#but that's from the person who hacked into my spotify a while ago and turns out they really liked that song huh buddy

[perilegs]

@transkovsky tagged me to this :3c

Rules: go here and make a poll with your top 10 most listened-to artists (long term!) and let your followers choose:

tagging: i cant remember who here uses spotify so if you see this consider yourself tagged bc im interested in my mutuals music tastes :3c

[the--sad--hatter]

Mischief & Madness - Chapter 12 (Loki x Reader)

Fandom: Marvel

Pairing: Loki/Reader (No physical description of reader other than female presenting)

Warnings: LOKI, Angst, lots of violence, graphic gore, extreme cursing, anxiety attacks.

Summary:

Living in New York has its ups and its downs. Upside - You have a cushy job at Stark Industries. Downside - You wind up getting yourself kidnapped by The God Of Mischief.

All you wanted was a decent cup of coffee, now you’re stuck on the otherside of the universe with a sociopath who has only begrudgingly not murdered you.

To get back home you’ll have to work with Loki, and probably stop trying to stab him.

To regain his power, he’ll have to work with you, and probably stop trying to slaughter you.

When Mischief and Madness collide, chaos ensues. Even if you survive this, the universe probably won’t…

Masterlist     Spotify Playlist Link

Chapter Twelve 

Loki was staring at you like you’d grown a second head. You waited patiently for him to process it, occupying yourself by kicking rocks and watching them explode into dust.

 “You want to what?” He eventually demanded, his eyebrows raised so high that they practically merged with his hairline.

 You shrugged at him, your smirk growing exponentially. Flummoxing the actual God of Chaos was satisfying as hell.

 “The Infinity Stones! We just go back to before Taa was destroyed and remove the Deathwaves.” You grinned.

“We can not just go back. Even if we could, we wouldn’t be changing anything. We would just create an alternate timeline with no Deathwaves, this universe would still die out.” He argued.

 “Fine, ok… Let’s not go back in time. Let’s reboot the universe. Look we can try and determine who or what is causing these Deathwaves and we can try and stop them, or we can just delete the program and rewrite it without the bug in the coding.” You tried to explain giddily.

 “How?” He asked.

 “We use the Infinity Stones to destroy the universe, just wipe it all out, clean slate. Then we rebuild it exactly the same way, minus Deathwaves. Nobody will even know what happened, they won’t feel a thing.” You told him.

 “Are you quite mad?” He questioned, a little fearfully.

 “Quite.” You agreed.

 He gaped at you but you could see the spark in his eyes, he could see the (psychotic) genius in your proposed plan.

 “Look, I’m not a hero. Hunting down the bad guys and kicking ass isn’t my thing. I create things, and when they don’t work I burn it all down and start again. That’s the only thing I have to offer this partnership. The universe, it’s just a really elaborate computer program. So we save all the coding, the people and the plants, download the files into the infinity stones and then we upload them to version 2.0. No time travel, no hunting down baddies, just straight up ‘saving’ the universe.” You coaxed.

 “And what do I bring to this madness?” He asked, mirroring your slightly maniacal grin.

 “You’re the god here, you’re not only strong enough to use the Stones, you’re the only person I can think of who’s smart and cunning enough to pull this off. This is going to take more than brawn and power. Besides, come on Loki… Don’t you want to destroy the universe?”

 “This is quite literally the most insane, chaotic plan I have ever heard.” He sighed.

 “Yeahhh, and you’re totally on board aren’t ya?” You needled.

 He started impassively at you while he weighed it all up in his head and when the corners of his lips started to gradually curl upwards; you knew you had him.

 “Very well. Say I am willing to go along with this plan of yours. How do you propose we obtain The Infinity Stones?” He challenged.

 “We…” You faltered as soon as the first word was out of your mouth. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” You admitted.

 “This entire mad scheme of yours hinges on us having The Infinity Stones, how have you not thought that far ahead?” He grouched.

 “How am I the one doing all the work? You could do something more useful than standing around bitching and being pretty.” You shot back, crossing your arms in a sulk.

 “Am I infringing on your territory? I do apologise.” He scoffed.

 “How many are there again? Five?” You asked, ignoring his snide compliments.

 “Six. The Space Stone, The Reality Stone, The Time Stone, The Soul Stone, The Power Stone and The Mind Stone.” He corrected, rolling his eyes at for not even knowing how many of the darned things there were.

 “Well, we know where three are. The Time Stone and Mind Stone are back on Earth so that’s easy.” You shrugged. “Tessie the Space Stone is…”

 And right on cue, as if summoned by your voice, The Tesseract materialised right in front of you. It spun in the air, glowing before it dimmed and dropped towards the ground. You instinctively reached out and caught it, flinching when you realised what you’d just done.

 But nothing happened. You remained on Taa and The Tesseract remained in your hand.

 “Found one?” You breathed out in awe, holding it up to an equally awestruck Loki.

 “Vænn, how are you doing that?” He asked fearfully.

 “Doing what? It just popped up, I didn’t do anything.” You said.

 You tilted your head at it curiously before you realised exactly what it was you were doing. You were holding The Tesseract. You. A mortal.

 “Ahh!” You yelped, dropping it.

 You admittedly didn’t know that much about The Tesseract, just what you’d read from the files you hacked one afternoon and skimmed through in boredom. What you did know was that it was too powerful to be held directly by anyone human.

 Loki’s eyes were burning into you suspiciously as he slowly approached and knelt down to pick it up.

 “You’re human.” It wasn’t a statement, but it wasn’t a question either.

 “100%. I don’t even have any Kree DNA, I got tested after those fish oil pills started turning people into husks.” You confirmed.

 “What?”

“Oh, Inhumans. They gots little bits of alien DNA and can get superpowers. I was curious, I got my DNA tested. I am utterly, unquestionably human.”

 He looked down at The Tesseract, turning it over in his hand before he looked back up at you.

 “Curious.” He said softly, holding it back out to you.

 “Nah. You keep it.” You grimaced, backing away fearfully.

 “Just take it.” He demanded.

 “No.”

 “Vænn.”

 “Nope, not on your fucking life - LOKI YOU BITCH!” He tossed The Tesseract at you in the middle of your sentence and you had a split second to decide whether to catch it or let it smack you in the face.

 You clutched it in both hands, inches from your nose. Looking up at Loki you found him smirking at you.

 “What the fuck Loki? I could have been vaporised!” You screeched.

 “You weren’t.” He replied calmly.

 “You didn’t know I wouldn’t be!” You protested.

 “You were holding a moment ago, so I did know. I’m not sure how you’re managing it but you are. For all your arguments about how you are nothing special, you appear to attract powerful entities Vænn.” He pointed out smugly.

 “You think The Tesseract has a crush on me?” You frowned.

 “Not that kind of attract. You are like a magnet, pulling power into your orbit.” He said, almost… proudly?

 You scoffed and opened your mouth to rebut his claim but paused and actually thought about it. Of all the places in the city, it was your window that Iron Man flew past on his way to The Tower. The intern you’d taken under your metaphorical wing turned out to be Spiderman. Vision inexplicably turned up in your lab on an almost daily basis. Earths Mightiest Heroes had taken to you without any hesitating. And then of course there was Loki.

