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The Stalinist Trial of Julian Assange - CounterPunch.org
by J.C. DE MARTIN Sept. 8, 2020

Sept. 8, 2020

https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/09/07/the-stalinist-trial-of-julian-assan… (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

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Web by Google (TM)
by Giacomo Tesio Sept. 8, 2020

Sept. 8, 2020

https://landshark.io/2020/08/16/web-by-google.html Looking at Mozilla’s finances, it’s reasonable to conclude that Google is keeping them on life support to keep the anti-trust hounds at bay. Mozilla’s deal with Google will account for at least 70% of their revenues going forward. That’s over $400 million to be the default search provider in 4% of browsers. For 1 year. I’ll bet my next paycheck that Google reupped this rather generous agreement to avoid a repeat of Microsoft’s troubles over an Internet Explorer monopoly. My guess is that Google will decide it’s in their interest to pull the plug right around the time this latest wave of anti-trust talk blows over. With the troubles at Mozilla, Google is one step closer to replicating the WeChat and Facebook walled-garden model on the Web. A quick survey a the field of play shows just how far Google has come in capturing the once open Web. # (Browser) War is over Chrome’s ability to dictate web standards will only get stronger over time. Safari and Firefox have been able to apply some shame to Chrome on things like disabling third-party cookies, but soon it’ll just be Apple left with a voice. But Google doesn’t even need Chrome to dictate standards since it controls the Web’s front door. AMP, a technology no one asked for, is now on over 70% of all marketing websites for no other reason than Google said so. And let’s not forget that most people now access the web via mobile devices, 75% of which run Google’s Android. # Original Sins Two deficiencies have determined the course the Web has taken: lack of native search and lack of native payments. Lacking native distributed search allowed Google to grab a monopoly position as the entry point to the web. The Web’s orignal architects were off base on hyperlinks; it turns out people just want to skip right to the answer they’re looking for. There was once the beginnings of an alternative in public bookmarking sites, but social networks came and sucked all the air out of that space. Lack of a safe and easy way of exchanging funds was a big factor in advertising becoming the dominant business model on the Web. No-charge services became the norm because, for a long time, there was no reasonable way to pay for them. Enter advertising to fill the void. I think it’s safe to say that Google’s AdWords is the dominant advertising platform on the open Web, which means it holds a commanding position in the Web’s finances. I’m also going to throw in an honorable mention to poor native video support (it is hyper_text_ after all). It’s beating a dead horse to point out that Google also serves up the vast majority of videos streamed on the Web. # So then… So Google controls the Web’s search and video infrastructure. It can and does dictate standards and media formats. It also controls a huge chunk of the revenues available when publishing and selling on the Web. It even controls the operating system and browser through which most people interact with it. Google’s capture of the Web is a fait accompli. Only legislation will keep the World Wide Web from finally becoming Web by Google (TM).

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E-Voting App Maker Voatz Asks The Supreme Court To Let It Punish Security Researchers For Exposing Its Flaws | Techdirt
by Alberto Cammozzo Sept. 8, 2020

Sept. 8, 2020

<https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20200903/16005645245/e-voting-app-maker-v…> Voatz has decided to weigh in on a Supreme Court case that could turn a lot of normal internet activity into a federal crime. At the center of this CFAA case is a cop who abused his access privileges to run unauthorized searches of law enforcement databases. The end result -- after a visit to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals -- was a CFAA conviction for violating the system's terms of use. That's why this case is important. If the CFAA is interpreted this broadly, plenty of people become criminals. And it won't just be security researchers risking criminal charges simply by performing security research. It will also be everyone who lies to social media services about their personal info. Lawprof Orin Kerr's brief to the Supreme Court points out what a flat "no unauthorized use" reading would do to him. Like the majority of American adults, I have a Facebook account. Facebook’s terms of service require its users to “[p]rovide accurate information about” themselves. See Facebook Terms of Service, https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/plain_text_ terms (last visited July 1, 2020). I recently violated that term by listing my home city as Sealand. Sealand is an offshore platform in the North Sea near England built during World War II to host anti-aircraft guns. It’s not actually my home city. I list it only to make a point about the CFAA. But under the government’s position, my joke is no laughing matter. It is a federal crime. No one should want the law to be read this way. Not even sites that would greatly prefer users to respect the terms of service. The collateral damage of a broad reading would make it far easier to prosecute people who use sites in ways owners don't expect or engage in research efforts that require ignoring the rules. And it would give abusive site owners plenty of ways to harass users and visitors they don't like. But one developer wants this to happen. And it's a developer of notoriously flawed e-voting systems. Voatz has made plenty of headlines lately. None of them have been flattering. MIT researchers discovered a bunch of flaws in Voatz software. Voatz tried to combat this negative press by hiring outside researchers to perform an independent audit of its systems. This went no better than the MIT study. Voatz is full of holes, which made its accusations that the MIT researchers were only in it for the clicks look even stupider. [...]

