September 2014

There were 20 posts published in September 2014 (this is page 1 of 2).

Ulcers in Zion

OpEd in Ynet, “Abbas’ strategic threat could be more dangerous than Hamas” by Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to US, shows that Abbas is managing to hit home.

via Abbas’ strategic threat could be more dangerous than Hamas – Israel Opinion, Ynetnews.

Nahum Barnea (same paper): “Netanyahu needed Abbas – if not as a real partner, then as a fig leaf. That fig leaf has flown away. There is no one to hide the bluff.”

Gideon Levy (HaAretz):

“he told the truth. When he said the Palestinians had been “uprooted from … their good land,” the Israeli television commentator explained that this was a “harsh speech of incitement.” The entire nationalist chorus, from the Labor Party on, with the backup singers of the United States, broke out in shrieks of shock and condemnation. Honestly! How dare Abbas, that ingrate! ”

“What Abbas should have said in his UN address “

Is there a way to live in Israel without contributing to the occupation? – Opinion Israel News | Haaretz

“What can we say about someone who lives in Israel but decides at some point that he doesn’t want to take part in the occupation and settlement enterprise? What do we expect from such a person? These are serious questions and I want serious answers, from both the right and the left.”

via Is there a way to live in Israel without contributing to the occupation? – Opinion Israel News | Haaretz.

I think there is no way to live in Israel without contributing to the occupation.  There isn’t even a way for an American to live in the US, and pay his taxes, without contributing to the occupation. But the best way to live in Israel, as an Israeli, is to oppose all government policies that go against the promptings of one’s conscience and to support all non-violent means of social, regime and policy change.  My personal question is about the responsibilities and constraints within which a resident alien non-Israel citizen should work.  Being a resident alien in any country means that one is kept outside the democratic process of that country.  In some ways, it’s the worst position to be in.

Abandon the entire social networking model?

I’m beginning to grow weary both of the commercial social networks and their alternatives.  The web outside of them was always more expansive and interesting than that which is caught within them.  Its content is more usefully captured directly than through artificial filters.  I would be more interested to read what my friends publish unconstrained in the personal space of their own website or blog than within the artificial confines of a social media stream.  On a personal site, I decide on what content to present and how to present it.  It’s my own decision and I feel more free about it.

The problems with this approach are mainly –

a) more and more people are abandoning such personal spaces and consigning their content to social media streams.

b) it is difficult to effectively capture what’s interesting on the web without the recommendations and filters provided by streams.

To the latter my best response is still RSS news feeds.  A federated version of something like the old Google Reader would be better.  (Not something like Digg.)

To the former, the best response is to nurture one’s own blog or site as an example, and to share to it, rather than to the streams.

Apple, Google default cell-phone encryption “concerns” FBI director | Ars Technica

Apple and Google are making things difficult for law enforcement, but:

“The weak link in the law enforcement scenario for Google and Apple is cloud storage. Companies can and will turn cloud data over to the police, and Google has even done it proactively. Smartphones today have cloud backup systems for just about everything, so while this will probably protect you from individuals trying to snoop in on a stolen or resold phone, there’s nothing to stop the police from getting a warrant for data on your phone or for data stored in the cloud connected to your account.”

via Apple, Google default cell-phone encryption “concerns” FBI director | Ars Technica.

I think I misunderstood the quoted paragraph.  Apple says that it’s not possible for them to surrender such data in IOS 8

Why Ello won’t be the answer

The Guardian:  “Ello is the ‘anti-facebook’, positioning itself as a network with a social conscience. It might not be the one to replace the social giant, but Facebook is getting old”

Ello or another competing service won’t be the answer.  What Facebook and other social networks offer is “good enough” for what people currently want.

My prediction is that what will foil Facebook is some sort of change in the infrastructure of the internet.  If someone can make the infrastructure more decentralized, so that we are less dependent upon information silos like Facebook, and yet find better ways of tying it together, that would do it.

Examples of early moves in this direction are GNU Social, OwnCloud, Friendica, Red Matrix, Pump.io and especially Twister.  Twister makes it possible to use any computer as a decentralized network hub, without needing Apache or other web server software or tying an IP address to a name server. It uses BitCoin technology.  But all these are baby steps.  We need something new, that makes decentralization really easy and user friendly, but which somehow gives big companies the opportunity to make money.  Without the money incentive, it probably won’t happen.

Ello might or might not replace Facebook, but the giant social network won’t last forever | Ruby J Murray | Comment is free | theguardian.com.

louisgray.com: Blogs Still Trump Streams for Longform Content With a Long Shelf Life

“In 2011, when Google+ just started, some high profile people said they were walking away from their own self-hosted domains and just redirecting to their Google+ profile, which was flying with comments and +1s. I warned against this move, saying “I Gave Away My Web Identity. All I Got Was a T-Shirt.” Even when the product you’re pointing to is high quality, it’s very unlikely a stream-oriented product can match the quality and depth of longer form content that belongs to you.”

louisgray.com: Blogs Still Trump Streams for Longform Content With a Long Shelf Life.

He quotes an article with a similar message, “Why Blogging Still Matters: Data, Distribution, and Ownership of Content” by Adam Singer