Posts

Posted on

From the really BAD idea column

peeple

You may have heard about this, you might not.

I just heard about an application that runs on IOS, slated for release in November that allows you to rate people in the same way Yelp rates businesses.

The applications name is “Peeple” 

Uhh…

WTF?

Apparently, this is the brainchild of Julia Cordray & Nicole McCullough and they’re presenting this as if it’s a good thing to be rated publicly.

Perhaps I’d agree if it was totally consensual.  —- It’s not

I might agree if everyone who is rated can affect, delete, or refute a rating —- They Can’t

All that’s needed to rate someone is the Peeple app and the person to be rated’s cell phone number. The other person does not have to be a member of Peeple. *(at least as it was explained yesterday)

The person that’s been rated will receive a text message saying someone on Peeple just rated them.

Okay.

The requirements to have a Peeple account are as follow. 

  • You have to have a facebook account that is older than 6 months.
  • You have to have a cell phone number
  • (I’m assuming there has to be some kind of minimum age?)
  • You have to have an IOS device.

So here’s where this whole mess falls down and I’m absolutely sure someone must have pointed this out in a developer design or SQA meeting.

This application (Service?) is based on a set of flawed assumptions.

Chilloutslut

Not everyone is nice.

There are in fact a lot of very nasty people for whom anonymity is not a gating factor on their nastiness, (Lena Dunham, Al Sharpton). Lots of people would take great delight in posting all the flaws of their most recent date, up to and including deficiencies in sexual prowess. 

“He didn’t take me to a nice restaurant.”
“She needed deodorant, and was still 1.5 hours late”
“He wouldn’t buy us wine and picked me up in a beat up car.”
“She had no clue how to behave in a nice restaurant, she drank too much, then threw up on the waiter.”
“All she wanted to do was talk about her last boyfriend.”
“We’d barely gotten our clothes off and he’d already gotten off.”
“Couldn’t give a blow job that didn’t feel like my dick was in a blender.”
“He couldn’t find my clitoris with landing lights, and me putting his finger in the right spot!”
“I’ve had better sex with fruits & vegetables.” 

Do we really need this kind of information?  

Not everyone has a facebook account.

If someone is rated unfairly, and doesn’t have a facebook account they’ll have to wait six months to even start to refute what’s being said. By that time, the damage is pretty much done and it’s irrevocable.

Imagine what happens if a guy is accused of rape, and doesn’t have a facebook account? The peeple application would be the least of his worries because in todays world a male is guilty of rape because a female says he is, regardless of the outcome of investigations, or trial.

Not everyone has an IOS device 

It’s probable that this app will be used to harm those who have no defense. The woman who’s using an Android device, The guy who doesn’t own a smart phone because he happens to like the simplicity of a flip phone. These people will be easy targets for victimization because they don’t own an Apple product. Talk about elitism and demanding conformity.

humiliation

Speaking of no defense;

The Peeple CEO says that there’s safety in the fact that for you to be a peeple user, you can’t be anonymous. Okay, that will probably make some people think about what they’re saying.

BUT

Those same people will have no trouble badmouthing someone they think will not be able to respond.

“Oh right, that bastard had an android… He really pissed me off so I can tell everyone else that he’s cheap, has a small dick, and doesn’t know how to kiss. He won’t get a date ever again!”

While I too wish that people would follow the angels of humanity’s better nature, you can’t read five minutes of any twitter timeline, or read any comments section at the bottom of any news article without learning that humanity always descends to it’s baser nature.

I’m pretty sure that this application will create another outlet for the basest and cruelest of our impulses.

Updates:

Peeple CEO defends new app after backlash from critics – Oct 2 2015

Posted on

That was easy!

So here I am, running El Capitan.

It is faster in some things. My computer is very busy updating system data, specifically the spotlight data and the online backup. It took a long time to do the upgrade but I gotta hand it to Apple, their stuff tends to work.

So now I’m going to start exploring. I like the new system font.

Hopefully this new OS is as stable as I found Yosemite to be.

Posted on

I may well regret this…

OSX El Capitan

But I’ve got backups.

Yeah, There’s a new OS X afoot and as I type this it’s downloading to my computer.

Many claims have been made about this iteration of the OS, I’m hoping just a few of them are true.

One of the claims is that the your computer will seem faster. Well I suppose that it actually could be faster because the OS isn’t as computationally intensive. This update is a mostly “Under the hood” kind of update. I’m looking forward to the new Metal features. Metal is supposed to put more of the rendering into the GPU and free up the CPU for other tasks. Fine by me!

If I can get another couple of years out of my computer I’m a totally happy camper.

