Replies

18+ crecente, 1 month ago to random

We have a free game intentionally designed to help teach adolescents about healthy relationships. It is regularly played in schools.

Today I saw a review complaining that this sweet game is "indoctrinating children" and other regressive nonsense.

😞

crecente, 4 days ago

😞 Disappointed this bigoted, harassing review is still on itchio. We reported it back in March.

It's about our charity's #free prosocial healthy relationship video game for teens called HONEYMOON. 💑

❗The reviewer defames us for "indoctrinating children" because it's free for educators & parents.

❗Player autonomy seems to frighten the bigot because the game allows for same-sex relationships. (New update will include non-binary.) 👬 👭 👫

❗The abusive partner in the game can be female OR male but the bigot claims "misandry"?

❤️ See for yourself -- play in your browser right now. Free. No ads.

[PLS LEAVE A NICE REVIEW! 🧡]

🎮 https://jag.itch.io/honeymoon

@kidskylark
@Npars01
@itchio @edutooters @publichealth @commodon @communicationscholars @stopTDV #videogames #itchio #bigotry #homophobia #misogyny #publichealth #technology #freesoftware #edtech #gamedev #inclusion #nonprofit #harassment #endbigots #NoAds

crecente, 4 days ago

Here is a review of HONEYMOON we ❤️ seeing:

"Thank you so much for such a wonderful game. It was so helpful!!"

"It was one hell of something!!"

"... so well made ..."

#videogames #indiedev #health #education #prevention #free

weheartgames, 2 months ago to random

Well I had hoped that Affinity could be the one bastion of non-subscription, non-ai BS...

But they just sold out to these folks. 😭

crecente, 2 months ago

@weheartgames @glassbottommeg

I know nothing about Affinity. My primary offline tool is Krita (or our air-gapped Adobe CS6). However, we have used Canva for a few years. Their use of "AI" seems worthy of quotemarks.

Many third-party-apps can be used from within Canva, including DALL-E, but Canva's own use of "AI" seems focused on basics like removing backgrounds from photos or creating QR codes(!?). I've not used much of their "AI" and so I might be missing the point.

Generally, Canva as a company seems pretty decent. Their Pro accounts are free for all registered nonprofits which is why we use them.

⭐ Please let me know if there is something terrible about them! (I would be super disappointed but don't want to be a part of the problem.)

evacide, 5 months ago to random

There have been many stories of companies giving up user data to stalkers and other criminals pretending to be cops with emergency data requests, but this one stands out because it's so utterly shambolic. The stalker submitted his request using a protonmail address FFS.

https://www.404media.co/verizon-gave-her-data-to-a-stalker-this-has-completely-changed-my-life/

crecente, 5 months ago

@evacide

Offensively incompetent.

In addition to any civil litigation I hope prosecutors are considering charges of criminal negligence against Verizon here. That might be the wake up call that is needed to get them (and their peers) to take "reasonable care" moving forward.

lauren, 7 months ago to google

***** Google is making their weak, flawed passkey system the default login method — I urge you NOT to use it! *****

https://lauren.vortex.com/2023/10/10/dont-use-google-passkeys-now

#Google continues to push ahead with its ill-advised scheme to force passkeys on users who do not understand their risks, and will try push all users into this flawed system starting imminently.

In my discussions with Google on this matter (I have chatted multiple times with the Googler in charge of this), they have admitted that their implementation, by depending completely on device authentication security which for many users is extremely weak, will put many users at risk of their Google accounts being compromised. However, they feel that overall this will be an improvement for users who have strong authentication on their devices.

And as for ordinary people who already are left behind by Google when something goes wrong? They'll get the shaft again. Google has ALWAYS operated on this basis -- if you don't fit into their majority silos, they just don't care. Another way for Google users to get locked out of their accounts and lose all their data, with no useful help from Google.

With Google's deficient passkey system implementation -- they refuse to consider an additional authentication layer for protection -- anyone who has authenticated access to your device (that includes the creep that watched you access your phone in that bar before he stole it) will have full and unrestricted access to your Google passkeys and accounts on the same basis. And when you're locked out, don't complain to Google, because they'll just say that you're not the user that they're interested in -- if they respond to you at all, that is.

"Thank you for choosing Google."

--Lauren--

18+ crecente, 7 months ago

@lauren

A reminder about GIGO:

Google In, Garbage Out

boris_holzer, 7 months ago to sociology

According to recent studies, algorithmic and social amplification of social networking platforms doesn't seem to have great effects on political attitudes and polarization. But if the algorithm is turned off, users find the experience less interesting. A short summary:
https://www-faz-net.translate.goog/aktuell/wissen/geist-soziales/die-digitalisierte-oeffentlichkeit-im-griff-der-sozialen-medien-19111824.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en
[autotranslated]
https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wissen/geist-soziales/die-digitalisierte-oeffentlichkeit-im-griff-der-sozialen-medien-19111824.html
[in German]

Link to articles in Science:
https://www.science.org/toc/science/381/6656

@sociology

crecente, 7 months ago

@boris_holzer @sociology

I've only read July's article; this might be addressed elsewhere.