 “Huh. Guess I do attract trouble.” You snorted, regarding The Tesseract in a new light.

 You knew without a doubt that you were human, nothing special about you. But apparently fate disagreed, because here you were.

 “So now we have The Tesseract under our control, as it should be. There are still five more stones to obtain, and we will need The Gauntlet. Do you have a plan for talking your friends into handing the Time Stone and The Mind Stone over to us?” He prodded.

 “Well, The Mind Stone is literally in Visions head so… no. And it’s not like we can just waltz up to Earth and ask them to hand the Stones over to us. It would take us months to convince them to trust you and we just don’t have that kind of time. Maybe we should leave those two till last. At least we know they’re safe. You don’t happen to have any idea where the other three are, do you?” You shrugged.

 He held his hand for The Tesseract with a smirk. You happily handed it over, grateful not to be touching it anymore.

 “I know exactly where The Aether is but obtaining it will not be easy. We will need to be careful, we will need a plan. I suggest we take refuge somewhere safer while we decide how to get it away from The Collector.” He told you, holding out his hand to you.

 “Wait.” You said softly.

 He didn’t have to ask what he was waiting for, he knew what you were planning and only rolled his eyes ever so slightly as you backed away.

 “Hey, um… We’re leaving now. Would you, would you like to come with us?” You asked gently as you approached The Stranger.

 They hadn’t moved since you’d wandered after Loki and they didn’t move when you spoke. Shining blue eyes gazed into the distance, bearing witness to the lingering death of their home world.

 “We can take you anywhere. You don’t have to stay here.” You whispered.

 “You are standing in the remains of the temple I have spent my life worshipping in. The Temple may be gone but I am not, so I remain. My world will not die unwitnessed.” They finally answered.

 “Your world isn’t going to die at all. We’re going to fix this.” You promised.

 Because if you could reboot the Universe, you could reboot it to the point before anything went wrong and no worlds would fall to the terrible destruction you had witnessed. You weren’t going to bring those worlds back, you were going to ensure they never fell in the first place.

 If fate kept putting you in the path of powerful people, if fate had led you to Avengers tower then this was the reason. The Tesseract chose you to help Loki, and this was the only way you could think that you would be of any use.

 So you didn’t feel bad as you walked away from the lonely Stranger. As you placed your hand in Loki’s, you let go of all the pain of not being able to save the fuzzy Druffs. It didn’t matter anymore, none of it mattered. You might not be a hero, but Loki could be. And you, you would be the Tech Support.

 He gently scooped your slumbering Winnie from his pocket and gave him back to you, watching as you secured the little dreaming Grofflink in your own pocket before he laced his fingers with yours, and then in a blinding flash of blue you left Taa and the Stranger behind.

A/N - What's this? A second chapter in one day? :OBeen a while since I pulled one of these!Honestly, I just got kinda giddy reading all the comments and needed to give you (and myself) more! You guys deserve all the chapters I can give for being so supportive and lovely 💖💖💖

Loki Taglist (Open)  @myfandomlife-blog @unfriendlyrightfighter @cateyes315 @ibraggins27 @midgardian-mistress @cinnamonmouse8 @nonsensicalobsessions @sarahs-castle-of-clouds @elizabethlaufeyson @sarahs-castle-of-clouds @marvelsangels @queenneso @elizabethlaufeyson @superdoggo-39

Everything Taglist (Closed) 

@helloimanavenger​ @justahumblesinner @littleredstarfish​ @dark-angel-be-thirsty-af​ @dilaila95​ @buckysknifecollection​ @justellu​ @spnrvt​ @deathofmissjackson​ @sexyvixen7​ @fairislesheets​ @rvgrsbrns​ @dahkness​ @sleepycayley​ @isabelcrichards​ @riverdaleserpent04​ @jazztherebel​ @tell-me-a-poem​ @hiddles-rose​ @severepienerdturkey​ @life-wanderer​ @unlikelygalaxygiver​ @fangirlwithatrowel​ @abo4280ooof​ @destiel-artemis​ @dilaila95​ @tarastudiesalot​ @toxic-pineapple​ @ohnosiren​ @for-the-love-of-the-fandom​ @breezy1415​ @misswatson99​ @chaoticfiretaconerd​ @marvelfansworld​ @stareyedplanet​ @themusingsofmany​ @zeannastardust​ @littleredstarfish​ @sammyissassy​ @alexakeyloveloki​ @kaz22992​ @randomidiot4444​ @musingpredilection​ @inquisitor-selvala​ @lianadelphius​ @happybookmuffin​ @tony-stank3​ @amoonagedaydreamer​ @dropthepizza346​ @my-drowning-in-time​ @lianadelphius​ @musingpredilection​ @belles-garden​ @lieswithoutfairytales​

Mischief & Madness Taglist (Closed)

@get-the-salt-now​ @myownviperroom @iamnowspider-fanbitch @jn-wolf @evythepokemontrainer @pink-meraki​ @lookalivefrosty​ @delicatelygloriouspenguin​ @maaryisafangirl​ @kaetastic​ @lokis-high-priestess @lisaspageofstuff​ @it-jinxed-us​ @hanniballecters​ @pandness​ @condy-wants-a-cookie​ @jessieray98​ @darkangeldesignstudio​ @rjohnson1280​ @cateyes315​ @pandacookieowo​ @petra-arkanian-1497​ @unfriendlyrightfighter​ @termaks @inquisitor-selvala​ @aurorawitchcraft​ @myfandomlife-blog​ @casket-of-ancient-mischief​ @severepienerdturkey​ @oldspirit​ @iwritesmutsandfluff​ @myfandomlife-blog​ @call-me-ziphon​ @noshi-chan​ @nonsensicalobsessions​ @alexakeyloveloki​ @donteatmycookiesplease​ @midgardian-mistress​ @humbledarkness​ @bionic-otp​ @sammy-jo1977​ @lieswithoutfairytales​ @thankyouforanonymity​

[monkey-network]

Good Stuff ~ Stray Thoughts: The Emoji Movie

If anyone says anything, I’ll plot to make the Meme Movie a reality

They really had to make a gag out of a studio logo. Hoo boy.

The Smartphone: the CIA’s perfect stalking device. #tapeyourcams

Addie McCallister? The 14th prettiest girl in Gotti High School? Why does she look like that one girl from Paranorman?

My world never revolved around a phone. I just had a laptop. Lucky bastards.

Who threw a paper airplane in the classroom? Fuck is this, 2002?

The main character literally called himself a tool. Great start.

Wait, the devil emoji’s supposed to be purple. Can you not even emoji right, movie?

Anyone can be meh for long periods of time. Just watch a D&D stream.

How do donuts reprodu--nevermind, I already figured it out

“Monkey business”. Okay, one point for the movie.

A emoji fart joke. Alex, you’re---you just suck

No, I don’t wanna imagine emojis having buttholes

I would ask how does a poop emoji poop, but then I realize that they’re releasing a toxic part of themselves and I feel worse for thinking that

Few seconds in, and Maya Rudolph already gave us an uncomfortable character

This machine looks slow. Like, I’ve not seen a single person in real life text one emoji at a time at a snail’s pace

Ah, elitism. Just what I wanted in my kids film

“Words aren’t cool.” This kid sounds like a perfect bullying target

I’d say “Goddammit Gene, you had one job.” But how would you feel if it’s your first and your God is literally pointing you out?

