Has Twitter been taken over by radical Islam?

This blogger now has nothing to do with Twitter. This blogger does not endorse Twitter nor radical Islam. This blogger is very happy being a moderate, middle-of-the-road, peacable Christian.

This morning for some unknown reason I accessed my Twitter account and found I was locked out for a few hours. Logging in later, I was instructed that I could not access my account unless I deleted a tweet that referred to Islam as being a blood-dripping, murderous excuse for a religion. Clearly Twitter looks like it's now being run by ISIS sympathizers. This blogger does not endorse censorship of ideas and thoughts. What a world away from September 11, 2001 when people didn't bow and crawl before false Gods.

Consequently, my personal Twitter account is now no longer going to be used. The app has been deleted from my phone, my tablet and my life. That actually set me thinking about social media in general. It seems that on social media sites, accusations can be levied against other users by un-named, faceless accusers and judgements made without any defence being permitted. It's so unlike the current real world where the accused has the right to face the accuser and where both parties are entitled to representation. In many ways it has echoes of the 1940s.

Going further along that line, we have people using alleged social media without realising that nothing is ever free. Twitter, like Facebook are businesses and their business is to sell advertising to people that want to sell you things. Thus, as a consequence you have to ignore a barrage of advertising ranging from the ridiculous to the heinous. It is a rare individual that has not come across adverts for illegal and immoral activities on Facebook, Twitter or other social media. Doing business with Twitter or Facebook really seems to mean doing business with Satan himself.

Look at the kind of users that social media (not just Facebook and Twitter) attract... Pedophiles, terrorists, identity thieves, scammers, conmen, murderers, rapists. How many times have we hear of ISIS using social media as a fertile recruiting ground? How many have not heard of at least one rape, murder or pedophile activity carried out on naive social media users. The Craigslist Killer immediately springs to mind. 

Allowing social media into your home is like putting out the welcome mat, turning on the light and inviting inmates from the local prison into your home. I must say that without Facebook and without Twitter, life does not end. Indeed I gave thought to life without the internet.

As many of you know, I use an elderly smartphone. It's a Nexus 4 that I bought new in 2013. I believe this month might well be its 3rd anniversary. While I find it interesting and pleasurable to play with the internet on it, I don't really feel I'd miss much with just an ordinary flip phone. It's not as though people line up to phone me. Indeed if they did, believe me, I wouldn't have that phone for long! Ages ago I moved into a residence where I used DSL and that came with free incoming phone. I plugged a phone in and had non-stop junk calls. After three days, the phone was unplugged and thrown in a box.

Simply, since the Internet is clearly being so radicalised by terrorists etc, is there much point to it anymore? Twitter illustrates my biggest gripe with social media. I had had Twitter for several years and found that it's a medium on which (like Facebook) people like to broadcast their lives both intimate and not but who steadfastly refuse to interact. At its most basic, social media is a wooden soap box that is taken to a favorite corner of the local park upon which one stands and shouts inflated opinions at anybody within earshot. Blogs are just one example. This blog might even be pretty much an example of this.

Did I find Twitter fun? Not really. I used it hoping for some interaction but never got any interaction other than some faceless, nameless accusor. Did I find Facebook fun? Not really - there are people I like to keep up with but with all of them, I'd prefer to keep up with them via emal and instant messenger than via Facebook. Sadly, when I left Facbook in June, most dropped out of contact. Perhaps that says a lot of the worth of social media. It looks to be social but looks are deceiving.

Am I surprised Twitter seems to support radical Islam? Not really. Their workers are most likely outsourced to such basteons of democracy and freedom as Pakistan, Russia, China, India etc. Places where radical Islam is widespread! Given the reports of youngsters being recruited by radical Islam via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc, I'm surprised governments have not stepped in to shut down such operations. 

Help me! I have 250,000 photos!

Once in a while, I lack ideas for my blog. Today was one of those times so I headed over to one of those iniquitous photo forums to read what kind of assinine drivel was being published. Seriously, if those people realised how easy it was to trace them from their postings then I'm sure they'd be unhappy. It's as bad as Facebook - if people all realised that the asinine drivel they post can be seen by their employers, I'm sure they'd say something like "so what". The problem is that the "so what" attitude that is very prevalent is the undoing of so many people. It's as though there's a mental block that people have - they cannot see that what they post online can be read by people that might be able to make their lives difficult in real life.

So, today somebody posted they had 250,000 photos and had taken them all over the last 4 years. I though I was bad with about 20,000 photos. The problem is that because digital means that photos now do not have an individual cost, people just aim their cameras and keep shooting in the hope of getting a good photo. They don't realise that 20 very similar photos of a grapefruit just aren't that exciting and will never be worth any money whatsoever. The media is full of garbage about people selling photos for lots of money. Fact is - nobody can be bothered to disprove garbage like that. It gets posted, reposted and becomes yet another internet "fact".

