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A Man Who Stood Up To Facebook

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Re: A Man Who Stood Up To Facebook

#111

Post by wtallis »

cbsmith wrote: post #109
wtallis wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like it would be pretty hard to draft TOS that prohibit the user from running a program on their own machine that requests, processes, and outputs data on the user's behalf without banning more traditional user agents like web browsers and proxies.

Usually the trick is to add in something like "...at Facebook's discretion...".

What would be at Facebook's discretion? Are you suggesting that their TOS could dictate what web browsers you're allowed to use to access Facebook, or whether you're allowed to store and make other personal use of the information they send you?

It's impossible for something like Facebook to use a whitelist model for determining what you use to interact with their service, and they can't retroactively add things to their blacklist. They usually have to rely on generic rules about causing harm to the service, but then it's no longer a pure whim.

Re: A Man Who Stood Up To Facebook

#112

Post by cbsmith »

wtallis wrote: post #111
cbsmith wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Usually the trick is to add in something like "...at Facebook's discretion...".

What would be at Facebook's discretion? Are you suggesting that their TOS could dictate what web browsers you're allowed to use to access Facebook, or whether you're allowed to store and make other personal use of the information they send you? It's impossible for something like Facebook to use a whitelist model for determining what you use to interact with their service, and they can't retroactively add things to th…

No, I'm suggesting that the TOS could dictate that whether you are allowed to do it or not is entirely at Facebook's discretion, and they could choose to say that it isn't okay.

A lot of software licenses have a clause that basically allows the licensor to revoke the license on a whim.

Re: A Man Who Stood Up To Facebook

#113

Post by deveshparekh »

sjg007 wrote: post #64
War_Machine wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After Power's IP addresses were blocked by Facebook, couldn't Power use the user as proxy to access Facebook instead? In other words, have the user (through some Power provided tool I suppose) access Facebook and feed Power the information it wants to send.

You could probably do so with a browser extension.

I made a quick hack to demonstrate this a few years ago. I didn't maintain it and couldn't find another developer to take over, so it doesn't work anymore. http://devesh.github.io/SuperShareBox/

Re: A Man Who Stood Up To Facebook

#114

Post by wrong_variable »

quirkafleeg wrote: post #110
wrong_variable wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get high speed internet in many parts of the developing world for less than 20 dollars a month - its amazing really. You can buy food, pay rent and utils - live near a sunny beach for less than 50 dollars a month. Of course if all SF software engineers cut their debt shackle - and used global inequality for their advantage it would wreck havoc to the current pecking order of tech capitalists. It would allow t…

> You can buy food, pay rent and utils - live near a sunny beach for less than 50 dollars a month. Can you give an example of such a place, where the total cost of rent, food and utilities (water, electricity) amounts to less than 50 USD per month?

Hey !

I cannot give away the place I am connecting from without giving away too much information.

But within the EU I remember small Remote Romanian Towns.

http://www.hobotraveler.com/budgets/list-of-countries-where-...

here is a list that I just found.

The important think to remember is that a huge part of humanity lives on less than 2 dollars a day.

Wealth among the poorest has increased over the last 20 years but that does not matter. I think now about 1 billion people live on 2 dollars a day - It used to be 3 billion when I was younger.

If you go down the list above you will start to have to trade security for cheapness. However having a laptop does not make someone rich anymore these days.

Somalia for example, my friend who has been there has told me that fibre seems to be everywhere !

However You do not have to go to Somalia, you can choose a country based on factors that is important to you.

Re: A Man Who Stood Up To Facebook

#115

Post by mirkules »

wrong_variable wrote: post #114
quirkafleeg wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can buy food, pay rent and utils - live near a sunny beach for less than 50 dollars a month. Can you give an example of such a place, where the total cost of rent, food and utilities (water, electricity) amounts to less than 50 USD per month?

Hey ! I cannot give away the place I am connecting from without giving away too much information. But within the EU I remember small Remote Romanian Towns. http://www.hobotraveler.com/budgets/list-of-countries-where-... here is a list that I just found. The important think to remember is that a huge part of humanity lives on less than 2 dollars a day. Wealth among the poorest has increased over the last 20 years but…

I doubt the veracity of this list. As an example, a flat in Belgrade, Serbia would run you 400 euros a month if you're lucky. That's almost 14 eur/day. Food alone can be over the $12 daily limit.

