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Elderly bloggers and internet junkies in the year 2062 reminisce about the good old days of social media and social networking. I’m not sure how they get the idea of “hipsters” out of these folks. This video was produced to promote Social Media Week 2012. Link -Thanks, Lauren O’Neil!
Captchas are there so you can prove you are a person instead of a ‘bot. But what if you fail the test? They can be pretty hard! Frank Lesser, who writes for The Colbert Report, expresses his frustration with captchas in a column in the New York Times that you might relate to. Link -via the Presurfer
The internet is a giant playground full of potholes you can fall in without realizing it. Lifehacker has advice that you’ve probably heard, but can never be reinforced enough. Read these tips on protecting your privacy, your money, your data, your reputation, and your blood pressure. My favorite: Do not feed the trolls.
First, it’s important to remember that trolls are not attacking you—they’re attacking boredom. They have nothing better to do than say something mean so that’s how they’ve unfortunately chosen to spend their time. If what they’re saying isn’t going to have much of an impact on anyone, just remember that they’re bored, loathsome people and let it go. On the other hand, if they’re promoting hate speech and potentially causing harm to others, it’s best to avoid engaging them and instead report them to the site’s administrator. Many sites offer a means of flagging harmful posts, and commenting systems offer ways for an administrator to ban problematic users. A simple email is often sufficient to take care of a bad person. Engaging with a troll-ish thread is just going to make you angry and potentially get you in trouble, too. If you do fall into the trap of feeding a troll, however, using the principles of cognitive therapy can be a worthy solution. This means responding positively and calmly, while accepting their different opinion. The trolls will likely find it frustrating and even condescending, but it’s hard to argue with someone who is accepting your point of view (or even agreeing with you).
Link -via Geeks Are Sexy
Poke! Happy Birthday, Facebook! Not only is today Facebook's birthday, but no doubt that you've also heard that Facebook is going to go public soon. The $5 billion IPO will surely be a spectacle to watch - but you know what's missing? A Facebook theme song.
That's where Daniel Koren steps in. The New York-based musician and his 10 closest buddies (all clones of himself) called the Koren Ensemble, has created a little something to celebrate the social media giant's growth through the years.
Eleven floating heads? What's not to ... um, like? Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] - Thanks Daniel!
Previously on Neatorama: Daniel's Eleven Heads on 11/11/11
You’ve seen many minimalist art posters based on movies, but how about minimalist posters for internet memes? Artist Stefan Van Zoggel created 29 of them so far, illustrating both classic and recent memes. Link -via Blame It On The Voices
Can't
get online porn at your local library? That's censorship, according to
the ACLU, who is suing
a Washington state library district:
If you log on to a computer at the Wenatchee public library and type "porn" into the search engine, the list of results will appear as if porn doesn't exist.
The North Central Regional Library District banned pornography from its computers. The censorship also means other websites are blocked. The board decided it's a matter of a safe work environment and its responsibility to the public.
"We believe having pornography in public places hurts our ability to accomplish our mission," said Dan Howard, director of public services.
But not all libraries ban porn:
... despite repeated complaints from women about men watching porn in full view of their children, the Seattle Public Library held fast to its policy of unrestricted online access for adults, according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
The paper says the King County Library System has a similar policy: it only filters kids' access on computers. The American Library Association endorses the same stance.
"Sometimes, in a library, you're going to see information that's going to make you uncomfortable," Barbara Jones, director of the association's intellectual freedom office, told radio station KUOW Wednesday.
What do you think, Neatoramanauts? Should porn be banned in taxpayer-supported public libraries? Is now allowing online porn to be viewed by adults in a library a form of censorship or just common sense?
(Photo: Shutterstock)
You may or may not already know that Neatorama author John Farrier is also a librarian. The two jobs aren’t as different as you may think! He wrote about the process of “content curation” in an essay on the skills librarians need and develop in the digital information age. For Neatorama, John sifts through an amazing amount of internet material in order to find the neatest items for the site, then condenses them down to bite-size while still giving just enough information for you to decide whether a link is worth exploring further.
Does all of this sound familiar? It’s what reference librarians do every day. We navigate the world of information to find the best content for our patrons in a timely manner. Have we discerned what the patron is looking for? What are the best sources for it available? Can we get to it quickly? How do we effectively present it to the patron? These are questions that reference librarians ask and answer during the reference interviewing process. They’re also what content curators do.
