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How sex censorship killed the internet we love
When was the last time you thought of the internet as a weird and wonderful place? I can feel my anxiety climbing as I try to find current news stories about sex. Google News shows one lonely result for "porn," an article that is 26 days old. I log out of everything and try different browsers because this can't be right.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai will testify in Congress on December 5th
Republican politicians, most notably US President Donald Trump, have strongly criticized Google for bias against conservatives. "There's a lot of interest in their algorithm, how those algorithms work, how those algorithms are supervised," said outgoing committee member Bob Goodlatte in September. To counter that, CEO Sundar Pichai is scheduled to appear on December 5th before the House Judiciary Committee to dispel any idea of bias in its all-powerful search algorithms, according to the Washington Post.
App flaw let anyone access UK Conservative politicians' data
The UK Conservative party is learning a hard lesson about the importance of basic security measures in mobile apps. Users have discovered that you could log into the party's conference app using only an attendee's email address, providing access to all kinds of sensitive data. And when many of the conference participants are politicians who registered with their email addresses at Parliament... you can guess what happened next.
Facebook and Twitter met with GOP leaders over tech’s liberal bias
Since the 2016 election, Trump and right-wing lawmakers have claimed that the tech industry's liberal bias has led to suppressing and even censoring conservative speech online. That led to a hearing by the House Judiciary Committee back in April on the matter, which Facebook, Twitter and Google didn't attend despite invitations. But in efforts to quell suspicion, executives from the former two have reportedly met secretly with GOP leaders and conservative commentators in the last couple weeks.
Here’s why a British politician will escape punishment for hacking
Thanks to a silly statement made by the prime minister, most British politicians are now asked in interviews about the worst thing they have ever done. When MP Kemi Badenoch was handed the question, she confessed to something quite serious: hacking into the website of another politician.
Twitter says most recent follower purge is about bots, not politics
A number of Twitter users are claiming the platform is purging itself of conservative viewpoints as some lost thousands of followers last night. Richard Spencer, writer Mark Pantano and Candace Owens of Turning Point USA were among those spreading the #TwitterLockOut hashtag campaign and claiming that only conservative accounts were being targeted.
Peter Thiel might be getting out of Silicon Valley
The Wall Street Journal reports today that Peter Thiel -- billionaire, investor and Gawker-killer -- might be cutting many of his ties with Silicon Valley. The paper spoke to sources it says are familiar with Thiel and his plans and they said that the shift is largely due to the Bay Area's left-leaning politics and what Thiel sees as its intolerance for conservative views. Supposedly, he's considering leaving Facebook's board and plans to move to Los Angeles. Thiel Capital and Thiel Foundation, companies that manage his investments, may also be relocated to LA.
Twitter will livestream five BBC UK election specials
Twitter's attempt to reposition itself as a major video provider has led to a number of important partnerships, but many of them have been US-based, or held at a time where UK users are unable to watch. However, that's all set to change with the upcoming General Election. The BBC announced today that it's linking up with the social network for the first time to share coverage of five major debates that begin on May 31st.
Facebook meets with Glenn Beck and other conservatives this week
Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg talked about meeting leading conservatives to explain the social network's trending topics selection, and it's clear that he's not wasting any time while making that happen. The company has confirmed that Zuck will meet with "about a dozen" conservative figures on May 18th, including outspoken media persona Glenn Beck. It's not clear exactly how things will go down, although Beck maintains that it's partly about assuring the right wing that this furor "won't happen again" -- he's operating on the assumption that Facebook did something wrong, which isn't necessarily true. He hopes that former presidential (and vice presidential) candidate Carly Fiorina will be involved, but Facebook hasn't confirmed this yet.
UK considers punishing online pirates with 10-year jail sentences
As police forces up and down the country turn the screw on sellers of illegal streaming boxes, the government is now considering whether pirates in general should receive tougher sentences. Currently, infringers face up to two years in prison, but an amendment to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act could increase that punishment to 10 years. Government ministers have launched a consultation and are calling for feedback on tougher penalties. They argue that the "vast majority" of copyright offenders, focusing more on those who control the distribution of illegal content in the first place, have links to "further criminality" and tougher punishments could "have a deterrent effect" on criminals seeking to make money from file-sharing.
New UK government a possible setback for game dev tax breaks
[James Stringer] A report from Develop claims that the much-lobbied game development tax breaks that UK developers have been seeking may have to wait a bit longer before coming to fruition. Sources close to the UK government told the site that the recently reorganized government -- a new coalition of Liberals and Conservatives -- will "look to find its feet" before any further discussion takes place on the previously greenlit tax break initiative. "We're not really sure what the future holds. It's very early days and we have to hold discussions and set in train how this is going to work," the source told Develop. That said, newly appointed, game-friendly Culture Minister Ed Vaizey could help to get plans quickly back on track. Vaizey has spoken out in defense of games in the past, even belonging to a group set to publicly defend the medium earlier this year. For the time being, a Treasury Department source added that the previous party's tax break bill is still "in motion" and that the new administration would "have to act to stop the plan." We're hoping it'll still be too busy finding those feet to stop it.
