Monday, December 06, 2021

St Nicholas Day: Is Peak Social Media Already Behind Us?

 U.S. stonewalls probe into security firm that allegedly spied on Assange for CIA, says Spanish judge Yahoo New

   

A former employee of Ubiquiti was arrested on charges of stealing confidential data from the wireless technology company and using it to demand nearly US$2 million (A$2.81 million) in ransom, federal prosecutors said.

Allegedly demanded nearly $2.8 million ransom


"Society isn’t dead. But it is pallid and fretful, like a shut-in staring all day long at nothing but a screen, mistaking a mirror for a window 


Statista: “The growth of social media’s influence in our daily digital lives has been astounding over the last few years. According to figures in the latest Statista Digital Economy Compass, the global average time spent using social media platforms per day is 142 minutes in 2021 – far higher than the 90 minutes recorded in 2012. As our infographic shows though, this growth has plateaued in recent years and the latest figure even represents a year-over-year decrease of three minutes. So, 17 years after the birth of Facebook, is peak social media already behind us? This is a question analysts and investors have been pondering for a few years already. While specific platforms will experience fluctuations in user numbers, and some will become obsolete (see Myspace), the market potential still not fully unlocked in developing economies should mean that social media will be able to find at least one more gear to shift into before the peak is truly reached. Nevertheless, the figures don’t lie and imply that for a fair share of users, the social media shine has perhaps worn off. A trend likely accelerated by the increasing volume of evidence regarding the negative impact it can have on our mental health, as well as concerns about data collection and its vulnerability to being exploited to sew social and political instability…”



The New York Times: “U.S. copyright law protects all kinds of creative material, but recipe creators are mostly powerless in an age and a business that are all about sharing…U.S. copyright law seeks to protect “original works of authorship” by barring unauthorized copying of all kinds of creative material: sheet music, poetry, architectural works, paintings and even computer software. But recipes are much harder to protect. This is a reason they frequently reappear, often word for word, in one book or blog after another. Cookbook writers who believe that their work has been plagiarized have few options beyond confronting the offender or airing their grievances online. “It is more of an ethical issue than it is a legal issue,” said Lynn Oberlander, a media lawyer in New York City…”


Roving sea lion wanders through streets of Lincoln City, refuses fish, returns to ocean The Oregonian


How to Read a Jellyfish’s Mind (press release) CalTech


The Science of Mind Reading The New Yorker


Tributes pour in from across the world for Northern Territory actor David Dalaithngu


Suspicious, Insecure Trump ‘Most Difficult’ President To Brief On Intel, CIA Report Reveals HuffPo. “Trump ‘doubted the competence of intelligence professionals and felt no need for regular intelligence support.'”



Dancer, singer … spy: France’s Panthéon to honour Josephine Baker Guardian


An odd card trick Chalkdust


Guatemalan stowaway, 26, is found in landing gear of American Airlines flight at Miami airport – surviving two-and-a-half hour journey at 33,000ft and temperatures as low as -54F Daily Mail


Australia’s spy agency predicted the climate crisis 40 years ago – and fretted about coal exports Guardian

 

The Lesson Moby-Dick Has for a Warming World Counterpunch

 

Rare hunting scene raises questions over polar bear diet France 24