I’ve noticed that my mental habits and thought processes as a librarian have served me well as a content curator. Many, possibly most, curators are trained as freelance writers, so they know how to write in an amusing and witty manner. That’s important. But my ability to find content efficiently with the readers’ preferences in mind – a skill formed and honed at the reference desk – has given me an edge in the curation business. So I’m proposing that librarians look at digital content curation as a potential career.
You can read more about what goes into content curation, both in blogs and in libraries, at Library Journal. Link
(Image credit: Flickr user Rob Ireton)
Is it just too easy typing out 140 characters to fill up your Twitter account? Then maybe you should try slowing down the process by morse coding your way across the micro blogging platform. You can find schematics for your own Tworsekey at the link.
Link via Geekosystem
Have you wondered what your favorite website would look if it were part of 90′s hosting legend Geocities? Well wonder no more thanks to Geocities-izer. Above is their interpretation of Neatorama and believe it or not, that’s actually one of the better ones -just wait till you see YouTube’s homepage.
If you don’t toss your cookies on a regular basis, you leave a trail behind as you surf the web. But making any sense of that trail is a science that may be beyond the reach of automated analytics -at least for now.
Ars Technica’s Casey Johnston has started a fun new game: find out what Google guesses is your age and gender. These “inferred demographics” are based on the websites you visit and are tracked by a Google cookie; they are used for advertising purposes. Given Google’s controversial announcement Tuesday that users will not be able to opt out of new privacy changes, learning what the company thinks about you seems particularly useful, and informative.
The Google ad preference page shows my interests, which is actually evidence of my work plus the interests of the three teenage girls who also use my computer, often without changing to their own Google accounts. Then it guesses that I am male, age 24-34. Wrong on all counts. How is this useful to advertisers? These analytics are based on categorizing individuals based on the perceived behaviors of groups. In real life, we call that discrimination and try to teach our kids not to do it. Either way, there’s a lot of room for error. How wrong are they about you? Link -via Metafilter
While technologically inept government officials argue over the fate of our beloved interwebs, and the thought of people sharing data is scrutinized and villainized by those who admittedly “don’t get it”, those who feel that sharing is caring keep searching for new ways, and stuff, to share.
Pirate Bay, the website that has gained a notorious reputation among those fearful of file sharing, are about to become my personal heroes by revealing the newest torrent trend-sharing objects for 3d printing.
Downloading 3d object files for printing may sound like a concept straight from an episode of Star Trek but it’s going to be a reality sooner than you think, and I am so excited to see what people will create for the sake of 3d object sharing.
Download, print, paint, repeat-oh the joys of technology!
When Larry Met Sergey is the highly condensed story of Larry Page and Sergey Brin and the company they named Google. Scroll down for each chapter (slowly, because the graphics are in layers) and watch the men’s hairstyles and clothing change over the years. Link -via the Presurfer
Slackstory posted a list of blogs and the characteristics of those who like them. You’ve bought food from ThinkGeek? Are we really that geeky? I didn’t even know ThinkGeek sold food (I tend to get my candy from the NeatoShop). There are plenty of other blogs listed, with even more in the comments, and you might get a kick out of what they say. Link
Some people hesitate to approach people and inform them that they should trim their nose hairs. Why? I have no idea. It appears to be some weird social taboo about commenting on other people’s body hair. But now it’s not necessary to speak up. Chololi, the nose hair email notification service, will send an anonymous message to someone who needs a reminder.
Link -via Oddity Central
While we haven’t posted much about Miss Leslie Hall, if you’ve been following YouTube memes over the last few years, then you’ll immediately recognize this knitted amigurumi version of her.
Link Via Crafty is Cool
A
lot of people have compared the Internet censorship bills SOPA and PIPA
with the Great Firewall of China, but how are the recent anti-SOPA protests
viewed by those most affected by Internet censorship?
Beijing-based Evan Osnos wrote about how the Chinese people view SOPA:
In China, the reaction to American protests has ranged from sympathy to gentle Schadenfreude, as Chinese Web users try to sort out whether they are being held up as victims or patsies or pirates.
After several years in which American diplomats have inveighed against Internet censorship in China, the proposals have inspired a bit of snickering. “The Great Firewall turns out to be a visionary product; the American government is trying to copy us,” one commentator wrote.