Okay, Patrick Stewart helped this movie get another point.

Great Gene, you screwed up messenger, however that happened

I would ask why the eggplant is apparently never used in this world, but I remember the cucumber emoji exists. That’s some 2038 thinking

Jailbreak? More like Jailbait. Swiggedy Swooty.

Hi-5 is a wanker.

Did they just use sleeping corpses as disguises?

Yes Gene, suffer in that black hole.

Awwww, cute emoji DOGGOS! Okay, 3 points for the movie

Okay, that Facebook joke hit way too close to home

Who tries to hide a piracy app? Seriously, if I don’t wanna pay more to watch cartoons online, I’ll gladly go to Kimcart--FBI, OPEN UP!

I would ask why trolls are actual beings in this world, but then I remember the internet can house the most disgusting people on the planet without having to show a face so I’ll let it slide

“Hack Daniels” I’m either still high or that was clever

Hey, it’s Chloe Price except I don’t want her dead. Also, why is she messing with dem holograms anyways? “Stimming” Oh, everything makes sense now.

*record scratch* Hold up. They’re falling down into an app but the apps aren’t layered on top of each other? *sigh* Lost one point, movie.

I would be mad at the obvious Candy Crush product placement, but I’m even more mad because Soda Saga is clearly the BETTER version

We get it, movie. Hi-5 is the fat one

You know, Alex, you wouldn’t be as befuddled if you didn’t have the volume up high, or screen lock off, or the phone on. How do you teenager poorly?

 Ah murder, just what I need in my kids films

The Cloud. I remember when that felt like a safe place to hide your NSFW art.

Wait, why Drupbux of all sites? Mega.nz is kinda better.

Jeez Jailbrick, Gene was just finishing your idea, he wasn’t taking it. Don’t be such a Tumblr user

I don’t get the point of Pen Pineapple Apple Pen. It’s just a dude dancing while wasting two good looking fruits by stabbing ink in them.

Okay, Gene’s parents are a highlight of this movie

KITTY!!! Also, Jailbreak got a weave.

Just Dance? Pfft, baby ass game. Only true gamers play Michael Jackson: The Experience.

Oh my god, they actually made an MJ joke. Bravo, movie.

These motherfuckers did not just put Wham! as a part of their soundtrack. I’m taking away another point.

“Throw some sauce on that dance burrito”? I would’ve gone with “Shake some spice on them boogie cookies” but whatever works.

M’kay, this ‘Just dance’ scene has so much wrong

Jailbreak said “Slay”

Emoji booty shaking

We go from Wham! to Christina Aguilera like a bipolar mixtape

They add stock sound effects for no reason

The Emoji Bop: or Kidz Bop’s take on Peek A Boo

Beyond the predictable shocker of Jailbreak wearing a weave, I almost saw some upskirt. Yes, I’m sinking my dignity to a pretty good low. Also, I like her better with the wig on.

Turn your phone off, Alex! God, you deserve to be ridiculed and shoved in a locker!

Why do they need the fa- Hand emoji? He honestly added nothing to this journey.

“Well what good is it to be number 1 if there aren’t any other numbers?” Ugh, that sounds like something I would want to say. 

You know I would be mad at the Spotify product placement if it wasn’t for the fact that I illegally download music.

The Struggle of Mortality. I am digging this.

Okay, now I’m mad at the Spotify product placement. What is with this movie and its trash ass music? Thirty. Minutes. LEFT!

What group of friends like to go to the phone store? The humans are the worst part of this movie.

“Stereotype”? When has birds coming around to the sound of music ever been a bad thing? 

Honestly? Better love story than the Hunger Games. (Talking ‘bout the meh parents, BTW)

Obligatory action scene

Drupbux? Malware protected? HA HA HAA! No.

It’s TJ Miller’s career: Up in flames

So Jailback’s plan was basically me trying to guess a password for an account I forgotten ages ago? Dumbass.

Jailbreak can look up old emails? PERFECT! We can incriminate the Clintons once and for all.

The password is his crush’s name? Okay, Alex.... is kind of a creep.

The cloud looks generic as fuck

Huh, this is an actually good turning point. A predictable one, yet good nonetheless. How did people take this as sexist?

Will Gene and Jailbreak just sex already? Wait, how do emojis do it? They got such big hea-oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

I would be cackling my ass off at the Twitter logo if--no, that is straight up the 2nd dumbest thing in this movie.

How will Alex recognize that the malfunction is gone? Computers don’t just magically look better when you erase all the viruses in them. God, this plan is stupid. Smiler’s just a psychopath, like a Cable News Exec.

She fuggin’ dead.

Alex...is a guy that would fuck up a cup of coffee

So lucky Gene was able to emote in time before everyone dies

“I like that you’re one of those guys that can express his feelings.” So let me get this straight, heheh, I can pick up chicks....with gifs? Movie, you’re blowing my mind.

Because you can stop a factory reset like it’s nothing.

Hi-5 is still a wanker.

Again, with this trash music? Flog yourself, movie, I’m tired of you.

YEAH! DANCE PARTY because nobody died! YEAH, MORTALITY!

Okay, second highlight of this film is the credits theme ‘Good Vibrations’. The OST is shit except for this.

So, I honestly enjoyed this movie, be it me laughing at it or the genuinely good moments that reside in the heap of mediocrity and shamelessness. The humans, the “villain”, and the soundtrack is all that I really hate about this film, otherwise I’d watch it again if I had the time and “opportunity”. But, since I actually liked this film, I’m gonna have to go into hiding. You never know when [KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!] Oh god, I’m gone.

[chronicstrength41]

Free hacks for anxiety

A few of my favorite things as an anxious person that are basically free

1. The Breathe App- Have you guys tried this? It’s an app that prompts you to take deep slow breaths for one minute while its tracks your heart rate. I didn’t think much of it until I was having a panic attack that seemed to last all day. I was dreading a root canal that was scheduled for much later in the day and I was just pacing all morning with my heart racing. I tried the app on my Iwatch and it was so satisfying to watch my heart rate go down a little more each time I took a deep breath. It really distracted me and now it feels like this secret weapon I have anytime I’m super anxious.

2. The Insight Timer- This is another one that is great for people who like the idea of meditation, but have a difficult time quieting the thoughts in your head. When I am super anxious, I can’t fall asleep for the life of me. The insight timer offers guided mediation for a variety of subjects, one being sleep. I have bluetooth headphones/eye mask that come in a soft headband and I use that to comfortably drift off while I’m listening to a super sleepy meditation. Also, it doesn’t trick you into loving it just to charge you money later. But you can donate money to your favorite instructors and they have a premium membership option that is just that, optional.

3. Chamomile Tea- Now everyone knows about tea and how great it is, some people like it, some don’t. But something about chamomile tea can really relax you. I use it to replace a glass a wine when I want to wind down. Not that there’s anything wrong with a glass of wine, but its nice to have another choice! The trick for me is adding a second tea bag. I find the extra strength more effective. And if it’s not your cup of tea (pun intended!) try adding some milk and honey. It’s really nice when you’re meeting with an old friend and may be anxious about making conversation or just those little jitters during the work day.

