder of big data pioneer Kaggle.
And the tech giants are now building what Zanich calls ''moats'' around their platforms to lock in consumers and their data, as users continue to ignore the fine print. Instagram sparked an online backlash last week, announcing a new policy claiming the right to sell users' photos without payment or notification (before back-pedalling after users started disabling their accounts).
''It is like trusting the financial services houses in the GFC to do the right thing,'' Zanich said. ''We know now they were betting both sides of the deal, manipulating the consumers and the market to their own gain, but they told us it was about us, their customers.''
The impact of the platform-dominated world is most keenly felt for users of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, which may soon be the dominant method of getting online, as they are expected to outnumber desktops and notebooks next year.
Apple users, for instance, are increasingly locked in. Once you've bought your apps, music and movies from the iTunes store and have your content and contacts backed up in the iCloud, you're far less likely to switch.
The same goes for Google's Android with its Play store and tight integration with Google services like Gmail, Google+ and Google Drive. Google is now even beginning to control the pipes the content is delivered on with its Google Fiber network in parts of the US.
For Google, whose long-time motto has been ''Don't be evil'', anything that has the potential to get in front of its search engine is a risk, says Matt Farnell, co-founder of app analytics firm Appsperse, which is why it developed things like Android and the Chrome web browser and distributed them widely for free.
The strategy appears to be working. While Apple's profit margins are head and shoulders above anyone else, Android recently surpassed iOS in Australia in smartphones for the first time and globally it accounts for three-quarters of the market.
This maintains Google's search market share and provides loads of data to deliver targeted advertising. The next frontier is social media, which is where more and more people are turning for content discovery instead of search, says Farnell. But Google has yet to crack the mainstream in this area.
The battle over platforms has significant implications for programmers, designers and companies selling products that run on them and already there are examples of stoushes that directly impact on customers.
Apple, refusing to allow a competitor to control one of the key features on its phones, booted Google Maps from iOS and replaced it with its own inferior Apple Maps, only to suffer ridicule and a vicious backlash from users who downloaded the new Google Maps app in their millions when it was released earlier this month.
Apple emerged with egg on its face while Google now has access to even more data. While the previous Maps app for iPhone was developed and controlled by Apple, the new app prompts users to sign in with their Google accounts.
But as they battle for control of users and their data, neither Google nor Apple wants a third horse entering the race. Recently Apple blocked updates for Microsoft's cloud storage service SkyDrive, while Google stranded Windows Phone 8 users of Gmail by removing support for Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync, used to sync email, calendars and contacts. In November, Google dropped support for Internet Explorer 8 - which runs on 25 per cent of machines - for Google Apps, and Microsoft has also claimed Google has blocked its new Windows Phones from operating properly with YouTube.
Seek co-founder Paul Bassat, who now runs a venture capital firm Square Peg Ventures, said a small number of large companies were becoming increasingly dominant in terms of market share and profitability, while closed systems were prevailing over open on the mobile internet.
''Time spent on apps is growing faster than time spent on browser-based sites,'' he said. ''We are also seeing proliferation of devices that are primarily used within a specific ecosystem such as Kindle devices.''
Twitter began closing up shop last year when it blocked Google from accessing its ''firehose'', which allowed tweets to show up in its search results. In August Twitter placed onerous new restrictions on third-party developers looking to access its data, which effectively crippled many apps. It would rather build the features into its own product than see others make money from its platform.
The rule change snagged One.Tel founder Jodee Rich, who relies on access to Twitter's user-generated data stream for his social analytics platform PeopleBrowsr. Rich, who declined to be interviewed, took Twitter to court after it summarily suspended his access and has so far won a temporary restraining order. Others haven't been so lucky.
Facebook is also continuing to expand its empire, this week announcing its ''Nearby'' location check-in tool would offer Foursquare-style recommendations, while it has also introduced instant messaging apps, some of which do not require a Facebook account.
Online social games company Zynga, which grew off the back of Facebook, announced earlier this month that it was prematurely ending its exclusivity deal with Facebook in order to extend its own platform on Zynga.com.
Instagram, bought by Facebook for $1 billion, grew off the back of Twitter. But in July following the acquisition, Twitter cut off access to its data, preventing Instagram users from importing their list of friends from Twitter.
In December, Instagram suddenly disabled its integration with Twitter so shared photos did not display in-line, forcing users to click through to Instagram's site. Twitter responded with its own Instagram-style photo filters and editing capabilities.
Google is not above such tactics either and has been accused of favouring its own services in search results and its own apps like Snapseed in Google+.
In a piece for Wired.com earlier this month, Ryan Tate said all the walls popping up between rival social empires was getting absurd. ''Imagine if Ford built a series of freeways where Chevys, Hondas, and other makes were banned - that's Google+,'' he wrote. ''Imagine if the Chevy Malibu drove at half speed on anything other than Chevy-owned freeways - that's Facebook's Instagram. Imagine if the California state freeway department Caltrans started building their own cars to discourage people from driving around in the half-speed Chevys - that's Twitter.''
In a post earlier this month, popular tech blogger Anil Dash lamented ''the web we lost'', arguing today's social networks have ''narrowed the possibilities of the web for an entire generation of users who don't realise how much more innovative and meaningful their experience could be''.
Claus Mortensen, IDC's principal analyst for emerging technology and the digital marketplace, describes the practice of locking people in to ''closed firewalled gardens'' as a natural ''coming of age'' of the internet.
He says consumers like being able to use your Facebook or Twitter credentials to log in to other web pages. ''A lot of people are ready at the moment to let go of their privacy because of the convenience ... it's always been a balancing act,'' he says. Mortensen says in some countries like Indonesia and the Philippines, where mobiles dominate, Facebook has become ''a de facto internet in its own right''.
While Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook get the bulk of attention, it is Amazon that is emerging as a potential leader of the pack. Well on the way to becoming the biggest retailer in the world, it has just launched an advertising platform to follow its customers around the web and also controls the world's biggest cloud computing infrastructure, which it leases out to other companies. It is now moving further into devices with its Kindle tablets, which it sells at cost and uses them as a Trojan Horse to sell content.
Matt Barrie, the outspoken CEO of Freelancer.com, a Sydney-based site that allows firms to access cheap labour from overseas, sums up the state of play as: Apple has reduced itself to three products: the laptop, the phone and the tablet, Google is ''stumbling'', Twitter and Microsoft are ''screwed'' and Facebook ''may have peaked''.
But Amazon? He compares Amazon to Rockefeller and the oil industry. ''They are going to rule the world.''