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Re: [nexa] Il kernel Linux adotta il Code Of Conduct
by Antonio Iacono Sept. 7, 2020

Sept. 7, 2020

> L'inglese NON è un linguaggio di programmazione. Ma il 99% dei linguaggi di programmazione sono scritti in inglese. > La lingua franca cui facevo riferimento, il linguaggio di programmazione in cui il codice è scritto, è effettivamente una lingua sintetica come l'esperanto. E' un "set ridotto" di inglese, ma sempre quello è. Forse l'assembler si avvicinava ad una lingua "sintetica", non sicuramente i linguaggi estremamente verbosi successivi. Comunque non porterei alle lunghe questo thread perchè da quello che scrivi noto che siamo d'accordo in molte cose, ma non su questa. L'ideale sarebbe avere linguaggi di programmazione scritti in una lingua "terza" per tutti ma, dato che non è possibile, cosa c'è di male nel cambiare, da qui in avanti, alcuni termini. Perchè non usare, chessò, Main / Secondary (che tra l'altro hanno pure le stesse iniziali M/S), al posto di Master/Slave? Che senso ha usare ancora oggi termini antropomorfi per indicare operazioni tecniche, tutto qui. Niente di politico/religioso.

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Reminder | 132° Mercoledì di Nexa | 9 Settembre 2020
by Nexa Media Sept. 7, 2020

Sept. 7, 2020

Gentilissimi, vi ricordiamo che *mercoledì 9 settembre, dalle ore 18.00 alle ore 20.00*, si svolgerà il 132° Mercoledì di Nexa, con un incontro dal titolo: *Intelligenza Naturale e Intelligenza Artificiale: Riflessioni tra Scienza ed Etica*. Ospite: /Marcello Ienca //(ETH Zurich)//./ L'incontro si svolgerà in *modalità telematica*, utilizzando il software open source di conference call *Jitsi Meet*. Per chi vorrà partecipare live al seminario sarà possibile accedere alla conference call attraverso il seguente link: https://meet.nexacenter.org/MercolediNexa Maggiori informazioni sull'incontro sono disponibili alla pagina: https://nexa.polito.it/mercoledi-132 Cordiali saluti,   -- Anita Botta Communication Manager Nexa Center for Internet & Society Politecnico di Torino – DAUIN Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24 - 10129 Torino _web:_ https://nexa.polito.it/ _mail:_anita.botta@polito.it <mailto:anita.botta@polito.it> tel: 011 090 7219

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Quale cloud per la Pubblica Amministrazione?
by Antonio Iacono Sept. 5, 2020

Sept. 5, 2020

Il 25 luglio del 2012 il Centro Nexa organizzava il seminario di cui all'oggetto (1). Da allora di acqua sotto i ponti ne è passata parecchia, oggi vorrei proporvi un quesito, è giusto spendere 550.000.000 di euro per acquistare (tra l'altro con un bando di gara discutibile (2) ) servizi cloud dai "soliti noti" ? Il bando (3) è stato oggetto di numerose critiche e (forse per questo) la cui scadenza è stata rinviata dal 16/7 al 28/9. (1) https://nexa.polito.it/lunch-3 (2) https://noiopen.discourse.group/t/una-nuova-battaglia-per-la-pluralita-del-… (3) https://www.consip.it/bandi-di-gara/gare-e-avvisi/aq-public-cloud-iaas-e-pa…

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Report: “Eyes Everywhere: Amazon's Surveillance Infrastructure and Revitalizing Worker Power” — Open Markets Institute
by J.C. DE MARTIN Sept. 5, 2020

Sept. 5, 2020

https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/publications/eyes-everywhere-amazons-s… (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

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Rage Inside the Machine: an insightful, brilliant critique of AI's computer science, sociology, philosophy and economics
by J.C. DE MARTIN Sept. 5, 2020

Sept. 5, 2020

*Rage Inside the Machine: an insightful, brilliant critique of AI's computer science, sociology, philosophy and economics* / Cory Doctorow / 9:19 pm Thu Jun 27, 2019 Rob Smith is an eminent computer scientist and machine learning pioneer whose work on genetic algorithms has been influential in both industry and the academy; now, in his first book for a general audience, Rage Inside the Machine: The Prejudice of Algorithms, and How to Stop the Internet Making Bigots of Us All, Smith expertly draws connections between AI, neoliberalism, human bias, eugenics and far-right populism, and shows how the biases of computer science and the corporate paymasters have distorted our whole society. [...] continua qui: https://boingboing.net/2019/06/27/rage-inside-the-machine-an-in.html

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Perché si vendono pochi giornali online
by don Luca Peyron Sept. 4, 2020

Sept. 4, 2020

Analisi interessante, buona lettura e buona giornata dl https://www.repubblica.it/dossier/stazione-futuro-riccardo-luna/2020/08/27/… _________________________ don Luca Peyron Direttore Ufficio per la Pastorale Universitaria Arcidiocesi di Torino www.universitari.to.it via XX settembre 83, Torino tel. 011 5156239

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Amazon's Alexa for Residential Is a Brewi Privacy Nightmare
by J.C. DE MARTIN Sept. 4, 2020

Sept. 4, 2020

https://gizmodo.com/amazons-alexa-for-landlords-is-a-privacy-nightmare-wait… (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

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