Tag Archives: news

This Is What Happens When You Like Everything on Facebook

by AngieMcKeddie Posted on August 11, 2014

Mother Jones

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Fun fact about Facebook that people like me who study it a lot can tell you: You should be discerning with the Like button because the News Feed algorithm is pretty sensitive. This can be a struggle because logging onto Facebook is a bit like hiking up a very tall mountain with Satan. It shows you the world and says, “all these things I will give you if you fall down and Like them.” Facebook gives you an unending slew of opportunities to Like things because the more you Like, the more accurate the algorithm gets at predicting what you want to see in your News Feed. In general, it’s pretty good at this. However, it makes a few assumptions about your Like. The assumptions are (1) that you actually Like the posts you Like—you may not like some bad breaking-news alert, but you like that you received it, you like that you received it from the page that posted it; and (2) you are somewhat picky about what you Like. Maybe not too picky! But picky. If you Like everything, you Like nothing and it’s all meaningless.

What happens though if you Like everything? Every Candy Crush request? Every political post? Every bad joke? Every marriage announcement? Wired‘s Mat Honan gave it a shot and the answer is, well, things get crazy:

My News Feed took on an entirely new character in a surprisingly short amount of time. After checking in and liking a bunch of stuff over the course of an hour, there were no human beings in my feed anymore…Nearly my entire feed was given over to Upworthy and the Huffington Post…As I went to bed, I remember thinking “Ah, crap. I have to like something about Gaza,” as I hit the Like button on a post with a pro-Israel message.

By the next morning, the items in my News Feed had moved very, very far to the right. I’m offered the chance to like the 2nd Amendment and some sort of anti-immigrant page. I like them both. I like Ted Cruz. I like Rick Perry. The Conservative Tribune comes up again, and again, and again in my News Feed. I get to learn its very particular syntax.

The syntax he identifies will look familiar to anyone has spent any time on Facebook lately. The whole article is pretty interesting. Go read the whole thing.

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This Is What Happens When You Like Everything on Facebook

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Yikes! California’s extreme drought could last "a decade or more", 2014 driest year in a century

by Myrna Posted on July 30, 2014

California has been going through a drought for about 3 years now, with 2013 being the driest year on record. Read original article: Yikes! California’s extreme drought could last "a decade or more", 2014 driest year in a century ; ; ;

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Yikes! California’s extreme drought could last "a decade or more", 2014 driest year in a century

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Sneak preview of documentary about a man who planted a tropical forest singlehandedly

by Latanya7581 Posted on July 25, 2014

green4us

The Art of Raising a Puppy (Revised Edition) – Monks of New Skete

For more than thirty years the Monks of New Skete have been among America’s most trusted authorities on dog training, canine behavior, and the animal/human bond. In their two now-classic bestsellers, How to be Your Dog’s Best Friend and The Art of Raising a Puppy, the Monks draw on their experience as long-time breeders of German shepherds and as t

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White Dwarf Issue 26: 26 July 2014 – White Dwarf

Bursting through the cloud layer like the snout of a flying mechanical wolf stuffed full of bloodthirsty maniacs, the Stormfang Gunship makes its grand entrance this week and is accompanied by full rules and a Paint Splatter guide. In issue 26 you’ll also find a guide to the Great Companies of the Space Wolves, designers notes and more. About this Serie

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Inside of a Dog – Alexandra Horowitz

The bestselling book that asks what dogs know and how they think, now in paperback. The answers will surprise and delight you as Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist, explains how dogs perceive their daily worlds, each other, and that other quirky animal, the human. Horowitz introduces the reader to dogs’ perceptual and cognitive abilities and then draw

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White Dwarf Issue 25: 19 July 2014 – White Dwarf

The new Sector Imperialis Realm of Battle board is here, and that means an amazing new battleground for your games of Warhammer 40,000. We show you exactly how cool it is with a very urban Battle Report, along with painting guides and tips, the return of Dark Vengeance, Hall of Fame and much more besides. White Dwarf is Games Workshop’s weekly magazine,

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Travels With Casey – Benoit Denizet-Lewis

A moody Labrador and his insecure human take a funny, touching cross-country RV trip into the heart of America’s relationship with dogs. “I don’t think my dog likes me very much,” New York Times Magazine writer Benoit Denizet-Lewis confesses at the beginning of his journey with his nine-year-old Labrador-mix, Casey. Over the next four months, thirty-two stat

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The Damnation of Pythos – David Annandale