Quote from: Ghoul on 18-12-2012, 04:22:00
Hacker Who Leaked Nude Photos of Scarlett Johansson Sentenced to 10 Years

Christopher Chaney, a 35-year-old Florida resident who hacked into email accounts belonging to Scarlett Johansson, Mila Kunis, Christina Aguilera and others, was sentenced to 10 years in prison today. Earlier this year, Chaney pled guilty to nine felonies, including charges of theft and wiretapping.

Prosecutors originally sought a six-year sentence, but U.S. District Judge S. James Otero raised it to 10 years, saying Chaney had shown a "callous disregard" for the the privacy of others.

"It's hard to fathom the mindset of a person who would accomplish all of this," Otero said. "These types of crimes are as pernicious and serious as physical stalking."

The sentencing occurred after the court watched a videotaped statement from an emotional Johansson. "I have been truly humiliated and embarrassed," she said, apparently crying. "I find Christopher Chaney's actions to be perverted and reprehensible."

The Associated Press also noted that Johansson's nude photos were intended for Ryan Reynolds, her then-husband, just in case you were wondering.

Kunis and Aguilera waived protection of their identity in order to draw attention to the case, with Aguilera telling the court last week: "That feeling of security can never be given back and there is no compensation that can restore the feeling one has from such a large invasion of privacy."

Actress and singer Renee Olstead also testified Monday, telling the court she attempted suicide after Chaney leaked her nude photos. "I just really hope this doesn't happen to someone else," she said. "You can lose everything because of the actions of a stranger."

Last year, Chaney apologized for his actions (without admitting any guilt), blaming them on his "addiction" to spying on celebrities.

Once he is released, Chaney will face three years of supervised probation, which will include notifying authorities of his online activities. That, however, wasn't enough for Judge Ortero, who said he wished he could sentence Chaney to a "lifetime supervision, " and for good reason; after Chaney was first arrested, he continued pursuing his victims, even though the FBI had confiscated his computer.

http://gawker.com/5969257/hacker-who-leaked-nude-photos-of-scarlett-johansson-sentenced-to-10-years

Каква болес', па ни за убиство се не добија толико!