Conservatives hoping to attract younger supporters with video games
digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/19/conservatives-hoping-to-attract-younger-supporters-with-video-ga/?d'; In order to try and pull in visitors to the Conservative Political Action Conference this week, organizers are going all out. They'll have Glenn Beck as a keynote speaker, the NRA will be on hand, and there will be a video game lounge equipped with Xboxes and Wiis. Why the games? The conference is aiming to bring in the under-30 crowd, and to do that, organizer Kevin McCullough has created something called the XPAC Lounge, an area outside the Conference where attendees will be able to play Xbox, snack on junk food, and attend a "late night rap/jam session" with cool conservative cats like Mike Huckabee and John McCain's blogging daughter. Kevin McCullough's name sound familiar? He's the same conservative commentator who had to apologize to gamers after claiming the first Mass Effect game was "pushing our next generation of young men through the gates of hell." But apparently he's gotten over any issues he's had with interactive entertainment -- he now says that games like Guitar Hero and Call of Duty can help the conservative conference give this generation "a pat on the back and the encouragement of, 'We believe in you.'" All well and good; Just watch out for Sean Hannity. We hear he's a beast at Halo Wars. [Via G4]
Former LucasArts president making Congressional bid
Jim Ward is best known for being the no-nonsense president of LucasArts from 2004 to 2008 -- a period where the company seemed to dust itself off, and start making good games again. His claim to fame might change in the near future, however -- he's currently running to represent Arizona's 5th District in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2010 Congressional Election.Ward's fairly conservative viewpoints are evident in his campaign website, but regardless of how you feel about his policies, he's got to be a staunch supporter of the gaming industry. Plus, he might just be the only person who can push legislation through mandating the re-release of Day of the Tentacle.[Via GamePolitics]
Controversy: UK immigrant detainees play Wii while waiting
According to a report in the UK Telegraph, detainees at Colnbrook Immigration Removal Center in Berkshire are being given Nintendo Wiis while awaiting deportation for "offenses including rape and murder." There is also a claim that if something goes wrong with the console the staff will go to the nearest Argos to pick up a replacement -- wow, they've got Wiis just lying about for replacement purposes there?The whole report really comes off as a sensationalist hack job. There are numerous quotes of outrage over the amenities the detainees have, but at the end of the day the prisoners are still locked up and not out in society. Government officials say the story's allegations of plasma screens in cells aren't true, and that there is one plasma in the common room with small televisions in each cell. If the Telegraph really wanted to up the scare factor it should have claimed the prisoners were all playing Manhunt 2 on their Wiis and "practicing." Just ignore that Manhunt 2 is still banned in the UK though, it gets in the way of the sensationalism.
Columnist calls video games 'crack cocaine'
A columnist in Canada has called video games "crack cocaine," bluntly proposing to readers: "Don't play video games." Writing for the conservative National Post, Father Raymond J. de Souza (pictured) explained that he "learned the truth" about video games the hard way -- he hasn't touched one after deleting Tetris. De Souza went on to label video games as "dangerous," blaming them for fat kids and missed pockets in time. Just about what you'd expect from "the crack cocaine of the electronic world."As if approaching Godwin's Law wasn't enough, Father de Souza also insisted that too many games celebrate graphic violence, multifarious delinquency and borderline pornography. We guess Father de Souza will be missing out on the joys of Peggle too, what with Tetris being "deadly enough" for him.[Via GamePolitics]
Survey: political preferences affect game preferences
Liberal, conservative, Republican, Democrat -- whatever our political differences, as gamers we can all agree on what makes a good game, right? Not so fast. A new survey suggests that different political groups tend to have different tastes in games. The survey, conducted by Zogby International for USC Annenberg's Norman Lear Center, looked at the general media preferences of nearly 4,000 American adults of all political stripes. According to a press release (PDF), the survey found that liberals, in general tend to "play video games a lot more than other people" while conservatives "don't play a lot of video games." For the conservatives that do play, Madden was the No. 1 game while The Sims ranked highest for liberals. As for moderates. their top games included Donkey Kong, thus showing their preference for the less politically divisive era of the early '80s. Despite the differences, there is at least one game series that everyone can agree on. According to the Lear Center summary, "Mario was the most popular game across the political spectrum." As Mario himself might say, "Thanks-a so much for reconciling politically over my game." Read - Summary of results PDF - Press release
LG planning eco-approved 52-inch wooden HD plasma
Environmentalists take heart, as LG Electronics is out doing some good in the world, and its forthcoming 52-inch HD plasma provides that widescreen beauty you adore with a sense of tree-luvin' satisfaction to boot. While we've seen gizmos encased in wood before (including Hannspree's own HDTV), this particular piece goes one step further by incorporating wood throughout the entire set. While rummaging through the secret lairs of LG in Seoul, CNET UK caught a glimpse of the mysterious set, and while they weren't allowed to film / photograph it, they rendered a look-alike and assured us that the "bezel was made of compressed wood (derived from renewable forests) and finished in white water-based paint." Of course, no piece of AV equipment would be complete without a hint of silver, so LG added an aluminum trim to go along with the "lead-free / low-lead internal components." While the company wouldn't lend any clues to its future release date nor pricing information, we were told that it would eventually be "commercially available," but similar components will probably be found in more peon-friendly models (like the LG LX70) before too long.[Via CNET]