In the aftermath of the Dropsite Massacre at Isstvan V, a battered and bloodied force of Iron Hands, Raven Guard and Salamanders regroups on a seemingly insignificant death world. Fending off attacks from all manner of monstrous creatures, the fractious allies find hope in the form of human refugees fleeing from the growing war, and cast adrift upon the tide

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‘Eavy Metal Masterclass: Space Marines Librarian – Games Workshop

Within the hallowed halls of the Librarium reside the Space Marine Librarians, powerful psykers able to bend the Warp to their will and tear their foes apart with their minds. Clad in ornate power armour and wielding eldritch force weapons they are the warrior-mystics of the Adeptus Astartes, as deadly with their thoughts as they are with blade or bolter. Th

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White Dwarf Issue 24: 12 July 2014 – White Dwarf

The saga of Sanctus Reach continues with the release of the fantastic Stormclaw boxed set, and Adam and Andy play through all the missions you get in the box in a very special Battle Report. Jervis Johnson returns with a new Rules of Engagement feature which adds stratagems and events to your games of Warhammer, while we present a new and very exclusive data

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How to Raise the Perfect Dog – Cesar Millan & Melissa Jo Peltier

From the bestselling author and star of National Geographic Channel’s Dog Whisperer , the only resource you’ll need for raising a happy, healthy dog. For the millions of people every year who consider bringing a puppy into their lives–as well as those who have already brought a dog home–Cesar Millan, the preeminent dog behavior expert, says, “Yes,

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How to Paint Citadel Miniatures: Tactical Marines – Games Workshop

Tactical squads are the most numerous in a chapter and form the backbone of a fighting force. As their name suggests they are highly flexible having the tactical adaptability to deal with virtually any foe. About this Guide: In this guide demonstrates how to paint Space Marine Tactical Marines using the Citadel paint range. The guide covers in detail, the co

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Sneak preview of documentary about a man who planted a tropical forest singlehandedly

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Fighting in Gaza Bad for Mankind, Great for Right-Wing Website

by CherylMangum Posted on July 21, 2014

Mother Jones

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Israel’s ground offensive into Gaza, which began last Thursday after a week of air strikes, has come with a heavy price: 20 Israelis and 445 Palestinians have now died since the conflict flared up two weeks ago. But at least one group is happy about the news—WorldNetDaily, the far-right website, which reports, in a story titled “Hamas Rockets Boon to Israel Tour,” that the ground offensive has been good for business:

WASHINGTON – During the week Hamas fired thousands of rockets on Israel, interest in WND’s Israel tour with Joseph Farah and Jonathan Cahn spiked, with 68 signups in seven days, the most in a one-week period since registration began in February, WND announced.

“I thought news of thousands of rockets raining down on Israel would be a deterrent to Americans who were thinking about joining us on WND’s Israel tour,” said Farah. “It wasn’t at all. In fact, it seems like Americans are eager to show solidarity with the Jewish state at this time.”

The second annual tour is on pace to match last year’s size, with nearly 400 participants, most originating in the U.S.

Congrats, guys.

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Fighting in Gaza Bad for Mankind, Great for Right-Wing Website

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Government Failures On the Rise? Take It With a Grain of Salt.

by TravisMcnutt Posted on July 16, 2014

Mother Jones

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Paul Light has gotten a lot of attention for his recent study showing that “government failures” are on the rise. I’ve seen several criticisms of his study, but it seems to me that basic methodology is really the main problem with it. First off, his dataset is a list of “41 important past government failures (between 2001 – 2014) from a search of news stories listed in the Pew Research Center’s News Interest Index.” Is that really a good way of determining the frequency of government failures? A list of headlines might be a good way of determining public interest, but it hardly seems like even a remotely good proxy for cataloging government failure in general.

For example, 2007 appears to be an epically bad year for government failure. But among the failures are “wounded soldiers,” “food safety recalls,” and “consumer product recalls.” Those all seem a bit amorphous to count as distinct failures.

This methodology also mushes up timeframes. Fast & Furious is counted as a government failure in 2011, but that’s just the year it made headlines. The operation itself ran from 2006-11. Likewise, the “postal service financing crisis” is hardly unique to 2011. It’s been ongoing for years.

Some of the items don’t even appear to be proper government failures. Was the Gulf oil spill in 2010 a government failure? Or the Southwest airline groundings? In both cases, you can argue—as Light does—that they exposed lax government oversight. But this basically puts you in the position of arguing that any failure in a regulated industry is a government failure. I’m not sure I buy that.

Finally, on the flip side, there are the things that don’t show up. The government shutdown in 2013? The fiscal cliff? The debt ceiling standoffs? The collapse of the Copenhagen conference? Allowing Osama bin Laden to escape from Tora Bora? The scandalous demotion of Pluto to non-planet status?

