miasma

The web redacted

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 20:25:03 +0000

Can someone please tell me exactly what on earth this crowd are referring to? The conversation reminds me on when working in the HIV/Aids field when safe sex literature was published in Urdu. It eventually emerged that the translator used the word “unmentionable” on every second word. When retranslated into english it came out something like: “When doing unmentionable you must use unmentionable and when unmentionable don’t forget to unmentionable. If you unmentionable with unmentionable…” .
But I digress. I think I know what they are referring to but none of us will ever know because we are all talking around the subject, but the conversation itself is about referring to subject matter which we are sanctioning ourselves from explicitly talking about the subject itself
Which reminded me about a redacted document on Wikipedia’s ACLU vs Ashcroft which seems appropriate to flag up:-

If you want to see what I think is the most perverse thing I have seen in ages just look at the image below. The true perversion of this image is it is safe for work:-

Pravda: “Vegetarianism proves to be perversion of nature”

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 23:47:22 +0000

Whoo-hoo! The great bastion of truth and accuracy thinks there’s something seriously wrong with our carrot-eating compadres:

“Vegetarians can be referred to as true fanatics. On the other hand, they are seriously misled in their beliefs. Practically nobody argues with them, since it is really difficult to convince a vegetarian of his or her self-deception. May be that is the reason why the vegetarian movement develops so actively around the globe and continues to recruit many new members…(continues)“

(via)

Speaking of which…
…did anyone see Paul Staines being interviewed on Newsnight last week? Looks like he’s been spending too much time at the computer correcting his Wikipedia profile:-

Image unashamedly stolen from Ted. At least it’s more ethical than stealing someone else’s bandwidth.

Bad advertising on gmail

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 03:18:28 +0000

When Google started their Gmail service they attracted people to sign up on three main issues. The first, albeit implicit, but shouldn’t be ignored, was their Google branding. Second, thier killer offer was massive storage at a time when the primary established providers of free webmail such as Hotmail and Yahoo were rapidly contracting their already miniscule storage of 5mb to something around 2mb. Finally was targeted advertising. By utilising Google’s then outstanding search mechanisms emails would be scanned for keywords and adverts that users would be of increased relevance would be served to the individual. The advert is placed on prime location directly above the most recent incoming email.
I can’t speak for anyone else but in my case it is the only advertising that has been repeatedly successful in rousing my interest. I can confidently say I have clicked more gmail ads than any other advert online over the past 10 or so years since Ronald Reagan agreed to let the web become a commercial entity. Granted in the grand scheme of advert clicking to date it’s a drop in the ocean to most other web users but that only goes to prove how effective it really is.
Now things seem to have changed. The same stupid ads keep reappearing to the point of becoming a turnoff. Take this one from SIS/MI6. The hook it tries to attract attention with is by starting with the phrase British Political News. You can see the textad here. It’s a tad blurry to fit in the blog but you get the point.

Knowing it’s merely to recruit people I didn’t do anything with it but to a hardcore current affairs politics junkie like myself, clicking it like the proverbial conditioned lab rat, desperate for my next morsel of news heroin should have been the most automatic response, but it wasn’t. Granted I really, really did want to see what possible news could be on the site but the overall effect is sheer annoyance because I know what I’m going to get and it isn’t what I want. It’s a con and what’s worse for both Google and the advertiser is that I feel like I’m being conned and that’s not good for business.
Take the other ad on tonight’s gmail which keeps recurring. It’s an ad for The Sun.

Being a reader fan of the heavies such as the FT and suchlike, The Sun isn’t my sort of thing. But for you dear reader I decided to take a hit and click the mutha and here’s what I came up with.

The first results are over a year old. The rest even older. The only payoff a potential Sun reader or political type like myself would get from this are entirely negative.
As for the SIS/MI6 ads, I can really see why aiming for people who are politically literate and an infinitely keener interest in current affairs than most would appeal to Her Majesty’s Government. The question is, what would someone like myself get from it? I probably already get my political/current affairs jollies to a much higher level than they would provide to most of their minions. I have no James Bond phantasies and see no attraction in being a member of a secret club. As for helping my Queen and Country, I have always seen those types as much of a danger to the security of The State in that their default position is to unthinkingly overreact and create just as much havoc to The State as those 1968 types who wish to smash it.
So please Ms & Mr SIS, please get those bloody ads out of my Gmail.

Web Trend Map 2008

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:11:15 +0000

Lovely piece of infographics by Information Architects Japan.

Is cryptome.org finished?

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 04:35:23 +0000

Cryptome.org and all other sites by John Young site have been offline for two days. Others have emailed him to see what’s going on and so far no-one has had a reply. If he has decided to give up it will be of tremendous loss to the web.
Update: All of the sites went back online Jan 21st (yesterday).

Overdub Tampering Committee’s Manifesto

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:49:24 +0000

“We are a group of musicians who have downloaded newly leaked albums by popular artists, quickly recorded many subtle overdubs over the work, and then re-leaked it to the internet…“

Planet Karen has moved.

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:57:51 +0000

Let’s face it, quite a few online cartoons aren’t up to scratch. Planet Karen isn’t one of them. Not being the type who faithfully revisits sites on a regular basis I only just realised it shifted location aeons ago. No matter here’s the new address:-
planetkaren.girl-wonder.org

Kalashnikitty (AKA: Hello Kitty AR-15)

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 03:08:32 +0000

It seems the Kalashnikitty entry I made a couple of weeks ago is a reality. Someone has turned the AR-15 into something any 5 year-old would kill for:-

(source)

We’re an endemic surveillance society

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 00:36:58 +0000

Privacy International’s original press release has been out for quite a while now but I’m a sucker for infographics. Far from the best example of such though.

Maxifree: Unaired US anti-immigration ad.

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 07:34:10 +0000

I’m assuming this is a spoof. (via).