I've been blocked on Facebook ... because of raccoons.

Raccoons are an invasive species in this part of the world. Friend of mine has a cabin in the woods (yes, our minister resposible for the invironment calls 5 trees standing together "a forrest" {this actually is NOT a joke}) ... and that cabin is often visited by raccoons who are the North American variant which escaped German zoos during WW2 bombings and started reproducing ... they breed like rabbits.

The raccoons have no natural ennemies and move into territories in the process chasing out the current occupants or just killing them. Ground nesting birds especially are threatened by them.

So my friend posts photos of these raccoons and I responded that someone should shoot them because they are an invasive species.

Apparently that violates Facebook's rules because I received a message quoting my answer and saying it was inappropriate, as a result they blocked me. I am being told I can appeal that, and when I did I received a message telling me they were unable to deal with the appeal.

It is possible to write about and comment upon mass shootings in which real people get killed, but raccoons ... totally unacceptable.

Right now I am searching the rules to find Facebook's policy on raccoons. Wonder how they'll react when I write about my new car ... it's German, a Mercedes ... would that be equal to invoking Godwin's Law?

\%/@rd

--- D'Bridge 3.99
* Origin: Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards (2:292/854)

On 03 Sep 19 10:00:16, Ward Dossche said the following to All:

So my friend posts photos of these raccoons and I responded that someone should shoot them because they are an invasive species.

Apparently that violates Facebook's rules because I received a message quot my answer and saying it was inappropriate, as a result they blocked me. I a

Killing raccoons is considered hate-speech against the raccoon species or those who identify as a raccoon.

Nick

--- Renegade vY2Ka2
* Origin: Joey, do you like movies about gladiators? (1:229/426)

Nick Andre wrote to Ward Dossche <=-

Killing raccoons is considered hate-speech against the raccoon species
or those who identify as a raccoon.

Don't dig too deeply, or our ring-tailed overlords will make you dissapear.


... Would you like to wake up from this dream?
--- MultiMail/XT v0.52
* Origin: http://realitycheckbbs.org | tomorrow's retro tech (1:218/700)

Re: Facebook and Raccoons
By: Ward Dossche to All on Tue Sep 03 2019 10:00 am

I've been blocked on Facebook ... because of raccoons.

They did you a favor.

People should not use #Faceplant, nor should they use #Twatter or #InstaSpam - instead, they might want to consider Mastodon, Pleroma, PeerTube, Pixelfed, and other non-monolithic silo FOSS based services - and perhaps even install and run one of their own. Fidonet is good too :p

Getting banned from Faceplant and lamenting that fact is like being dammed to hell and complaining that satan sent you back upstairs to the place with the good climate ;)

Faceplant is Satan.
--- SBBSecho 3.09-Linux
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

On 2019 Sep 03 10:00:16, you wrote to All:

I've been blocked on Facebook ... because of raccoons.

you're still using FB?? really??

)\/(ark

Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.
... When preparing a dish for bedtime champagne is the best tenderizer.
---
* Origin: (1:3634/12.73)

I've been blocked on Facebook ... because of raccoons.

you're still using FB?? really??

Yes.

The whole family uses it. Too many friends use it ...

\%/@rd

--- D'Bridge 3.99
* Origin: Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards (2:292/854)

On 2019 Sep 05 07:42:08, you wrote to me:

I've been blocked on Facebook ... because of raccoons.

you're still using FB?? really??

Yes.

i haven't missed it in 2 years or so after someone reported my account for using my 30+ year moniker...

The whole family uses it. Too many friends use it ...

there are other social networks that one can use... likely most are on more than just FB ;)

)\/(ark

Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.
... Coffee conquers all.
---
* Origin: (1:3634/12.73)

They did you a favor.

People should not use #Faceplant, nor should they use #Twatter or #InstaSpam - instead, they might want to consider Mastodon, Pleroma, PeerTube, Pixelfed, and other non-monolithic silo FOSS based services - and perhaps even install and run one of their own. Fidonet is good too
:p

Getting banned from Faceplant and lamenting that fact is like being
dammed to hell and complaining that satan sent you back upstairs to the place with the good climate ;)

Faceplant is Satan.

I recently finished reading "Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now" by Jaron Larnier (I think that's his name).

He makes a pretty compelling case for having nothing to do with Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Google and Youtube. Not because he's anti the technology, but believes their business models are toxic and the price we are each paying for their free use is too high.

