More Facebook lies in its ad preferences’ manager?

As I’ve often said, it’s wise to keep an eye on your Facebook ad preferences’ page. Even if you’ve opted out of Facebook targeting, Facebook will still keep compiling information on you. I see no other purpose for this other than to target you with advertising, contrary to what you expect.    Facebook also tells […]

Read More… from More Facebook lies in its ad preferences’ manager?



Autocade turns 11 as the web turns 30

The latest model to appear on Autocade today: the Mazda CX-30. It’s March, which means Autocade has had another birthday. Eleven years ago, I started a car encyclopædia using Mediawiki software, and it’s since grown to 3,600 model entries. The story has been told elsewhere on this blog. What I hadn’t realized till today was […]

Read More… from Autocade turns 11 as the web turns 30





Keeping the Victoria in Victoria University of Wellington

  A letter I penned today to Prof Grant Guilford, Vice-Chancellor of Victoria University of Wellington. I support the official adoption of a Māori name (I thought it had one?) but removing Victoria is daft, for numerous reasons, not least the University’s flawed research, dealt with elsewhere. Wellington, August 8, 2018 Prof Grant Guilford Vice-Chancellor […]

Read More… from Keeping the Victoria in Victoria University of Wellington



The founder’s image is tied to the business—or, why Elon Musk shouldn’t call someone a pædophile

I have often said that each new technology often goes downhill when unsavoury parts of our society get to it. Email was fine before spammers, Wikipedia was fine without sociopaths, Blogger was fine without Google ownership, and Google was fine without an NYSE listing.    But what does one make of Twitter? Once upon a […]

Read More… from The founder’s image is tied to the business—or, why Elon Musk shouldn’t call someone a pædophile



If FCA kills Chrysler today, then it’s another chapter of a company weakening its brands

There’s a rumour circulating that Fiat (specifically, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, or FCA) will kill the Chrysler marque today.    The range currently consists of two models: the ageing 300 and the relatively fresh Pacifica.    It seems to be another step in the mismanagement of car marques, especially US ones, something I wrote about many […]

Read More… from If FCA kills Chrysler today, then it’s another chapter of a company weakening its brands



Facebook and Cambridge Analytica: the signs were there for years, if one only looked

Facebook’s woes over Cambridge Analytica have only prompted one reaction from me: I told you so. While I never seized upon this example, bravely revealed to us by whistleblower Christopher Wylie and reported by Carole Cadwalladr and Emma Graham-Harrison of The Guardian, Facebook has shown itself to be callous about private data, mining preferences even […]

Read More… from Facebook and Cambridge Analytica: the signs were there for years, if one only looked



Social media: not the evolution you might have expected

I’m getting a buzz seeing how little I update social media now. Around February 2016 I began updating Tumblr far less; I’ve gone from dozens of posts per month to four in December 2017 and seven in January 2018. (Here’s my Tumblr archive.) Facebook, as many of you know, is a thing of the past […]

Read More… from Social media: not the evolution you might have expected



Zuckerberg wants to fix Facebook: too little, too late

WTF: welcome to Facebook. (Creative Commons photograph.) Mark Zuckerberg’s promise to fix Facebook in 2018 is, in my opinion, too little, too late.    However, since I ceased updating my Facebook profile last month, I’ve come across many people who tell me the only reason they stay on it is to keep in touch with […]

Read More… from Zuckerberg wants to fix Facebook: too little, too late



Being an optimist for a better post-Google, post-Facebook era

Interesting to get this perspective on ‘Big Tech’ from The Guardian, on how it’s become tempting to blame the big Silicon Valley players for some of the problems we have today. The angle Moira Weigel takes is that there needs to be more democracy in the system, where workers need to unite and respecting those […]

Read More… from Being an optimist for a better post-Google, post-Facebook era