4. Take a break from the politics and the news- As a person with anxiety, I care so much about everything, too much. When I read the news and hear about wildfires and shootings it absolutely breaks my heart. I think about it all day, I can’t handle it. I do everything I can to be environmentally conscious and I stay up to date when I can but others times, I just can’t. For the past year, the world seems to be on overdrive and I’ve just found, for me, that’s its best to read the headlines so I’m not ignorant to my surroundings but I don’t need all the details. If I have an extra few bucks, I will donate and if there’s a petition I believe in, I will sign it. But I can’t be in that whirlwind on a day to day. There’s nothing wrong with taking control of how many anxiety triggers you are exposed to.

5. Music- This seems obvious, but bare with me. Music is such a powerful thing. It has the ability to enhance a mood and even change it. The teenager in me loves putting a sad break up song on repeat and just crying as hard as I can in my car. It’s therapeutic sometimes. Other times, I’ve already cried it out and am in a position where I need to pull myself together. I’ll be on my way to work and just especially anxious to interact with my boss. When this happens I have a specific playlist that pumps me up. And if I’m feeling self conscious, I listen to Lizzo and dance in the shower. If I need a boost of hope, I listen to the opening song from the movie Inside Out. I decide how I want to feel and use music to get me there.

6. Walking through nature- This one was kind of a game changer for me. As a kid I spent a lot of time, exploring the woods and appreciating nature. But once I got older, I really started taking it for granted. One random day a few years ago, I stumbled upon a nearby nature preserve near my house. Just walking through the grass and passing wildflowers, bunnies and butterflies will really make you forget about your problems. I’ve always been nervous about hiking and getting lost in the woods but it turns out there are walking paths everywhere, especially in New England where I live. And there’s plenty of options so you can walk on a 10 minute trail or an hour long one. And a lot of State parks will give you a map or have the trails labeled so you’re in control of your walk. It’s great for people with social anxiety because there’s almost never anyone there and if there is, they’re just doing their own thing and will maybe give you a smile or head nod as they walk by but other than that you’re in your own little beautiful world.

Sleep Headphones- https://smile.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Headphones-ZesGood-Microphone-Adjustable/dp/B07MKQQQT6/ref=sr_1_7?crid=1RF473Q9ZI2WP&keywords=bluetooth+sleep+mask&qid=1566566176&s=gateway&smid=A2ZE4GI3VWNVG7&sprefix=bluetooth+sleep+%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-7

Breathe App- http://breatheapp.co

Insight Timer- https://insighttimer.com

My favorite Chamomile Tea- https://smile.amazon.com/Traditional-Medicinals-Organic-Chamomile-Herbal/dp/B0009F3PM6/ref=sr_1_4?crid=370PAO6REYSIW&keywords=organic%2Bchamomile%2Btea&qid=1566566444&s=gateway&sprefix=organic%2Bchemo%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-4&th=1

Nature walks- Each state has their own website, but you can find state parks near you on your states website. I live in Massachusetts so if I go to mass.gov it lists free parks I can visit and even tells you where you can swim, bike, walk or go camping.

No links to the news things except to say if you feel like you need some type of world updates. I’d check out uplifting news. I follow a few reddit threads that just tell me about baby stories and towns coming together to donate blood after a tragedy, and just so many other real feel good stories that I can’t get enough of.

For music, I use Spotify. I pay for the membership but there’s a free option too! The app makes it so easy to make playlist and really learns your music preferences. It gives you suggestions for new music based on your taste. And while you’re checking that out, look up Lizzo. Ten minutes into listening to her album and I am an unstoppable queen, ready to conquer the day.

[digitalmark18-blog]

Social Media Roundup: Facebook 3D Photos, Google+ Shutting Down, Instagram Prevents Bullying With AI

New Post has been published on https://britishdigitalmarketingnews.com/social-media-roundup-facebook-3d-photos-google-shutting-down-instagram-prevents-bullying-with-ai/

Social Media Roundup: Facebook 3D Photos, Google+ Shutting Down, Instagram Prevents Bullying With AI

Social media icons appearing on the display of a smartphone (Photo by Muhammed Selim Korkutata/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

“Social Media Roundup” is a weekly roundup of news pertaining to all of your favorite websites and applications used for social networking. Published on Sundays, “Social Media Roundup” will help you stay up-to-date on all the important social media news you need to know.

Bumble

Parent Company Rimberg International Mulling IPO

Rimberg International, the parent company of Bumble, is currently mulling an IPO in the U.S. as part of a plan to become the world’s largest dating company. This was revealed by Rimgberg founder Andrey Andreev in an interview with Bloomberg.

Andreev told Bloomberg that the company is in “deep discussions” with several banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. to list on the Nasdaq.

Rimberg is also the parent company of other dating apps like Chappy and Badoo. And Badoo is considered the largest dating app in the world with more than 400 million users.

Andreev is hoping that the IPO will enable Rimberg to surpass Tinder owner Match Group as the world’s most valuable dating company. And Andreev is expecting Rimberg’s revenue to hit as much as $400 million this year.

Facebook

Portal

Facebook has announced a new video chat camera device called Portal, which comes in a 10-inch 720p version for $200 (known as Portal) and a 15.6-inch 1080p version for $350 (known as Portal+). The larger version can be rotated from landscape to portrait mode as well.

The Portal supports video chat through Facebook’s Messenger app and you can also use the device for viewing Facebook Watch and listening to Spotify, Pandora and iHeartRadio. Plus the Portal also works as a digital photo frame. YouTube is not supported by Portal.

Rumor has it that Facebook was planning to launch the Portal device at the F8 conference. However, Facebook was dealing with privacy concerns at the time.

The Portal has Amazon Alexa integration built-in so it can also handle voice commands. For example, you can say “Portal, call Steve.” Then the device will call Steve’s Portal or the Messenger app on Steve’s phone.

Plus the Portal device also has a 12-megapixel camera built-in so it can take sharper images. And it is able to identify the shape of users within a 140-degree field of view as part of the Smart Camera feature. With the Smart Camera, the Portal can pan and zoom so that the person is in kept in the frame. You can also add filters to your face and share music with your contacts.

Facebook said it does not listen to conversations or keep the contents of Portal video calls. And Facebook said that you can disable the camera and microphone with a single tap or you can block the camera lens with the cover provided. Plus users cannot perform “Drop In” calls like you can do with Echo devices.

The Facebook Portal can be pre-ordered now. And next month, the Portal will be available in select retail stores.

3D Photos

Facebook’s 3D photosFacebook

Several days ago, Facebook started rolling out support for 3D photos and it will be available for everyone in the coming weeks. This technology is able to capture the distance between the subject in the foreground and the background to add depth and movement to the photos.

How does it work? Simply take a photo in Portrait mode using your compatible dual-lens smartphone such as the iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X or iPhone XS. Facebook said that you will get the best results if the subject is three or four feet away and you can really make the 3D photos pop by trying to capture scenes with multiple layers of depth such as someone standing in a field of flowers. You will get more of a 3D effect when the photo subject has contrasting colors from the background. And Facebook said that you should try to avoid transparent objects such as clear plastic or glass.