Maybe I’m just picking nits here. But given the weakness of the core methodology; the small number of incidents; the problems of categorization; and the overall vagueness of what “failure” means, I’m just not sure this study tells us much. I’d take it with a big shaker of salt for the moment. It seems more like clickbait than a serious analysis of how well or poorly government has done over the past decade.

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Government Failures On the Rise? Take It With a Grain of Salt.

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Americans Are Surprisingly Stressed Out About News and Politics

by XZQKirbymrteo Posted on July 10, 2014

Mother Jones

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Via Wonkblog, here’s a fascinating little chart courtesy of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. They just released a survey about the causes of stress, and things like health and money problems are predictably the biggest sources. But how about all those niggling little daily causes of stress? What are the biggest routine things that send you into conniptions?

Well, it turns out that two of the biggest contributors to high blood pressure are watching the news and hearing about what politicians are up to. And boy howdy, does this beg for a follow-up. I really, really want to know what news sources cause the most stress. Is it listening to NPR? Watching Fox News? Getting your daily Limbaugh fix? Reading Kevin Drum’s blog?

Perhaps the mere act of making you think about this is, at this very moment, making you red in the face. Then again, maybe not. I want to know more. Who’s most stressed out by the news? Liberals? Conservatives? Everyone? And what outlets cause the most stress? Obviously my money is on the Drudge/Fox/Limbaugh axis, but maybe I’d be surprised. I want to hear more about this.

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Americans Are Surprisingly Stressed Out About News and Politics

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Keeping Track of Hurricane Arthur

by Myrna Posted on July 3, 2014

If conditions align, Hurricane Arthur could break a 3,173-day stretch in which no major hurricane has made landfall on United States shores. See original article:  Keeping Track of Hurricane Arthur ; ;Related ArticlesThe Agriculture Secretary Sees a Smart (Phone) Solution to GMO Labeling FightTechnology as a Path to Product TransparencyStunning New Video View of Swimming Polar Bears ;

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Keeping Track of Hurricane Arthur

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America Sucks at Eating Vegetables

by munrhexaa Posted on June 5, 2014

Mother Jones

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Hold on a second. Kelsey McKinney draws my attention this morning to the latest USDA report on the kinds of foods we eat, and the chart on the right shows what it has to say about vegetables.

Is this for real? Since when are potatoes vegetables? I mean, I’m delighted by this news since it means my mother has been wrong all these years when she badgers me about not eating enough vegetables. Hell, it turns out that the bag of potato chips in my pantry apparently counts too. I’ll be sure to have some with my lunch today.

Still, I suspect that mom is right, which makes this a pretty depressing chart. Regardless of how the USDA classifies them, I’ll continue to put potatoes (and corn) into the starch food group. Aside from that, it appears that we eat plenty of salad (head lettuce, Romaine lettuce, tomatoes) but not much of anything else. All the things we traditionally think of as vegetables (broccoli, peas, beans, etc.) are consumed in such tiny quantities they don’t even show up.

That’s terrible. Eat your vegetables, America!

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America Sucks at Eating Vegetables

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This Video of Michael Sam & His Boyfriend Finding Out He Has Been Drafted Is Amazing

by FeliciaEDU Posted on May 11, 2014

Mother Jones

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Earlier today, Michael Sam received a really great phone call. He had become the first openly-gay player to be drafted in NFL history. Cameras were present as he and his boyfriend found out the news together. Watch them share a kiss and beautiful embrace as they learn of the historic decision by the St. Louis Rams:

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This Video of Michael Sam & His Boyfriend Finding Out He Has Been Drafted Is Amazing

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Wiretapping Advocate Condoleezza Rice Joins Dropbox

by BobbieStocks Posted on April 10, 2014

Mother Jones

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The internet is not pleased that Condoleezza Rice will be joining the board of the filesharing service Dropbox. A lot of the concern has to do with the fact that she’ll be helping Dropbox navigate “international expansion and privacy” issues. As Ars Technica notes, the former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State isn’t exactly the kind of person you’d trust to defend your data from Uncle Sam: In 2003, she authorized NSA wiretaps of members of the United Nations Security Council at the behest of George W. Bush, and later defended them. Of course, to be fair, maybe having an insider like Rice onboard will allow Dropbox to push back against would-be government intrusions. Still, the news is likely to give a boost to Dropbox competitors that now market their cloud services, convincingly or not, as “NSA-proof.”

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Wiretapping Advocate Condoleezza Rice Joins Dropbox

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