Film because of its cost makes judgement more important. People will look at a scene and ask "is this worth photographing" and they'll ask "can I just buy a postcard instead". Because people took fewer photos, they took more considered photos. The photo albums of old had mainly photos of family. Vacation photos were of important and intreaguing things, not a blow-by-blow photograph of everything. Nobody wants to see your breakfast - not even you. Nobody wants to see your hotel room - not even you. Nobody wants to see what your holiday conquests look like - not even you.

Let's just face it - if you take too many photos then it'll just be so much of a nuisance to look through and you'll end up just forgetting about the interesting ones. To resolve this, apply two simple rules to all you photography.
1. Never take more than 1 photo of a subject - if the subject is badly posed or bad, it'll be the same in every repeat photo.
2. Limit yourself to only photos that are worth taking. 

Today I have taken 4 photographs and I used my cellphone for those. They simply illustrate what's happening on my bus conversion blog. I have not taken photographs with a DSLR on continuous of any of my subjects. To be blunt - who wants to see a million images of a piece of steel I just welded? Over the last week have taken no photographs.

Which do you prefer to see? 

I'd bet you prefer the carefully framed photo on the right - taken in Vilnius, Lithuania. The photo on the left looks more like Facebook garbage.

Going forward, I'd like my readers to take fewer but better photos. Be the curator of interesting images rather than the hoarder of every image.

Why I don't use Facebook

Earlier today a friend sent screenshots of a conversation she had on Facebook via their messaging service with a scammer. Very entertaining! The big problem I have with Facebook is not the scammers nor the fact they closed my account for refusing to reveal my true identity, thus opening me up to scammers, stalkers and other villains. I have been stalked fairly consistently in the past and thus am not willing to open myself up again to such a danger.

The screenshots below depict exactly what happened. In terms of photographic context, that might seem murky but I'll explain it. Villains want your camera gear to sell to buy drugs, hookers and so on. Facebook makes it easy for villains to find you and where you live. They're not all as stupid as the villain in the screenshots. Incidentally, they did apparently ring my friend's redundant Google Voice number from a number identified as (260) 702-2273 which comes up as a Verizon cellphone number.





Needless to say, I had to paste over the more graphic details in order to make this publishable! The naughty images were of 3 different women and different from the user's profile. Although the user called, there was no message left other than a vague noise of something rattling in the background. As that was the only number to have called her Google Voice in many moons, it's highly unlikely to be an accidental call.

My recommendation - stay as far away from Facebook as you possibly can. Avoiding Bank of America is also a good idea as I recently noticed they were adding $12 a month charges onto a positive balance.

Almost six months!

Yesterday my blog stats showed an entry from June 30 was receiving several views. I went back and reread that entry out of curiosity. It was all about my having left Facebook. I can barely even remember using Facebook now and certainly don't miss it. In fact, very few of the people I know in real life actually use Facebook.

I'd say the best comment about Facebook is that people I met in the past and don't wish to encounter again, probably use Facebook. Why should I post to Facebook and let them know by virtue that I'm posting that I'm still alive? Better the people that I don't want following me to believe I died in that grenade explosion! Even worse, people would be able to look me up!

I have very much a feeling Facebook is primarily used by weak people who need emotional support. They need approval or adulation for everything they do. Why else would they post for all the world to see, the things they do. Some things should remain private such as relationships, what you had for dinner, where you live etc. Instead, Facebook users broadcast it for all the world to see. Many even via Facebook messenger allow the world to see their current location at all times. What a bonus for burglars, muggers and rapists!

Similarly, people love to seek approval via forums. I used to marvel at people who'd post online their latest purchases, letting all the wrong people know what they owned. Psst - the guy in No. 3 just bought a $3,500 camera and its small and pocketable.

They agonise on forums, trying to get others to make their decisions for them. I have $295 - should I buy this or that? Make your own darn mind up - its your money!

Most of what they laughably call Social Media is anything but. There just seem to be way too many downsides. Everything is double edged...
Foursquare - let's your friends know where you are. Also lets your enemies, process servers, bosses and burglars know where you are. Rather hard to deny having had a call from work that you're in the area when you're busily posting from the restaurant next door!
Twitter - anything you post can and will be taken completely out of context and used against you.
Facebook - the same as foursquare and Facebook plus additional dangers. Imagine working for a defence contractor and being a member of a group opposed to their work when you were enrolled in that group by a friend and didn't even know about it!