You can view the 3D photos in VR using the Oculus Browser on Oculus Go or Firefox on Oculus Rift. And everyone will be able to see 3D photos in the News Feed and VR.

Personal Info Of 30 Million People Stolen, Which Is Smaller Than Reported Before

Last month, Facebook said that 50 million accounts may have been compromised in one of the worst hacks in the company’s history. However, Facebook made a correction that the number of users that were actually affected was 30 million.

The hackers gained access to a digital “token” that allowed them to log in to millions of user accounts. And those hackers were able to collect personal user data from 29 million out of 30 million accounts, including names and contact information (phone numbers and emails). And the hackers also were able to collect additional information from 14 million out of the 29 million users such as gender, language, relationship status, religion and hometowns.

Here is what Facebook VP of Product Management Guy Rosen wrote in a blog post about the issue:

As we’ve said, the attackers exploited a vulnerability in Facebook’s code that existed between July 2017 and September 2018. The vulnerability was the result of a complex interaction of three distinct software bugs and it impacted “View As,” a feature that lets people see what their own profile looks like to someone else. It allowed attackers to steal Facebook access tokens, which they could then use to take over people’s accounts. Access tokens are the equivalent of digital keys that keep people logged in to Facebook so they don’t need to re-enter their password every time they use the app.

Here’s how we found the attack that exploited this vulnerability. We saw an unusual spike of activity that began on September 14, 2018, and we started an investigation. On September 25, we determined this was actually an attack and identified the vulnerability. Within two days, we closed the vulnerability, stopped the attack, and secured people’s accounts by resetting the access tokens for people who were potentially exposed. As a precaution, we also turned off “View As.” We’re cooperating with the FBI, which is actively investigating and asked us not to discuss who may be behind this attack.

If you want to know whether your Facebook account was hacked, then you can find out by going to the Facebook Help center link while logged in at https://www.facebook.com/help/securitynotice?ref=sec. Then scroll down to where it says “Is my Facebook account impacted by this security issue?”

800 Spammy Political Pages Get Shut Down

In a blog post, Facebook Head of Cybersecurity Policy Nathaniel Gleicher and Product Manager Oscar Rodriguez said that 559 Pages and 250 accounts were removed that aimed to profit from political spam posts. A number of those accounts were using sensational political content to drive traffic to their websites

“We’re removing 559 Pages and 251 accounts that have consistently broken our rules against spam and coordinated inauthentic behavior. Given the activity we’ve seen — and its timing ahead of the US midterm elections — we wanted to give some details about the types of behavior that led to this action,” said Facebook. “Many were using fake accounts or multiple accounts with the same names and posted massive amounts of content across a network of Groups and Pages to drive traffic to their websites. Many used the same techniques to make their content appear more popular on Facebook than it really was. Others were ad farms using Facebook to mislead people into thinking that they were forums for legitimate political debate.”

Messenger May Soon Add An ‘Unsend’ Feature

Mobile app engineer Jane Manchun Wong has a track record of finding hints at upcoming features in a number of social media apps. And recently she found that Facebook’s Messenger team is testing out a feature where users would be able to “unsend” messages.

Facebook Messenger is finally working on “Unsend Message” in the app for everyone!

Tip @Techmeme pic.twitter.com/5OtQrmyID3

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) October 12, 2018

To “unsend” a message, you simply would have to long press on a sent message. Then you will see options to delete it or “unsend” it. Deleting a message just removes it from your device and tapping on “Unsend Message” may prevent the recipient from seeing it. Wong pointed out that you will be able to “unsend” a message within a certain amount of time after it was sent.

It is unknown when this feature will be rolled out to all Messenger users. Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging app also added a similar feature in October 2017.

Google

Google+ Social Network Is Shutting Down

Google has decided it is shutting down the Google+ social network for consumers due to its limited adoption with users. And Google made this announcement in conjunction with a disclosure that up to half a million Google+ accounts may have been compromised by a bug.

“While our engineering teams have put a lot of effort and dedication into building Google+ over the years, it has not achieved broad consumer or developer adoption, and has seen limited user interaction with apps,” said Google in a blog post. “The consumer version of Google+ currently has low usage and engagement: 90 percent of Google+ user sessions are less than five seconds.”

The security issue was discovered and patched in March. And Google said that there was no evidence that any third-party developer was aware of the bug, abused the API or misused profile data such as names, email addresses, occupations, genders and ages.

“Our Privacy & Data Protection Office reviewed this issue, looking at the type of data involved, whether we could accurately identify the users to inform, whether there was any evidence of misuse, and whether there were any actions a developer or user could take in response. None of these thresholds were met in this instance,” added Google.

The wind-down of Google+ will be fully implemented over a ten-month period. And this is expected to be completed by the end of August 2019.

Instagram

Using AI To Prevent Bullying

Instagram head Adam Mosseri has announced that it is now using several tools to combat bullying such as a way to identify and report bullying in photos and a new way to spread kindness in Stories.

To detect bullying in photos, Instagram is using machine learning technology to proactively detect bullying in photos and their captions and send them to the Community Operations team for review — which is especially important for its youngest community members as teenagers experience higher rates of bullying online than others.

Instagram’s bullying comment filter on Live videosInstagram

And Instagram is adding a bullying comment filter to proactively detect and hide bullying comments from Feed, Explore and Profile. This filter is being added to comments on live videos to make sure that Live remains a safe place to authentically connect with your friends and interests.

Instagram has also partnered with author, dancer and actor Maddie Ziegler to launch a kindness camera effect to spread positivity. If you follow Maddie, then you will have the camera effect available automatically.

“In selfie mode, hearts will fill the screen — and you’ll be encouraged to tag a friend you want to support. Your friend will receive a notification that you mentioned them in your story,” said Instagram in the announcement. “They can share it to their own story or use the camera effect to spread kindness to someone else. If you switch to the rear camera, you’ll see an overlay of kind comments in many languages. If you aren’t a follower of Maddie but you see someone else with the effect, tap ‘try it’ to add it to your camera. Learn more about our camera effects here.”

These tools were put together in honor of National Bullying Prevention Month in the US and the upcoming Anti-Bullying Week in the UK.

Testing Tap Navigation

Instagram is reportedly testing out a feature where users tap to see the next photo in the feed rather than scrolling down. This form of navigation is similar to what is used for the Stories feature. The tap-to-scroll navigation feature started being tested on a number of limited users. Matt Navarra of The Next Web said that it is only being tested on the Explore section as of right now:

Instagram is making a major change to how you see posts in your feed… Goodbye scrolling!

H/T @SupraBo_ pic.twitter.com/1W3D5335sJ

— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) October 11, 2018

App Based Two-Factor Authentication Is Now Available

Instagram has confirmed with TechCrunch that it has added an app-based SMS two-factor authentication feature to the app for all users. This is an alternative to receiving a code via SMS for logging in to your Instagram.

To set it up, simply go to the Settings menu in Instagram. Then go to the Privacy and Security and select Two-Factor Authentication. And then toggle on the Authentication App setting.

From there, Instagram will see if you have existing authentication apps on your device or recommend you to download one. Some of the options include Google Authenticator or Authy.

