Author: Crowhill Report

The internet was built on anonymity. A client computer makes a request to a server, but the server doesn’t know who is operating that client computer. It knows a few things about the client — its IP address, and a few other things — but it doesn’t know if the user is an adult, a man, a woman, a child, a routing device of some kind, or a bot.

Servers can be set up to require credentials from the client, but the basic http structure is built on anonymity.

Marketers have been trying to get around that for years, using various techniques to identify the person behind the client computer. Browser fingerprinting and other things can be used to narrow things down, but it’s still essentially anonymous.

Is that a good thing?

I don’t think so. It’s appropriate to have restrictions on access to some content. In the real world, we don’t allow children to even enter certain venues, much less purchase the things available there. But the internet is wide open. Kids can “enter” all sorts of inappropriate places by simply clicking the “I’m over 18” button, or by entering a phony birthdate.

We wouldn’t permit that at the beer sales counter, or when a kid wants to buy pornography at the 7-11. Why do we permit it on porn sites?

And porn isn’t the only problem. One takeaway from yesterday’s hearings on Facebook is that research has shown that many social media sites are harmful to children. Facebook knew this, and they hid it. It’s been called Facebook’s “Big Tobacco moment.”

In the real world, we don’t want somebody monitoring everywhere we go and everything we do — although we’re getting close to that with facial recognition and the phones we carry around all the time. And I understand people’s interest in protecting their privacy. I’m not suggesting everyone has to register to access the internet.

This isn’t a binary thing — i.e., either you’re anonymous or you have to disclose your identity. We don’t want the Stasi going around saying, “Papers, please!”

I’m sure there’s a way for an adult to identify as an adult without having to give Big Tech, or the FBI, or whoever, a record of everything he does online.

That’s what we need — some sort of gatekeeper technology to identify adults and children on the internet.

Someone will object that there will always be ways around it. Sure. And kids use phony driver’s licenses to buy beer. That’s not an excuse not to try. But more importantly, having such a regime in place sends a cultural message that we still have standards, and that children need to be protected against some things.

In case you don’t remember, new social media site Parler was shut down after the Jan. 6 mess “because of continued posting on the Platform that ‘seeks to incite ongoing violence in the U.S.'” (See Parler Back up After Social Media Platform Shut Down for Over a Month)

People pointed out that Facebook was used far more than Parler to plan Jan. 6, but … nevermind. Facebook is a liberal company and Parler is (allegedly) a conservative company, so different rules apply.

And now, the Facebook whistleblower is confirming that yes, Facebook was just as guilty.

Will anything be done? I’m not holding my breath. I doubt Congress has the courage to go after Facebook and risk losing their campaign contributions.

Pigweed and I are thinking of a new series for our podcast (something related to churches), and to get a sense of whether I could tolerate it or not, I tried to listen to Joel Osteen’s show.

I only lasted about ten minutes, and I felt I needed to bend my brain in a more sane direction, so I looked up a video by Sinclair Ferguson (a very sober-minded Scot). In it, he said the following.

And for some of us who are not blessed with the American perspective on existence but have a Celtic melancholy running through our disposition, and know that our mother would’ve beat the living daylights out of us if we’d ever talked in public about anything that we ourselves have done, you realize that there is a certain discomfort level in [talking about his book].

There are some things in life where you can’t succeed unless you’re willing to promote yourself, and I’ve long recognized that I have competing instincts in that regard. I can and do promote myself, but I hate it, and I only do it half-heartedly.

I’ve also suspected that a lot of my reticence to promote myself comes from my mother — who was English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh. So maybe that confirms SF’s comment about Celts. (My reticence also comes from the Proverbs: “Let another praise you and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips.”)

I’ve known many people who, with little talent, do very well for themselves, because they have no hesitancy about promoting themselves, asking for things, etc.

Since a lot of that probably comes from nature and/or nurture, that’s yet another kind of “privilege” that’s very important to a person’s success. (If anyone is keeping track.)

Just saw this.

The jet stream has started an unprecedented shift north, which could wreak havoc on weather in the US and Europe

It’s totally legit to report that warmer air is pushing the jet stream north, which will affect weather. Calling it “unprecedented” bugs me.

I studied geology in college. In geology you think in terms of very long time spans. So when I see claims about some “unprecedented” change, I immediately think “how long has this been going on, and how much data do we have?”

It’s almost impossible to believe that we have enough data on the jet stream to call something “unprecedented.”

Headline writers are in the business of getting your attention — getting you to click. Fear, astonishment, “you won’t believe,” etc., is their stock and trade. But this exaggeration filters into the way we think, and the way we see the world. E.g., it’s not just that weather patterns will change. It’s “unprecedented.”

Some of my data got compromised somewhere out there, and I’ve been getting notifications that I’ve applied for loans, or student loan forgiveness, or whatever.

Norton LifeLock told me I could put a hold on my credit — so nobody would be able to apply for a loan in my name. There are only three credit bureaus, and it only takes a few minutes to place the hold.

Given all the data breaches and nonsense out there, it might be prudent to put a hold on your credit until you know you need to apply for a loan.