Facebook making our lives better:

From Yahoo (warning, autoplay video):

Take the case of Minnesota man Aaron Olson. His uncle, Randall LaBrie, posted some pictures (which have yet to surface publicly or online for us to find and post here) from Olson's childhood of him in front of the Christmas tree accompanied by some less than flattering captions. When Olson became aware of the photos, he asked his uncle to take them down. Instead, LaBrie just untagged the photos and allegedly told his nephew that if he did not like the photos, "he should stay off Facebook." So, Olson sued LaBrie for harassment. Not surprisingly, a Minnesota court threw the case out, with Judge Natalie E. Hudson ruling that in order for the photos to be considered harassment, they must have a "substantial adverse effect on the safety, security, or privacy of another." Also, earlier in the week, the Court of Appeals of Minnesota denied Olson's complaint.

How about Yahoo saying lamenting the fact that the pictures "have yet to surface publicly or online for us to find and post here"?

So, you can take pictures of children who have no idea what's going on or the ability to stop it, and put them out there for all the world to see.

Chicken or egg? Is Facebook responsible for the erosion of privacy, or had the erosion of privacy gotten to the point where a Facebook thrives?


posted by Quiddity at 2/23/2012 03:46:00 AM

Shorter Rick Santorum:

I'd rather be right than be president.

posted by Quiddity at 2/21/2012 03:34:00 PM

Dismal economics post:

First off, last week Apple announced that its workers in China would be getting an increase in pay, up to $400 a month, or a 25% increase.

That comes to $2.50 an hour (up from $2.00/hr). And people in developed countries are expected to compete with that?

Basically, the twin engines of conservative and neoliberal economics - expressed mostly through free trade policies - has done enormous damage to the middle and lower classes. On that score, Thomas B. Edsall has a long op-ed in the New York Times, Is This the End of Market Democracy?    (Meaning a healthy democracy within a market economy.)

Short answer is Yes. He covers a lot of territory, but here's an excerpt towards the end:

Overall, [global trade advocate (!) David] Autor has found that the combination of three trends — automation; the emergence of a trade-based international labor force; and the movement of jobs offshore — has polarized the job market. There is growth at the high and low ends, but the middle collapses:

Concretely, employment and earnings are rising in both high education professional, technical and managerial occupations and, since the late 1980s, in low-education food service, personal care and protective service occupations. Conversely, job opportunities are declining in both middle-skill, white collar clerical, administrative, and sales occupations and in middle-skill, blue-collar production, craft and operative occupations.

posted by Quiddity at 2/20/2012 01:59:00 AM