For me, I try not to use many of them because I can feel their addictive pull. The amount of time I wasted watching clickbait "This video will change your life" type Youtube videos, I could have actually changed my life. Or getting into pointless arguments on Twitter, spending the morning seething about some unpleasant compent, and trying to conjure up some clever retort.

Ridding myself of Google and WhatsApp are still works in progress though. Network effects are locking me into WhatsApp, and therefore smartphones. Would love to chuck the thing into the bin.

* Q-Blue 2.4 *
--- SBBSecho 3.09-Linux
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

On 09-05-19 21:36, Simon Geddes wrote to Bradley D. Thornton <=-

He makes a pretty compelling case for having nothing to do with
Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Google and Youtube. Not because he's
anti the technology, but believes their business models are toxic and
the price we are each paying for their free use is too high.

I think there is a lot of merit in those arguments surrounding the business models of the major social media companies.

For me, I try not to use many of them because I can feel their
addictive pull. The amount of time I wasted watching clickbait "This
video will change your life" type Youtube videos, I could have actually changed my life. Or getting into pointless arguments on Twitter,
spending the morning seething about some unpleasant compent, and trying
to conjure up some clever retort.

I can understand that. I do use Facebook a bit, but that's because a lot of groups are using it as an internal(ish) medium. I ignore the clickbait though, I can generally see through the hype. Twitter I tried and dumped years ago as just noise. My only presence on Twitter is my IRMP node on ham radio, which posts status messages when someone connects or disconnects. I don't care about following celebs or stupid arguments.

Ridding myself of Google and WhatsApp are still works in progress
though. Network effects are locking me into WhatsApp, and therefore smartphones. Would love to chuck the thing into the bin.

Google has too many useful things, but Whatsapp I rarely use. I only have it currently installed, because it was used during a major event 5 months ago. Hasn't really seen any use since.


... No, no, nurse! I said SLIP off his SPECTACLES!!
=== MultiMail/Win v0.51
--- SBBSecho 3.03-Linux
* Origin: Freeway BBS Bendigo,Australia freeway.apana.org.au (3:633/410)

Simon Geddes wrote to Bradley D. Thornton <=-

I recently finished reading "Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social
Media Accounts Right Now" by Jaron Larnier (I think that's his name).

He makes a pretty compelling case for having nothing to do with
Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Google and Youtube. Not because he's
anti the technology, but believes their business models are toxic and
the price we are each paying for their free use is too high.

He's an interesting guy. He has a TED talk covering those points you read,
and a couple of other books. I'm reading "You are Not a Gadget", an earlier work of his. He calls out the inequality of the Web 2.0 economy, where
a few people get rich on the content of the many users who contribute data.

In his world, microservices would allow content creators to share in the wealth of the economy. Wonderfully utopian, I'd love to live there, but
don't see how to get there from here.

For me, I try not to use many of them because I can feel their
addictive pull. The amount of time I wasted watching clickbait "This
video will change your life" type Youtube videos, I could have actually changed my life. Or getting into pointless arguments on Twitter,
spending the morning seething about some unpleasant compent, and trying
to conjure up some clever retort.

Yeah, taking Facebook and Twitter off of my phone was a good step. I consciously try now not to pull out my phone when in line, instead take a chance to take some deep breaths and examine my surroundings - which is usually people checking out Instagram feeds on their phone.


... Listen in total darkness, very quietly
--- MultiMail/XT v0.52
* Origin: http://realitycheckbbs.org | tomorrow's retro tech (1:218/700)

Ridding myself of Google and WhatsApp are still works in progress
though. Network effects are locking me into WhatsApp, and therefore smartphones. Would love to chuck the thing into the bin.

Google has too many useful things, but Whatsapp I rarely use. I only
have it currently installed, because it was used during a major event 5 months ago. Hasn't really seen any use since.

I have tried to migrate to duckduckgo, but I find myself going back to google just because the searches tend to me more relevant.

Although I'm not always sure that's true - it's just I have this uneasy feeling I need to 'google' something to be certain I have fully covered my bases and haven't missed something important on the subject of interest. Maybe that's just the impact of marketing, than anything tangibly better to the quality of the search...

* Q-Blue 2.4 *
--- SBBSecho 3.10-Linux
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

On 09-17-19 20:23, Simon Geddes wrote to Tony Langdon <=-

I have tried to migrate to duckduckgo, but I find myself going back to google just because the searches tend to me more relevant.