Do I miss Facebook? Hardly! I'd like to be in touch with some of the people but judging from their lack of effort in contacting me off Facebook, I clearly wasn't that important in their lives. Perhaps more than that, their Facebook addiction is too strong.

Do I miss forums? Not really. It's a breath of fresh air not reading the garbage posted. It's nice not starting sensible discussions only to see them perverted into a mockery of sanity within two responses.

Would I miss the internet if it was simply switched off? Not really. Indeed, I am at the point where I just don't feel the internet is really worth paying for!

The great leader?

The adulating crowds gather around, waiting expectantly for their charismatic leader to appear. Slowly he appears from the balcony to a trumpet fanfare and cries of "we serve" roar throughout the crowd. Dissenters are summarily pounces upon, beaten and ejected.

Measures are announced where all members are required to have their photographs on file, their phone numbers, their addresses, their associates names and their own personal location at all times. All members marital status, sexuality and personal likes are recorded. Most information will be publicly available for all to use for their own ends. Information such as addresses and current location will be made available to anybody in exchange for money.

Translate "we serve" into German which would be "Zeig Heil". Translate " leader " into German which would be "Führer". Look into history where dissent was destroyed and ignored. Look into history to see how Hitler provided for all his people's entertainment and leisure needs, how children were catered for by youth movements.

Look also at Hitler's aim to unite the world under a Swastika. Now look to see how the world is united with the same blinkered fervor under a flag that says "F". Notice how dissent is suppressed by adulatory masses.

Look at how Hitler included everybody, embracing everybody then dealing viciously with dissent. Look at the way he bought public opinion with opulent acts of charity.

Am I the only person that finds Facebook to be sinister? Am I the only person to see the Führer of Facebook to have potential to be easily the most evil person on the planet?

Facebook has data on around quarter of the world's population. That's more than the KGB, CIA and Mossad combined. Already that information is for sale to marketers. Who is to say marketers are who they say? This database has power and absolute power to be a devastating tool for evil.

Is the Führer the new evil the world must confront? Is Facebook the new 4th Reich? How bitterly will people regret giving the evil empire as much personal data? How soon will Facebook show its true colors as the ultimate evil or will people remind blindly suckered into it?

Top ten reasons to close your Facebook account immediately.

Following on from my last post, it transpired that Facebook had my account flagged as some manner of fake, which is really strange considering most things on Facebook are pretty fake. As an example, I know people with 2, 3 or more accounts, all in different names. I know people who have accounts for their dogs and even for stuffed fluffy toys! None of those are remotely "real". There are even accounts floating around where the account owner has died and yet the account has not been removed. How would those accounts face an authenticity challenge?

Reasons to delete your Facebook account:
1. Facebook is an advertising and marketing juggernaut that will use and sell data to any government or organization it can make money from.
2. Facebook is one of the biggest Republican bludgeons of all time with a typically Republican lack of morality.
3. Employers and workmates trawl Facebook, looking for reasons to fire employees.
4. Privacy - you cannot expect privacy if you're willing to put your private life online.
5. Accountability - Facebook conveniently ignores national laws and constitutional rights, hiding behind a myriad of dodgy offshore data centers.
6. Facebook sides with online bullies who will report an account as fake while ignoring complaints about pornographic postings or harassment.
7. Facebook allows bucket loads of spam. There are literally hundreds of apps that churn out nothing but spammed invitations.
8. Facebook is the biggest time suck ever. People will sit down for five minutes and two hours later are still reading what uncle bubba had for breakfast.
9. Facebook is an addiction that gets people fired. At work, I've seen people with the Facebook app on their phones, sneaking their phones out to check Facebook every few minutes. I've seen them being given oral and written reprimands and even seen them being fired for their addiction.
10. Membership of Facebook actively erodes privacy and human rights because it becomes OK for whatever Facebook wants. People will go along with it as long as they can keep their Facebook habit going!

Here's the kicker... After I wrote and told Facebook they could keep their nasty account, they had the cheek to respond with this...

Clearly nobody read my response as this is a 100% automated posting. I'm very tempted to make up a fake ID and send it because I wouldn't mind betting the "checking" is done by a computer that just reads the wording in a photo. Wouldn't that be a scream? To be honest though, I'm not going to bother.

Without Facebook, I'm not constantly online at home. I actually turn my computer off. I have no need to keep checking what people I know and don't know are up to. None of my immediate family uses Facebook. They use email, telephone and old fashioned post. Many of my friends don't bother with it either. I'm even getting more done. The downside is I can't advertise my blog as much. On the other hand, Facebook advertising did not increase blog revenue noticeably. Financially, Facebook was nothing and a time soak.