In one experiment some user's feed was chronological:

"[Using a chronological feed] led to people seeing more untrustworthy content (because Meta’s algorithm downranks sources who repeatedly share misinformation) [...]"

❓ Does the fact that they are seeing "more untrustworthy content" absent Meta intervention indicate the well has become so poisoned it is beyond fixing (or sufficiently testing)?

crecente, 7 months ago

@tiago @asayakkara @boud @LukasBrausch @academicchatter

That might be because "citing" implies content that was designed to be shared in a fashion that social media posts are not.

(e.g. a journal article vs an offhand comment)

Pragmatically: we will never have this functionality unless those resistant to it are given the choice to not have it imposed on them.

crecente, 7 months ago

@tiago @asayakkara @boud @LukasBrausch @academicchatter

Clarifying:

► "Imposition" is how it is seen by those who do NOT want quote tweets: "... unless those resistant ... not have it imposed..."

► Google engages in many harms; we are heading in a new direction which requires that we be better than them.

► Cultural norms matter even in the absence of explicit licenses (not to say I agree there are no explicit licenses here).

► We're not merely talking functionality but also form ... yes, we can take a polaroid of the message on the screen and scan it for a website, etc.

The hope is ease-of-use while being respectful of those creating the content.

Long term, it makes sense to consider many use cases, including those who have had bad experiences.

It does not matter if I have not had their bad experiences. Their experiences and resulting impacts are valid.

That should matter to me.

[Edit: missing important NOT in 1st point]

crecente, 7 months ago

@SamCrawley @TEG @tiago @academicchatter

Although I prefer a chronological timeline myself here is what "Mammoth" is testing w/r/t personalized timelines: https://mammoth.writeas.com/introducing-personalized-for-you

crecente, 7 months ago (edited 7 months ago)

@SamCrawley @TEG @tiago @academicchatter

A list of 41 studies with data about quote-tweets:

🌐https://absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2023/01/12/quote-tweeting-over-30-studies-dispel-some-myths/#list

⭐ If quote-tweets become available on Mastodon I will add them to our instance but only if they are offered on an opt-in basis.

@hildabast

]

crecente, 7 months ago

@tiago @SamCrawley @TEG @academicchatter

Feel free to read those articles and let us know!

crecente, 7 months ago

@tiago @SamCrawley @TEG @academicchatter

😞 You have misunderstood.

I have not said that quotes are, per se, bad.

⭐ What I have said is that some people absolutely do not want them. And I said I think we should request for their consent before forcing them to use them.

🎓 Don't believe everything you read.

🎮 On a related topic: later this month the NGO I work with is publishing the first of a series of free video games that teach and encourage the use of critical thinking.

❤️ Follow @CriticalThinkingGames for updates!

#CriticalThinking #VideoGames #ProSocial #PublicHealth #Consent

crecente, 7 months ago

@tiago @SamCrawley @TEG @academicchatter @CriticalThinkingGames

You seem to agree that I have not said quotes are, per se, bad.

But it seems you disagree with my support for those who don't want their content to be used without their explicit consent.

Although what you say about reasonableness and speech in a public forum is true, that does not mean we should simply ignore others' wishes.

Because:

1️⃣ By making such a feature opt-in we are more likely to see this feature offered because fewer users will object.

2️⃣ If the feature is mandatory on everybody's account some people will stop posting publicly or just abandon the platform.

3️⃣ Acting with consent is good policy.

#Consent

crecente, 7 months ago

@tiago @SamCrawley @TEG @academicchatter @CriticalThinkingGames

Life is nuance & compromise. We do not have to adhere to an "everything or nothing" worldview.

The pragmatic solution for quote tweets is to offer it as opt-in.

Looking at this pragmatically allows us to avoid the thorny social / cultural issues. There is no downside to offering the feature as an option rather than making it mandatory.

---

We are unlikely to make any headway if we shift to laws and social norms.

The work I do involves the impact of social norms on public health and designing solutions to overcome / change those that are unhealthy. It also involves issues around law, technology, privacy rights, public policy, and consent.

Philosophical conversations about these will be frustrating.

Similarly, I should not be presenting you with data structure arguments based on my business school courses. We aren't starting from the same baseline.

I will get so much wrong you won't know how best to respond.

nblr, 7 months ago to random

So… People put stuff in their robots.txt to “prevent” malicious scraping of their data for machine learning purposes. I hope everybody understands that this is just a “please don’t take my data” sign on the front lawn. We should be creating heaps of adversarial data instead. Data suitable to taint those datasets.

crecente, 7 months ago

@nblr

Agreed.

Belt & Suspenders:
Adverserial data + robots.txt.

With robots.txt we can show the bad actors were on notice not to scrape. Helpful for the lawsuits.