Category: Science and Technology

UPDATE: You can believe Wayfair’s statement or you can believe what the rep said in the call. Big brother is here…

There are a number of reasons I’ve backed off social media to a considerable extent, even though it means limiting my ability to market my works. First up, social media has become toxic with the SJW cancel crowd running wild. The screaming, preening, virtue-signaling fascists want to silence everyone — and the more people are on just one or two major platforms (say, Fecesbook and Jitter), the easier it is to do.

Second, you give up a good bit to be in that walled garden, particularly privacy. As in social media sites and Google (Be Evil) are mining you for all you are worth, sometimes literally. Anything you say online, search for online, etc. is more data. Add in all the apps that are also owned by one of these companies (which is why I dropped Waze), and it extends the reach even further. You also give up truly free speech, as if you say anything that can upset an SJW (and most anything can when you are dealing with people looking for a reason to unleash their anger and virtue-signaling), you find yourself in “jail” and denied the ability to speak.

Third, going back to those apps I mentioned earlier, when you have smartphones, smart televisions, and such along with apps and services, you get this. Have you checked to see how many apps have access to your microphone? Your camera and camera files? People have been talking recently about all the times Alexa listens in on you when you don’t realize it; but, how may other systems and apps do that? Can you have true privacy with smart devices? No.

Can you go in and do simple things like denying access to microphone and cameras? Yes. In fact, you should. For years I’ve had my laptop camera taped over as it has been, and still is I believe, one of the easiest systems to hack in any computer. Someone watching without your knowledge can learn a lot just by studying your finger movements — it’s remarkably easy to figure out what is being typed, including account numbers… For that matter, I would love for the built-in microphone to have a manual off switch, as it’s a lot harder to prevent it from being used against you.

Yes, there is a cost for deciding not to be a part of the extreme toxicity and for denying what I can of my personal information to as many as I can. But, it’s not insurmountable. I also hope to see more leave the big three (and to get some serious anti-trust investigations going), and a return to blogging. It’s still there, still going, and may be what saves things in the long run.

Ponder a bit, and think about what you want, and your privacy. Then, take action. It really is up to each individual to make a difference.