LinkedIn

Glint Acquisition

LinkedIn, the professional social network owned by Microsoft, has acquired an employee survey company called Glint. The acquisition was undisclosed, but sources with CNBC said that it was valued at more than $400 million. Prior to the acquisition, Glint raised $20 million in Series D funding at a $220 million valuation in November 2017.

Glint surveys employee satisfaction and provides insights to managers. Generally, the questions that are asked via Glint include issues related to management and compensation.

Snap

Snapchat Originals

Snapchat has announced that it is releasing several new short AR-enabled daily shows. The three new shows are part of the new Snap Originals series of programs. And more shows are expected to be added in the coming months.

Some of the new shows include “Class of Lies” where a group of college students put together a podcast about crime and mysteries; a show about how freshmen are adapting to college life in a comedy program called “Co-Ed”; and a docuseries called “Endless Summer” featuring the lives of YouTube influencers Summer McKeen and Dylan Jordan. Each of the 5-minute episodes will be released daily.

WhatsApp

Video Call Bug Fixed

Messaging app WhatsApp has fixed a video call bug. This video call bug could have caused the app to crash and shut down, according to a security expert. Tavis Ormandy, one of the researchers that discovered the bug, said that this was a “big deal”:

This is a big deal. Just answering a call from an attacker could completely compromise WhatsApp. https://t.co/vjHuWt8JYa

— Tavis Ormandy (@taviso) October 9, 2018

The bug was discovered in late August and fixed early October. Google’s Natalie Silvanovich was the first to discover the vulnerability. The problem existed in the mobile version of WhatsApp, but the desktop version was not. Facebook said that there was no evidence that the bug was exploited by hackers.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/amitchowdhry/2018/10/14/social-media-roundup-facebook-3d-photos-google-shutting-down-instagram-prevents-bullying-with-ai/

[pettyandprettyblog-blog]

Let’s Talk About Taylor Swift

It’s about time we talked about the fake, money-grubbing, white supremacist, anti-feminist, Katy-Kim-Kanye-Clavin-John-Jake-Nicki-Spotify-Apple fighting, man-eating, snake, sheep, selfish bitch, (did I miss any descriptors?) that is more commonly known as Taylor Swift.  What’s that, you say?  You’re sick of hearing about her?  You’re tired of seeing her fake face all over social media?  Oh, honey.  I’m sorry, but she is just getting started and I am so here for it.  Allow me tell you exactly why.

Personally, I was never a huge Swiftie or “stan” (I literally just Googled what “stan” meant.  It means overly obsessive fan if you wanted to know), but I always listened to her music.  In eighth grade, when the Fearless album came out, of course I listened!  “You Belong With Me”, “Love Story”, “Fifteen”--those songs spoke to me as a fresh adolescent, ready to embrace the world of social mayhem one mismatched converse shoe at a time.  The boy you liked but never liked you back, the boy you loved and knew you were going to marry, the blind hope that your freshmen year of high school would be charming and romantic and pure and lovely and not just awkward and disappointing (SURPRISE!! No one escapes the fresh hell that is the first year of high school).

But I digress.

The Old Taylor Swift, I guess that’s what people are calling her now, could tap into your soul.  She somehow knew what you were suffering through and could sense your deepest dreams and desires.  Even those of us who weren’t “stans” could be caught singing along to “Mine” during the car ride to the movie theater with the girls and Kayla’s mom in the big, black suburban.  We all knew every word.  I had friends who went to her performance in Maine at a church after finishing her filming of a music video.  It started raining and she kept singing.  It was a whole thing with the rain and such.  I had other friends who went to each one of her tours from the flagship Taylor Swift Tour to the new and improved 1989 Tour.  I personally attended the 1989 Tour in Massachusetts.  Gillette Stadium was filled to capacity with tens of thousands of screaming and crying men, women, and children.  Even I shed a tear during her throwback to “Fifteen”, standing with my best friend since sixth grade who had seen me through the good, the bad, and the ugly (not necessarily in that order).  Taylor would stop and look around the stadium in awe.  Her face, projected on the massive LED screen, would make direct eye contact with every one of us and then she’d transition into her next banger.  She made you feel like she knew you.  She’s talented, I’ll giver her that.  It was certainly an experience.

Along the way, I feel like I always noticed people clapping back at her but it never really registered.  I always brushed it off as another celebrity feud, another meaningless piece of exploitation or mindless positioning by the media.  When the whole thing about Taylor and Kanye’s “Famous-gate” happened, I remember thinking it was funny.  I, too, called her a snake.  Better her than me #taylorswiftexposedparty (hiss, hiss).  I thought Kanye and Kim were being kind of mean, but I didn’t care.  Not that much.

Not until now.

After the drama with Kanye, she disappeared.  Radio silence followed for approx. three whole years until the $1 Lawsuit.  Maybe some people kept track of her movements or her rare appearances in public places, but I didn’t.  I listened to 1989 just like a lot of people, a slightly bigger fan than I once was, thinking it was her best work to date and wondering what kind of music she would do next, IF she would do anything else.  I also wondered what kind of scandal she would be apart of this time, what version of Ms. Swift would be revealed in the chaos.  Then, just a few weeks ago, she deleted EVERYTHING.  Website? ��Gone.  Instagram?  Gone.  Twitter?  Tumblr?  Gone, all gone.  “IT’S ALIVE!!!”  The world screamed.  The words of Lord Baelish from GoT echoed in my ears, “Chaos is a ladder” and Taylor Swift is scrambling up that shit.  She stirred from her hibernation.  What was she going to do now?  Was she hacked?  And she’s back on Spotify?!

Then came the snake.  An actual, bonafide snake video that Taylor posted on Instagram.  People were taken aback to say the least.  General excitement, theories, awkward laughs, shrugs, silence, and comments about how the snake-dragon was kind of scary, followed her posts.  I, on the other hand, was jacked.  I sent updates to like all my friends and would sit and refresh Taylor’s Instagram for a few minutes at a time just to make sure I wasn’t missing anything.  After all, time makes the heart grow fonder.  Or is it distance?  Idk same thing.  The album art popped up with Taylor looking edgy in black and white.  The classic New York Times-I Feel Like Pablo-esc font and color scheme graced the cover’s presence.  “Wow,” I thought.“ Reputation. She’s going after Kanye with this one.”  The too-tight choker, the ripped sweater, the dark makeup, slicked-back hair, this Taylor looks different.  Unprecedented.  Badass.

Taylor Swift released her newest single, “Look What You Made Me Do”, last Friday.  A few friends and I stayed up until late Thursday night to get a first listen.  We drank wine and streamed Ye Olde Taylor Swift while we waited for the single.  When it dropped, the universe lost its collective shit, Spotify kept cutting out, and we listened to the song four times in a row.  Two of my buddies didn’t like it.  They said that the New Taylor was bad, that they missed the Old Taylor Swift.  Her music was better.  I disagreed.  This is Taylor Swift.  What’s to differentiate Old from New?  She just is who she is.

