Elliott C. Back: Internet & Technology

Windows 7 decided to rebuild the font cache, leading to a brief moment of confusion when all the icons looked the same:

This should be considered huge progress–many years ago when installing iTunes and quicktime you would be required to reboot your computer. Welcome to 2010; iTunes is up and running again without a reboot. I remember fondly multi-disk software installations (say, a series of 10 floppies) and multi-reboot installations on older versions of windows.

Maybe someday soon Apple will make a version of iTunes for windows that feels snappy and native, and then all will be well with the world.

So I got this unwanted piece of MSN spam (from a friend who has now changed their MSN password):

(10:40:23 AM) ZZZ: You are not going to believe this!! FreakyLoving.com , you HAVE to go there and tell me what your results are!
(10:40:36 AM) ZZZ has signed off.

I went to the site, and indeed it’s a typical MSN virus scam:

* TERMS AND CONDITIONS
I agree and acknowledge that I am subscribing to Impression Media’s Text Alert subscription service, either by entering my cell phone number and the PIN Code that was sent to the cell phone supplied by you on this website and clicking the “Submit” button, or by replying to the text message sent by Impression Media to such cell phone with the word “YES”, pursuant to which I will receive a text alert three times per week. I am also confirming that I have read and understood the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, and I agree to be legally bound by the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. I represent that (1) I am at least eighteen (18) years of age AND (2) I am of legal age to agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, or I have my parent’s permission to use and register on this website. Please note that you must be 18 or older in the State of Florida to participate in this offer. I understand that I will be charged a fee for the service of $9.99 per month if my carrier is AT&T, VERIZON WIRELESS, T-MOBILE, SPRINT PCS, CELLULAR ONE, NEXTEL AND CINCINNATI BELL. $6.99 per month if my carrier is BOOST, VIRGIN MOBILE USA AND U.S. CELLULAR. This fee will be billed to, or deducted from, the mobile account or the prepaid balance I identified until I send “STOP” to 51345 to cancel subscription, and I confirm that I hold the account corresponding to the mobile phone number that I have entered, or that I have the account holder’s permission to use this service and incur this fee. Unused credits will not be rolled over to next month. Message and data rates may apply. To cancel your subscription, text message the word “STOP” to 51345 at anytime. For customer support, please send e-mail to care@quiz4now.com or call 1866 285 4637. Send HELP to 51345 for more info.

If you sign up, they will charge you $10 / month until you figure it out and cancel. Lame! There are a couple other posts at WC Replays and Casual Discourse showing interactive chat attempts to direct users to similar URLs. The baddies who are doing this seem to be Las Vegas based Impression Media.

It takes a lot to pull me from apathy and back to writing blog entries, but reading Jim Louderback’s article How Location-Based Social Networking Gets Creepy in AdvertisingAge was the 10,000 volt cattle-prod that got my fingers racing.

Subtitled “It’s 9 a.m., Do You Know Who the ‘Mayor’ of Your Kid’s School Is?”, the article’s basic premise is that new social networks can reveal how creepy the people around you are. In the new age of social connectivity and information sharing, you might encounter new information about your neighbors, colleagues, and friends. Quoting from the end of the article:

This tale is, in part, yet another log thrown on the privacy bonfire. But in this case it’s not about Facebook. It’s about locations, kids, parents, safety, and what your combined online persona says about you.

I’m convinced that our school’s “mayor” is a nice, warm and loving father. But from everything I saw that day, he seemed to be a shifty, creepy Texan with an unhealthy obsession with a small-town school on the coast of California.

What happened, according to the article, was that Jim Louderback was dethroned as Foursquare Mayor of the local California “small town” (what does this mean? which town?) school by a stranger. Wondering who might be checking into the same school in the same town, Jim decided to check out his usurper/neighbor. He found out the following things. I feel they are innocuous, but Jim thinks “what we found was concerning:”

• The new mayor a Foursquare pro, more than 40 badges, including Crunked (4+ stops in one night), Player Please (checking in with 3 members of the opposite sex), Animal House (Off the Wagon Appreciates Your Business, COLLEGE), Douchebag (Doublepop that collar son), Hookup (Two different hotels?), and the Super Mayor badge (holding down 10+ mayorships simultaneously)
• “His profile picture was not one to inspire confidence”
• (later) He was actually a parent at our school, and his stepson was in my son’s class.

It’s unreasonable to assume much from the profile of a prolific foursquare user. Drinking, partying, and travel are all acceptable ways to relax in America. We’re a modern jet-setting crowd, and while “work hard, play hard” is a bit tired, it is the millenials’ standard. Nearly anyone older than 16 could have the same lifestyle and carefree attitude that describes a large portion of young America. However, our shoot-first-ask-questions-later author became enraged that a monster like Mr. Foursquare might live/work around his family:

They all painted a plausible impression of someone that I really didn’t want within 500 yards of my son. So I found him on Twitter and sent out a tweet with his handle embedded, wondering publicly if he was a pedophile.

Here’s the exchange between Jim Louderback and cloudwrangler, as it went down on Twitter:

jlouderb: @cloudwrangler, how can you be mayor of my son’s school in Pacifica CA when you live in Austin TX. Are you a pedophile, or is #4sqfu
9:31 PM May 1st via Seesmic

cloudwrangler: @jlouderb I live in SF, my stepdaughter is in class with your son, and I would appreciate you removing this unfounded public accusation.
11:06 PM May 1st via web in reply to jlouderb

cloudwrangler: @jlouderb Also, I know we’ve not had a chance to meet yet, and I would be more than happy to do so soon, perhaps at the open house in May.
11:09 PM May 1st via web in reply to jlouderb

jlouderb: @cloudwrangler Definitely! Was with a friend today and we were wondering who is this weird TX guy, mayor of Ocean Shore. I thought 4sq bug!
3:40 AM May 2nd via Seesmic

Does this seem like an appropriate way to approach a stranger? Would you walk up to someone on the street, and noticing their handlebar mustache, ask them, “With that mustache, I don’t want you hanging around any kids! Get out of here! Are you a pedophile?” Well, you might. But then you’re a conservetard asshole.

There’s a number of troubling fallacies in the reasoning:

• Why does social networking only get creepy/personal/ugly when your children are involved? (the “think of the kids” fallacy)
• Why are strangers to be feared instead of offered hospitality? (the “stranger danger” fallacy)
• Why do you interact with things outside your understanding/comfort zone/personal network with defensiveness/hate/anger? (the “you’re not one of us” fallacy)

This could have gone over much better with this tweet: @Mr. Foursquare Hi, I see you go to the same school as my son! Live around here? We should grab cold ones sometime. Jim, you had a chance to make a friend.