A Chinese message making the rounds on Thursday said: “At last, the planet is becoming unified: We are ahead of the whole world, and the ‘American imperialists’ are racing to catch up.”
Ah, and in case you were wondering, yes, SOPA was animated by the Taiwanese a while ago.
The team at Exploding Rabbit have a gift for any fan of classic Nintendo games, and/or those looking to kill some time online with a really fun retro side scroller- Super Mario Crossover, a custom Super Mario Bros. game that allows you to play through as one of eight playable characters!
You can play as Link from The Legend Of Zelda, Samus from Metroid, Bill Rizer from Contra, Mega Man, even Simon from Castlevania, just to name a few.
Just think how fun it will be to smack Koopas around with a whip, or shoot Bowser in the face when he least expects it, all the while taking in the classic video game soundtrack slightly re-imagined. It’s like the NES threw a party, and you’re invited!
Link –via ComicsAlliance
Working on the web is hard, which is why Fark has decided to take a brave stand, going against the grain to support SOPA and PIPA. This way, if the site gets shut down under the ridiculous censorship bills, the company won’t have to do any more hard work.
While a bunch of other sites are going “dark” to protest SOPA/PIPA, we’re over the moon about the whole thing. Why? Honestly, we’ve been bringing you the latest news happening across the internet for 12 years, and we’re tired. And SOPA/PIPA is the perfect excuse to quit.
While SOPA might be “almost dead,” it’s not quite all the way there, and under various drafts of both SOPA/PIPA, Fark could have its DNS assignment (the thing that turns an IP address, like 10.0.0.1, into words like Fark.com) revoked without notice simply for linking to content that could come under foreign copyright claims. This means, even if it is actual news in and of itself, if we link to it, we can be shut down. And thank God, cause we’re about ready to crack under the strain of being on top of the news all the time.
The post isn’t up anymore because the blackout day is over, but you can read about it over at the link from The Consumerist.
By now, I’m sure you have all heard about SOPA and PIPA being as how every blog in the world has been talking about them as of late. Even those that are usually apolitical (like Neatorama) have taken a stand against the legislation, but despite all the talk and Wikipedia’s many messages warning about their upcoming blackout, some people still didn’t get the memo.
That’s where Herpderpedia comes in… chronicling the Tweets of people freaking out over the Wikipedia blackout despite the many warnings on the site and the fact that its blackout message clearly describes what’s going on.
Sure the Twitter account will only have one good day, but it’s certain to bring endless enjoyment for the internet snobs around the country.
Link Via Laughing Squid
Nitrozac and Snaggy from The Joy of Tech made a comic to cover the site during the internet strike. See, there are things to do that aren’t on the web! Link -via Laughing Squid
A song from LaughPong about the SOPA and PIPA bills now before congress. While many sites have simply gone down for today in protest, Consumerist has a list of posts about the bills you can access to catch up on how the bills came about, why the internet is protesting, and what you can do. Link -video via The Cheezburger Network
As
you may know, Congress is considering two bills, SOPA and PIPA, to combat
online piracy, ostensibly by foreign rogue websites. While the aim seems
noble, the devil is in the details.
There are many criticisms of SOPA and PIPA (e.g. the ones at EFF, Gizmodo, and reddit), but let me focus on one: under the proposed law, linking to a website with infringing content is illegal.
Censorship aside, that presents a huge day-to-day operational problem for many law-abiding websites. For a blog like Neatorama, which has nearly 40,000 posts and over 311,000 comments, this means that we'd have to police every single comment to ensure that nobody links to a rogue site (and continuously checking that legitimate links in past comments haven't gone rogue), otherwise we'd be breaking the law. A gargantuan task, indeed.
I urge you to contact your members of Congress and ask them to vote against SOPA and PIPA: Link
Update #1 1/18/12: Sign the Petition or Call Your Representative and tell them to vote against SOPA and PIPA – Thanks for the suggestion, ray hahn!
Update #2: Header on all Neatorama posts now links to the petition and call pages.