After listening to the song about five-thousand, three-hundred, and twenty-six more times and then watching the following music video nine-hundred times more, I realized this: a lot of people were super upset about this “New Taylor Swift”.  I know.  Groundbreaking.  But then I thought about why, just like my liberal arts education wants me to, and I came to a conclusion.  People dislike change.  Especially those who feel as though they have a personal stake in whatever or whoever is changing.  People loved the Taylor that tapped into their souls and understood their plight of loving people who love them or don’t love them or kind of love them.  In “Look What You Made Me Do”, Taylor Swift focuses on other people in a completely different way and she mostly does it for herself, to build herself up.  That selfish bitch!  But wait.  Doesn’t Nicki Minaj do the same thing in Monster?  What about Katy Perry in Swish Swish?  How about all the countless male artists like Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Drake, etc. who do the same thing?  All of them are different stylistically but they all tend to put across the same message, don’t they?  That message being: Fuck. You.  Taylor would hide little tidbits like that in the past, but her current one has neon arrow signs, black leather, chainsaws, whips, and Grammy’s that get that message across like a flaming garbage fire.  She is finished with everyone’s bullshit and she will do whatever the hell she wants.

I also have my own theories.  I don’t believe in a “New” or “Old” Taylor Swift.  I believe in Taylor Swift.  Each one of us changes and develops in different ways as we get older.  Our viewpoints can/should change, our personalities shift, we move places, we meet people and lose old friends, and, hell, we can develop allergies to gluten and lactose.  So what if I said one day, “No, sorry. The old me is dead.  She wasn’t allergic to anything before but now she can’t eat ice cream without getting the shits, so new, shit-stained me is here to stay.”  Charming, I know, but ultimately untrue.  I’m still who I was in literally every aspect.  I’ve grown.  I look older.  I have different opinions and thoughts.  But I’m still me.  My image is simply what I choose to put forward to other people.  I exist on a continuum. I didn’t just stop one day and become a whole different version of myself.

Going along with the whole image theme, let me enlighten your asses about a little thing called business acumen.  Taylor Swift is a BRILLIANT businesswoman.  She times her music and tour releases for optimal moneymaking and can extend her reign for up to three years worth of Taylor tomfoolery.  There is also something to be said about musicians and their use of imagery to create hype and gain followers (much like a cult leader tbh).  But this is why I’m so into her right now at this moment like never before.  The whole premise of “Look What You Made Me Do” is how imagery and bad press (although Taylor Swift takes bad press and turns it into record breaking hit singles) has driven her to her peak of success.  “Oh look what you made me do!  I’ve won Grammy’s and lawsuits.  I have millions of dollars, loyal fans, a squad of friends, and two lovely cats.”

Since she was a mere fifteen year old girl, singin’ in Nashville, people have been all over her for one thing or another saying she can’t be that nice, or look that surprised all the time, or date that many people, etc.  “Look What You Made Me Do” is her way of saying “you know what?  I’m never going to be perfect in your eyes so why should I try?  I’m a product of what you all think of me and that will never change so I will become the stereotype and throw you all for a loop.”  In “Look What You Made Me Do”, she quite literally just BECAME the headlines.  I know this is a very different artist who operated with a totally different message but I’m going to do it anyway.  An 80’s pop star/model/actress/general badass and current goddess named Grace Jones had/has a similar plan of attack.  If you don’t know who she is, you should Google her ass immediately.  She pushed the boundaries of stereotypes and what people thought of her to the point where she became the stereotype and that was her whole thing as an artist.  Sounds familiar right?  (*cough* Madonna *cough* Lady Gaga *cough* Nicki Minaj and so many others *cough*).

We saw the start of this “Become the Stereotype: Grace Jone’s Method for Financial Success” in 1989.  “Blank Space” portrayed Taylor as a man-hungry, black-widow queen who lured unsuspecting males to her massive mansion only to chew them up and spit them out like a piece of Juicy Fruit Gum after five minutes.  And again, we saw it in “Shake It Off”: the girl can’t dance for shit (although it seems like she been taking lessons because she busts a fuckin’ MOVE in the LWYMMD music video) but she can sure mom-shimmy with the best of em and she does what she wants.

I’ve taken up too much space, but the moral of the story is this: don’t judge someone by what they did when they were younger or what you think they should be.  If I were judged that way, people would forever see a pockmarked sack of hormones with little talent but above average hand-eye coordination.  Let Taylor be.  She said that the Old Taylor couldn’t come to the phone right now because she’s dead, but she is certainly, very much alive.  We criticized her for not being “country” enough.  Then we judged her for not being “pop” enough.  Now we’re judging her for being a “snake” and presenting a different set of thoughts and sounds.  Just because she was young once doesn’t erase everything she’s said, or done, or sung, but she’s evolving.  We’ve been telling her to change her whole life.  Let her do it now.

It’s what we all wanted her to do anyway.  

Wasn’t it?

-A

[workreveal-blog]

Has the internet become a failed state? : Web News

New Post has been published on https://workreveal.biz/has-the-internet-become-a-failed-state-web-news/

Has the internet become a failed state? : Web News

Here are a few testimonies approximately the arena we now inhabit…

• In February this year, Bangladesh Financial institution become hit via the largest Bank robbery in records while thieves were given away with $101m. The heist became finished not by tunnels or explosives, however by way of obtaining the access codes for the Quick global messaging gadget, that is what banks use to pass payment orders to one another soundly. The criminals used Swift to educate America Federal Reserve to transfer money to their money owed. Then they cunningly erased their digital fingerprints using editing the Bank’s software.

• In June 2015, the United States Office of Personnel Control found out that its laptop systems were hacked and that the hackers had stolen the social security numbers, names, dates and locations of start, and addresses of 21.five million humans, together with some who had undergone history checks for touchy authorities posts.

Internet usage state

• In October 2015, nearly 157,000 customers of the UK telco TalkTalk had their personal facts stolen in a massive intrusion into the organisation’s computer systems. Police later arrested six teenage boys in connection with this cyber assault.

• Within the beyond two years, hospitals worldwide have determined themselves at the receiving end of a bad sort of cyber attack. Medical workforce abruptly discovers that their health centre’s laptop structures are locked and inaccessible to them due to the fact they were secretly infiltrated. They then receive a message telling them that their data will be unlocked on payment of a ransom in Bitcoins. The ECU police organisation Europol now reckons that the danger from “ransomware” has eclipsed all other types of online theft and extortion.

Two months ago, a younger Italian female killed herself because she changed into traumatised by way of online abuse after an exclusive video that she had sent to a chum turned into extensively “shared” across the web. As quickly because the photographs went viral, she transformed into subjected to jeering remarks, Photoshopped screenshots and merciless parodies that, in the long run, tipped her over the brink.

• In June, it changed into discovered that groups of the Russian government had hacked into the computer systems of the Democratic Countrywide Committee. Rapidly before the Democratic conference that nominated Hillary Clinton, WikiLeaks launched hundreds of emails and attachments stolen at some stage in the breach, some of which were quite unhelpful to Clinton and useful to Donald Trump.

• On 21 October, a sequence of dispensed denial-of-provider (DDoS) attacks prompted considerable disruption of Internet pastime In the US. The assaults involved directing large amounts of bogus site visitors at servers belonging to Dyn, an enterprise that is the primary provider of area name offerings (DNS) to other agencies. For a time this severely affected leading websites – which includes Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit, GitHub, Etsy, Tumblr, Spotify, PayPal, Verizon, Comcast and the Ps community. The assault has conducted the use of a large botnet of unsecured “net of things” gadgets inclusive of home webcams and broadband routers.

