In 2003 singer Barbara Streisand noticed pictures of her home were available in a collection of free photos of the California coastline, so she sued the photographer for $50 million. The result – an otherwise uninteresting photo of a mansion on the coast became one of the most famous photos on the Internet, creating what we call today The Streisand Effect.
Nothing brings more attention to something online than an attempt to remove it. This week we’ll talk about Microsoft’s leaked plans for the XBox 720, and how their lawyers are proving to the web that these plans are real. We’ll talk about Kony 2012 suing a parody video, and as such increasing the popularity of that site. Also, Dave talks about Magic The Gathering some more. Boo. And Justin jailbreaks his Wii.
MakeUseOf writers live all over the world. Every week, three of these writers virtually get together to talk about the latest technology news and what they’ve been up to. It’s called Technophilia, and while it’s not officially part of MakeUseOf – and is occasionally profane – it’s an entertaining way to keep up with technology news.
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And, as always, the headlines.
- Facebook changed everyone’s email addresses, presumably because they like recursion.
- Facebook is allowing users to opt out of being in “sponsored stories. James points out people could opt out anyway, by not clicking the “Like” button for brands.
- Facebook introduces the somewhat creepy “find nearby friends” feature on it’s mobile app, then pulls it a day later. Don’t worry: it will come back.
- A convincing Twitter Bot attracts sympathy from real people. It reminds Justin of the “Talking To Machines” episode of RadioLab.
- Kony 2012 threatens to sue a parody site, because they don’t understand The Streisand Effect. Check out KickStriker, it’s hilarious.
- Mac users pay more for hotels.
- Xbox 720 documents were leaked. We can look forward to a 2013 release and VR 3D goggles in 2014.
- Not content with jailtime, the Japanese copyright industry aims for automatic blocking of copyright material at ISP level. James is afraid; Justin is sarcastically certain it will end piracy forever.
- There’s a call for Ray Bradbury to be honoured with internet error message: error 451 for government censorship. Justin thinks this isn’t a fitting tribute: Bradbury insisted Fahrenheit 451 was less about government censorship than people not taking the time to read books. Dave and James haven’t read the book, so they wouldn’t know.
- Apple finally launched a Podcast app for the iPhone.
- And we answer your questions. Stay tuned.
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love this podcast
I just stumbled on your “5 podcasts you should seriously check out right away.” I got there too late as the comments were closed (180 day max), and really wanted to leave a comment. I gotta thank you very much for the article, I’ve been really in a rut for good talk to listen to at work. As of a few days ago I was pretty much dependent on Coast to Coast AM, which gets really old after a while. Twice a week a really good one, No Agenda, comes out and breaks the monotony, but that’s not nearly often enough. So far This American Life is becoming a top-tier favorite of mine, and it makes work just that much more interesting (my job is rather tedious if you couldn’t tell by now). Seeing your tastes in podcasts (especially The Bugle), I’m quite frankly astonished you don’t mention No Agenda, as it has a very similar slant as The Bugle, only the 2 guys involved are a bit more in the know about the implications behind the news and the show is also more fun (not to mention done live). You really should check it out, as I’m positive it’ll become a regular in your rotation and enhance your media consumption habits.
http://www.noagendashow.com/
Cheers!