I’ve backed up all my data, Freed up a memory stick, and done all the checking I can, to make sure this is a smooth upgrade. 

Fingers crossed and all that! 

On the other hand… If this all goes to hell in a hand basket I’ve got a fall back plan. Reload and restore. No, it’s not likely to be R&R but I’m up to the challenge.

This is going to take a while, the update is 6.08GB And I’m seriously damaging the monthly data allotment. On the other hand I’m downloading the update and sticking it on a thumb drive for later use by the other member of the house, and perhaps one or two clients that are afraid to click on “Upgrade”.

Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Posted on

Briny Water on Mars!

Mars

This is very cool. The remote sensing work to confirm the hypothesis is elegant.

I wonder, if the hypothesis is actually proven, or do we only call it proven when one of our machines or a human takes a physical sample and confirms water and perchlorate salts.

This makes me wonder if future explorers could, as part of a water production facility, use the extracted salts as a component for fuel for the return trip to Earth.  I suppose it would depend on the source of the water (underground versus atmospheric) the exact composition of the salts and how easily they can be extracted. 

This discovery gives me hope that we will go to Mars, and that someday we’ll have self sustaining colonies there.

This is progress and perhaps this discovery will spark a whole new generation of scientists.

Yes, I’m a geek, I love science and NASA!

Marvin

I also learned something else during this morning’s announcement.

Under no circumstances should you monitor the Twitter #askNASA hashtag during the announcement of a discovery.

You’re suddenly exposed to a planet full of (paraphrasing Marvin here) “depressingly stupid people.”

Honestly, some of the questions were so stupid as to actually cause brain damage, which is a mercy since the damage occurs in the hippocampus and effectively erases the memory of the question instantly.

The effect leaves a trace of revulsion and disgust, which I suspect is the brain’s way of preventing further assault,without having to process the stupidity again.

The Keeper

In my case I shut down Twitter and the feeling passed immediately.

What was it The Keeper of Talos IV said? “Punishment and Reward, you’ll find it’s an effective combination.”

Reward your favorite Scientist with a hug or compliment today.

Posted on

Sleepless night

First Coldof the season

I think I’ve got the first cold of the season or yet one more thing is blooming that has my sinuses trying to kill me.

I was feeling so puny last night that I went to bed around 9:30. I’m laying there listening to some music and just drifting off when the sweet, but dumb as a post, dog decided to step over the dog that has been recovering from a hip sprain, and start panting in my face.

I tell him it’s OK and expected him to go on his way. He didn’t, instead he laid down in a spot that I’m surprised could accommodate his fat ass. I wonder if dogs somehow manage to warp space when they lay down.

That doesn’t follow. If they climb onto the bed with you, then they somehow manage occupy the entire bed. Humm maybe it does track, maybe the rule is they occupy all available space in a given area regardless of the volume of that space.

I start another album playing and start to drift off again.

The other half comes to bed about 11. I start to drift off again. Snoring erupts from the other side of the bed. It’s 11:15, a few well placed jabs in the ribs and a rough approximation of silence prevails. Then the sweet dog starts farting. 

Snake Oil

I swear I could bottle that stuff. Dr. Carney’s sure fire sinus opener and paint remover. 

But in addition to the farting, he’s gone all OCD on licking and rattling the closet door in the process. Then the snoring starts from the other side of the bed again!  It’s 11:25

Okay! I’m awake! Unfortunately, I’m also spun up. There’s no going back to sleep for a while. And I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck with body aches, and a jackhammer of a headache.

They say if you’re awake and can’t go back to sleep, you should get out of bed and do something constructive until you’re ready to sleep. 

MartyMcFly Guitar

“Okay, well the house does need to be vacuumed. I’m behind on my guitar practice, I could practice that Metallica riff I’ve been trying to master,” picturing Marty McFly in Back to the Future.  I think to myself, “That’s just me being cranky.” 

I instead tried to write a blog post which ended up in this mornings trash. Trying to write when you’ve got a headache that makes you wonder if the movie Scanners was for real and if you’re currently being scanned, is a really bad idea.

Scanners

Suffice it to say that the trash is too good for that blog, it should’ve been completely erased from existence at the moment of creation. 

So here I am, awake this morning, feeling better although my sinuses are still pissed off.

The sweet dumb dog is trying to make it up to me but he clearly doesn’t understand what my problem was. Nor should he, he was just being his normal sweet self, the problem was all mine and there wasn’t anything he could have done to help. (Aside from perhaps sleeping on his cushion with his behind pointed toward the open sliding door.)

I did finally get some sleep. Eventually, I laid down on the bed in the spare room and drifted off.

I’m having a second cup of coffee and trying to decide what I want for breakfast.

I think I’m taking today very easy.