• In keeping with Bruce Schneier, an ultimate protection professional, over the past yr or so, someone has been probing the defences of the organisations that run vital portions of the net. These probes, Schneier says, “take the form of exactly calibrated assaults designed to decide exactly how adequately These agencies can shield themselves, and what might be required to take them down. We don’t recognise who’s doing this, but it feels like a large state country. China or Russia could be my first guesses.”

Welcome to cyberspace.

It didn’t be once like this. Within the first decade after the internet we use these days changed into switched on, in January 1983, cyberspace turned into a courageous new international – an excellent sandpit for geeks and computer technology researchers. There was, in that magical virtual global, no crime, no spam, no industrial activity and little difficulty approximately protection – in large part because “netizens” (for that’s what they had been called) knew one another, or as a minimum knew what their institutional affiliations had been. Dialogue corporations (then referred to as newsgroups) had been fashioned around each doable subject matter, no matter how arcane. (Early on, There was an energetic argument approximately whether or not there must be a Dialogue organisation on intercourse, and while one sooner or later regarded, a person else insisted that logically there ought to consequently additionally be newsgroups on pills and rock’n’roll. So those have been installation too.) Codes of conduct, etiquette and social norms evolved to adjust – or at the least mild – on-line behaviour, reduce “flame wars”, and so forth. It changed into, in a way, a type of wonderland, and it gave upward push to the techno-utopianism embodied in John Perry Barlow’s “Assertion of the independence of cyberspace”, which started out: “Governments of the industrial world, you weary giants of flesh and metallic, I come from our on-line world, the new domestic of mind. On behalf of the destiny, I ask you of the past to go away us on my own. You are not welcome among us. You have no sovereignty wherein we gather…”

What it came right down to became this: In the decade 1983-ninety three, cyberspace and “meatspace” (Barlow’s term for the actual, physical International) had been parallel universes. They existed side by using the hand, and for the maximum element, the population of meatspace knew not anything of the virtual world.

But from 1993 onwards, all that started out to change. The main catalysts have been the vast world internet, the Mosaic browser and AOL. The net supplied non-geeks with a solution to the question: what’s this net factor for? Mosaic, the first present-day browser, showed them what the net should do and, greater importantly, what it may turn out to be. Call for getting entry to the internet exploded. AOL met the Call for by way of imparting a dependable, smooth-to-configure, dial-up carrier for hundreds of thousands of people, and so brought the “redneck hordes” – i.e., human beings unusual with the mores and customs of the netizen generation – directly to the internet. Scenting profits, companies and pornographers scrambled for a chunk of the motion, intently followed by way of scammers and spammers and all types of other undesirables.

internet

The result was that the parallel universes regularly merged, and we wound up with the composite networked international we now inhabit – a global that has the affordances of both our on-line world and meatspace. Which facilitates to provide an explanation for why we are having such problem coming to terms with it.

This mixed universe is an unusual location, simultaneously exceptional and terrifying. It gives its users – regular citizens – with services, delights and possibilities that have been as soon as the prerogative most effective of the wealthy and powerful. Wikipedia, the greatest keep of information the arena has ever seen, is to be had at the click of a mouse. Google has grown to be the reminiscence prosthesis for humanity. Services inclusive of Skype and FaceTime shrink intercontinental distances for families and fanatics. And so on.

However, at the same time, everything we do on the community is monitored and surveilled by way of both governments and the large organisations that now dominate cyberspace. (If you want to look the commercial side of this in action, deploy Ghostery on your browser and see who’s snooping on you as you surf.) Net customers are assailed via junk mail, phishing, malware, fraud and identity theft. Corporate and government databases are automatically hacked, and massive troves of individual statistics, credit card and Bank account details are stolen and presented for sale Within the shadows of the so-known as “darkish web”. Companies – and public establishments which include hospitals – are more and more blackmailed through ransomware attacks, which make their vital IT systems unusable until they pay a ransom. Cybercrime has already reached alarming ranges and, as it mostly goes unpunished, will continue to grow – which is why in a few societies old-style real crime is reducing as practitioners pass to the whole lot more secure and greater beneficial online variety.“All human life is there” changed into once the advertising and marketing slogan for the now-defunct News of the sector. It became by no means right of that different organ, which specialised broadly speaking in memories of randy vicars, celebrity love triangles, the foolishness of lottery winners and comparable dress.

web

But it’s far clearly proper of the net, which caters for each conceivable human interest, taste and obsession. One manner of thinking about the loss is as a replicate held as much as human nature. Some of what seems In the replicate is inspiring and coronary heart-warming. A lot of what goes on on-line is enjoyable, innocent, frivolous, fun. However some of it’s far naturally repellent: social media, in particular, facilitate firestorms of cruelty, racism, hatred and hypocrisy – as liberals who oppose the Trump campaign In the US have recently determined. For a crash path on this darker aspect of human nature, study Jon Ronson’s ebook So that you’ve Been Publicly Shamed and weep.

S o we discover ourselves residing in this paradoxical global, which is each incredible and frightening. Social historians will say that there’s nothing new Here: the sector always becomes like this. The simplest distinction is that we now experience it 24/7 and on a global scale. But as we thrash around searching out a manner to apprehend it, our public discourse is depressingly Manichean: Tech boosters and evangelists at one extreme; indignant technophobes at the other; and maximum people somewhere in among. Small surprise that Manuel Castells, the distinguished scholar of our on-line world, as soon as defined our situation as that of “informed bewilderment”.

One manner of combating this bewilderment is to look for metaphors. The idea of the internet as a replicate held up to human nature is one. But recently people have been looking for others. Sean Gallagher, the IT editor of Ars Technica, for example, reaches for a city reference. “In the New York Metropolis of the late 1970s,” he writes, “things regarded horrific. The City authorities changed into bankrupt, urban blight turned into rampant, and crime was high. But human beings still went to the City each day, because that turned into where the entirety changed into occurring. And notwithstanding the foreboding emotions putting over NY on time, a vast majority of those humans had at most minor brushes with crime.”

“Nowadays,” he keeps, “we all dabble in a few vicinity that looks loads like Nineteen Seventies Big Apple City – the internet. (For those needing a greater recent simple, assume the Baltimore of The Cord.) Low-degree crime remains rampant, while more and more state-of-the-art crime syndicates move after big scores. There may be a cacophony of hateful speech, the vice of each type… And police officers of diverse sorts looking to maintain a lid on it all – or at the least seeking to keep the chaos far from most regulation-abiding residents. But people nonetheless use the net every day, though the ones who bear in mind themselves avenue clever do so with various stages of defences mounted. Things kind of paintings…”

They do. However, the weak spot of the NYC metaphor is that the City was sooner or later wiped clean up and a type of order restored. So in that sense, it’s an unrealistic, constructive state of affairs for the internet. Therefore, people who fear that humanity will struggle to get a grip on webspace reach for more alarming metaphors. Could it, as an instance, emerge as some sort of “failed nation” like cutting-edge Somalia, with, as Gallagher puts it, “warring factions destroying the most essential of offerings, ‘protection zones’ reducing or casting off free motion, and safety prices making it prohibitive for anyone However the most nicely-funded operations to do commercial enterprise without turning into a ‘gentle goal’ for political or financial benefit”?