Internet Cookies/Internet... Thing
Xeni talks to Max Weinstein of stopbadware.org about Cookie Crumbles, a contest he's co-sponsoring with the Berkman Center at Harvard University. It's an open call for videos that explain internet cookies. And an excerpt from a hystelarious online short courtesy of Gabe Delahaye and Max Silvestri. It's called, appropriately, Gabe and Max's Internet Thing.
Update: Hey, bing bong, you got your emails. BBtv viewer Tom Hung snipped an MP3 from the Gabe + Max infauxmercial that you can now use as an email notification soundfile. Link.
the latest
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i love the xkcd at the beginning in the little tv.
'Hystelarious'?
I was hoping the recognition of 'ginormous' would pleasify the glutonderance of neo-splutterances. Oh well, I suppose a few more franken-words couldn't hurt.
plus, that short was sweetical!
I like the Gabe and Max thing. Creating something that LOOKS cheap and bad but is actually funny takes a lot of work.
I'm glad you guys liked Gabe and Max as much as we did. I think we're going to put out a call for questions from BBtv viewers, and then forward those by fax and whatnot to Gabe and Max, and ask them to respond to those questions in a tailor-made infauxmercial which we'd air on BBtv. These days, what with business and stuff, you gotta get your emails. I sure would like to know more knowledge from them about how to achieve the dreamlife of my dreams on the internet.
get your very own "hey bing bong, you got your emails" email notification mp3...
best of all its free.99
http://shinola.org/pages/posts/gabe-and-maxs-internets-thing199.php
Must we dredge back up the old fashioned fear of cookies? It's one thing for people to know what they are and how they work - but they aren't just for spying on you and targeting ads. What's wrong with relevant ads, either? Anyway, cookies spare you from the trouble of logging in and enable personalization of all kinds of content. For example, my phone loses my cookies all the time and it drives me NUTS when I have to log in every time I go to Gmail or netvibes mobile. I LIKE cookies and it driven me nuts when people freak out about them. It's antiquated and silly, imho.
There are better ways to call for user control over our own data.
I'm amazed at how many third party ad tracking cookies get served up. Even here on boingboing I get nailed with an easy half dozen. I know cookies are just text files and aren't going to rip a hole in my machine but it's a little unsettling that we've grown so comfortable in an environment where you've got a little spy looking over your shoulder recording your surfing patterns.
And targeted ad content? So far it sucks. Most of the ads I see are for things I can't buy. If they were truly targeting my demographic there would be a lot more clip and save pasta coupons and the banner ads would all be for comic books and bubble tea.
-Pat
People should stop whining about advertising already.
Since the first cavewoman made a bowl of eyeless cockroach and giant rat stew in her cave (and those were good eatin's,) she then yelled at her fellow clubswingers about the quality of said soup and how she would trade a leaf woven bowl of it for a really nice rock because she wanted a better pillow.
Advertising is part of the fabric of our reality, and nowhere more so than online.
It's like complaining about air or the ground existing, you should probably get over it.
Thanks to this BBTV feature on the cookie crumbles contest we were able to put together a last minute video and ship my friend Aaron off to DC for the FTC town hall meeting on behavioral advertising.
Here's his summary of the event:
FTC: So what do y’all think we should do?
Industry: Nothing, the market will regulate itself.
Watchdog: We don’t trust industry.
Industry: But the people trust us, and that’s what counts.
Statistician: Our surveys show that people don’t care about what you want them to care about, they just want free services.
FTC: Thanks to you all for coming and to Microsoft for the free bagels, they were delicious, we’ll have to do this again sometime...
Cookies attach to the hard drive; they're capable of providing their originator with a great deal of information about us. What kind of computer is she on? what sorts of websites does she visit? and for how long? what did she purchase and did she use a credit card? Website owners can potentially give marketers this kind of information without asking our permission, and without many of our knowledge. Yet law enforcement and the spouse you are divorcing would have to subpoena such information. Marketers can, and do, sell this information to other marketers. These actions are illegal in the European Union, but not in the United States.
I realize that cookies have their benefits too, Marshall Kirkpatrick did an excellent job outlining them. This isn't a call against cookies it's a call against the commercialization of cookies.
I'm glad boing boing is raising awareness about cookies; getting others to realize what cookies are is the first step toward privacy control.
Pat said it well, "...it's a little unsettling that we've grown so comfortable in an environment where you've got a little spy looking over your shoulder ..."
You have the right to read anonymously; information about you is your private property. Your computer should constitute your private space in much the same way your home does; people should need your permission to enter.
-tony massung