Pirates
and file-sharers, rejoice! The Missionary
Church of Kopimism (just say it out loud) has been recognized as a
religion in Sweden:
Since 2010 a group of self-confessed pirates have tried to get their beliefs recognized as an official religion in Sweden. After their request was denied several times, the Church of Kopimism – which holds CTRL+C and CTRL+V as sacred symbols – is now approved by the authorities as an official religion. The Church hopes that its official status will remove the legal stigma that surrounds file-sharing.
All around the world file-sharers are being chased by anti-piracy outfits and the authorities, and the situation in Sweden is no different. While copyright holders are often quick to label file-sharers as pirates, there is a large group of people who actually consider copying to be a sacred act.
Philosophy student Isak Gerson is such a religious file-sharer, and in an attempt to protect his unique belief system he founded The Missionary Church of Kopimism in 2010. In the hope that they could help prevent persecution for their beliefs, the Church then filed a request to be officially accepted by the authorities.
After two failed attempts, where the Church was asked to formalize its way of praying or meditation, the authorities finally recognized the organization as an official religion. The Church’s founder is ecstatic about this news, and hopes that it will motivate more people to come forward as ‘Kopimists’.
Can I get "Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, Amen?"
Good news everyone! A Fallout MMO is now on its way, thanks to the lawsuit between Bethesda and Interplay being settled for $2 million dollars.
Bethesda has been waiting to get to work on the Fallout online game for over five years now, so I’m sure it will become a reality sooner rather than later, and I think it would offer a refreshing change from the standard fantasy and sci-fi titles which currently dominate the market.
Gamers, what do you think? Would you enjoy playing a Fallout MMO, or are you all massively multiplayered out?
So is this better or worse than having a Cloud Girlfriend? Will the position of girlfriend, once a local affair, become an outsourced industry?
I’m Cathy, a 23 year old student and I live in New York city. There’s a second option by the way: If you want a few messages (3 max.) on your profile to make somone jealous that’s also possible, just send me the message(s) and the facebook-link!
Link -via Glenn Reynolds
Retro gaming enthusiasts will remember the big bald baddie known as Abobo from his appearance in the Double Dragon games from the 80s and 90s. He’s large, moustachioed, packs a mean punch, and now stars in his own online game, which is really fun and totally free to play!
So hit the link, and get ready to game like the good old days, in Abobo’s Big Adventure!
Link –via GeeksAreSexy
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A simple and not-too-effective spam Twitter account has become an internet phenomenon. @Horse_ebooks may or may not be a ‘bot, but the nonsensical snippets that it Tweets, supposedly from the ebooks it is trying to sell, has caused over 25,000 people to follow the account.
I tend to liken horse_ebooks to some wacky public access show you might have watched in college. There’s no comedic motive — as with the weirdo doing a foreign events call-in show at 3:00 in the morning, there’s no irony — but it doesn’t carry that guilt of mockery: you are not, and couldn’t be, making fun of Horse_ebooks. If anything, it’s making fun of you.
Whatever the appeal — explication does more harm than good — it’s stuck with people. Someone started a genuinely good horse_ebooks fanfiction site. There’s Horse_ecomics, which posts comics inspired by the account’s Tweets, and a litany of smaller tributes: people have had ordered framed images of the account’s avatar, turned Tweets into mug inscriptions (“Swallow that garbage”), and renamed their Twitter accounts in it honor.
John Herrman at Splitsider explains what he knows about this account, and how it has taken off as a rising star on Twitter and in the larger internet universe. Link -via Boing Boing
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This Facebook themed shower curtain isn’t creepy because of the graphics or text printed on it, but rather because it assumes you’ll have people spying on you while you take a shower!
And, while it may be meant for couples or roommates comfortable with sharing their shower time with others, I’m sure even in those situations it would get old quickly, prompting them to wonder “where did you put the plain old shower curtain I used to know and love?”
Link –via Geekosystem
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Are you sad because no one ever responds to your Tweets? Here’s a sure-fire way to get a reply. Stealth Mountain describes his account as follows (I may be wrong, but the muscles on the avatar look male):
I alert twitter users that they typed sneak peak when they meant sneak peek. I live a sad life.
So all you have to do is Tweet about a “sneak peak” and the Stealth Mountain will come after you! Link -via Everlasting Blort
The life of an Internet meme is hard and fast. Sometimes memes find lasting success, but others get drunk on their own fame and crash. View more at the link. Hey, has anyone heard from Baby Godfather?
Link -via Nag on the Lake
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