I'd caution anyone from taking this list seriously because it is based on reported income alone. There is a combination of credit purchasing and unreported income (cash exchange), each of which means cost of living is higher.

According to this [0] cost of living is $400+ without rent, which is a bit steep but much closer to the actual cost.

[0] https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Belgrade?seeThePric...

Re: A Man Who Stood Up To Facebook

#116

Post by wtallis »

cbsmith wrote: post #112
wtallis wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would be at Facebook's discretion? Are you suggesting that their TOS could dictate what web browsers you're allowed to use to access Facebook, or whether you're allowed to store and make other personal use of the information they send you? It's impossible for something like Facebook to use a whitelist model for determining what you use to interact with their service, and they can't retroactively add things to th…

No, I'm suggesting that the TOS could dictate that whether you are allowed to do it or not is entirely at Facebook's discretion, and they could choose to say that it isn't okay. A lot of software licenses have a clause that basically allows the licensor to revoke the license on a whim.

Facebook can always give themselves the option to unilaterally decide to no longer serve you going forward. But that's not the same as Facebook being able to declare that arbitrary behavior is retroactively in violation of an open-ended clause of their TOS and therefore grounds for lawsuits and CFAA prosecution.

Re: A Man Who Stood Up To Facebook

#117

Post by ajmurmann »

ZainRiz wrote: post #92
zardo wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've recently started seeing what I can only call christian jihadi propaganda on my newsfeed. The Clintons assassinated Scalia and they are going to force you to renounce God or put you on the cross.

Bro, I'd ask you to not use the word "jihadi" as a slur. The word means one who strives, physically or mentally, for the sake of good. The fact that it's been hijacked by deviant so-called "religious" groups doesn't change what the word really represents. And reinforcing the notion that those deviant groups are jihadis just strengthens the claims of ISIS and Al-Qaida that they're the ones properly following their rel…

If you don't use the term "jihadi" because it's too positive you also should refrain from using the word "ISIS/ISIL" because that gives them being a state and Islamic. I understand that "Daesh" has a much more negative meaning and those guys hate being called that way.

Re: A Man Who Stood Up To Facebook

#118

Post by joesmo »

odbol_ wrote: post #97
joesmo wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If FB retains complete control, you don't own your data. If you own your data, FB (or any other party) cannot retain complete control. Otherwise, what is the meaning of "own" that you have redefined the word to mean?

Own in the very legal sense that it is your Intellectual Property, even though you have no real control over it once it gets into their hands.

After the license you give FB and most other such sites, yes, while legally you own the material, practically you no longer do because they are legally allowed to do whatever they want with it. I'm not going to address the stupidity of copyright law here, however.

Re: A Man Who Stood Up To Facebook

#119

Post by proksoup »

wtallis wrote: post #98
downandout wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I remember correctly, Facebook prohibits users from supplying third parties with their Facebook Login credentials for the purpose of that third party logging in on their behalf. Edit: From Section 4(8) of the Facebook TOS [1]: "You will not share your password (or in the case of developers, your secret key), let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account…

How does that apply to the suggested workaround of the user running the necessary content scraping on their own machine and pushing the results to Power?

To be specific, we mean like a chrome plugin or something at that level, right?

Re: A Man Who Stood Up To Facebook

#120

Post by walterstucco »

kareemsabri wrote: post #77
kbenson wrote: post #42

Vachani is based in Brazil, where life is more affordable. He flies into San Francisco a lot, though, in an ongoing effort to stay in the tech biz. So, open question, how much cheaper does it have to be in Brazil to make it worthwhile to live there because it's cheaper, if you are flying into SF a lot? I mean, I know SF is expensive, but presumably if you are willing to make ~$600 flights on a regular basis, you woul…

Rent is the killer in SF. Forget about Brazil and imagine even a cheap American city. 1BR apartment in SF is ~$3300 1BR apartment in New Orleans is ~$1300. $24K/yr in savings on rent alone. Even if you fly in 8 times per year, for a round trip cost of $1K with food and accommodations, you're still well ahead. If you live abroad, and can earn USD and take advantage of the exchange rate, you're even farther ahead. A 1B…

LOL Silicon Valley I can rent 1BR appartament in Rome or Milan for 600-700 euros/month. Much less in a smaller city. I have friends living close to Como lake that spend 500 euros for a private house with private garden.
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