Over the years, Google's algorithms do seem to do search particularly well. They also seem to be geographically sensitive, which has saved me a lot of time too when locating things like government or local services.


... Wedding rings: The world's smallest handcuffs.
=== MultiMail/Win v0.51
--- SBBSecho 3.03-Linux
* Origin: Freeway BBS Bendigo,Australia freeway.apana.org.au (3:633/410)

Re: Re: Facebook and Raccoons
By: Tony Langdon to Simon Geddes on Wed Sep 18 2019 12:04 pm

Over the years, Google's algorithms do seem to do search particularly well. They also seem to be geographically sensitive, which has saved me a lot of time too when locating things like government or local services.

Startpage does a neat trick, they sanitize search queries and pass them on to Google.
--- SBBSecho 3.09-Win32
* Origin: http://realitycheckbbs.org | tomorrow's retro tech (1:218/700)

On 09-17-19 23:44, Kurt Weiske wrote to Tony Langdon <=-

Startpage does a neat trick, they sanitize search queries and pass them
on to Google.

Sounds interesting.


... Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket.
=== MultiMail/Win v0.51
--- SBBSecho 3.03-Linux
* Origin: Freeway BBS Bendigo,Australia freeway.apana.org.au (3:633/410)

He's an interesting guy. He has a TED talk covering those points you
read, and a couple of other books. I'm reading "You are Not a Gadget",
an earlier work of his. He calls out the inequality of the Web 2.0
economy, where a few people get rich on the content of the many users
who contribute data.

This was something I never really appreciated before, before I read his book. He gives the example of translators lending their services doing mini translations, which are the then the feedstuff of future translation algorithms, doing those very translators out of a job. And that these algorithms are passed off as 'artificial intelligence' when they are really just the product of human work, summarised algorithmically.

I wasn't fully convinced by his various arguments, but it has definitely made memore aware of the data I unwittingly give away online.

* Q-Blue 2.4 *
--- SBBSecho 3.10-Linux
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Re: Re: Facebook and Raccoons
By: Simon Geddes to Kurt Weiske on Wed Sep 18 2019 08:40 pm

* Q-Blue 2.4 *

That's a walk down memory lane -- the author of Q-Blue called my BBS back in the 90s.
--- SBBSecho 3.09-Win32
* Origin: http://realitycheckbbs.org | tomorrow's retro tech (1:218/700)

Over the years, Google's algorithms do seem to do search particularly
well. They also seem to be geographically sensitive, which has saved me
a lot of time too when locating things like government or local
services.

This is something i've noticed too, and it's probably part of why it feels so useful.

I suppose the downside of the personalised search feed is the issue of algorithms dictating what we are allowed to see, and how it leaves us vulnerable to manipulation by nefarious agents who want to influence our political views etc in ways we might not appreciate if we were aware of it.

Pluses and minuses! :)

* Q-Blue 2.4 *
--- SBBSecho 3.10-Linux
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

On 09-19-19 21:00, Simon Geddes wrote to Tony Langdon <=-

Over the years, Google's algorithms do seem to do search particularly well. They also seem to be geographically sensitive, which has saved me
a lot of time too when locating things like government or local
services.

This is something i've noticed too, and it's probably part of why it
feels so useful.

Yes, it does make Google more useful for everyday searches.

I suppose the downside of the personalised search feed is the issue of algorithms dictating what we are allowed to see, and how it leaves us vulnerable to manipulation by nefarious agents who want to influence
our political views etc in ways we might not appreciate if we were
aware of it.

True, if that's how you get news on those issues - I don't. :) Over here, we have a much bigger problem in that area - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, which is pretty much a mouthpiece for the right wing. :/


... Are the taglines too long, or is the tagline-space to sh
=== MultiMail/Win v0.51
--- SBBSecho 3.03-Linux
* Origin: Freeway BBS Bendigo,Australia freeway.apana.org.au (3:633/410)

At 9:05 PM on 18 Sep 19, Kurt Weiske said to Simon Geddes:

Re: Re: Facebook and Raccoons
By: Simon Geddes to Kurt Weiske on Wed Sep 18 2019 08:40 pm

* Q-Blue 2.4 *

It's a really nice program. Still very usable, and I haven't explored many of its features yet. The author kindly gave away the full version back in the early 2000s I think.

* Q-Blue 2.4 *
--- SBBSecho 3.10-Linux
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)