"Vanish is a research [?] system designed to give users control over [their] . . . personal data stored on the web or in the cloud. Specifically, all copies of Vanish encrypted data — even archived or cached copies — will become permanently unreadable at a specific time, without any action on the part of the user or any third party or centralized service.
"For example, . . . a user can create an email, a Google Doc document, a Facebook message, or a blog comment — specifying that the document or message should "vanish" in 8 hours. . . . after that timer expires, nobody can read that web content — not the user, not Google, not Facebook, not a hacker who breaks into the cloud service, and not even someone who obtains a warrant for that data. That data — regardless of where stored or archived prior to the timeout — simply self-destructs and becomes permanently unreadable.
* * * * *
"An enormous amount of private data is now stored on the web or in the cloud, outside the end-user's control. . . . Web-based email systems may back up the message, potentially forever, even if you delete it. Similarly, when you send a message via Facebook or create a Google Doc, you have no idea where and for how long copies of your data will be stored.
" . . . . There are known examples of data remaining in the cloud long after users explicitly request that data's deletion. Private data could be exposed by accidental misconfigurations on a web service, be compromised by hackers, or be used in legal proceedings.'"
(Emphasis supplied; via boingboing, via Ben – thanks!) More at Vanish.
Of course, this means the gummint can "vanish" its own records, too – but lately there's been little to stop them from doing that the old-fashioned way.
July 22, 2009
"This [Data] Will Self-Destruct in Five Seconds."
Nicolas Bourriaud Re- the "AlterModern"
Bourriaud keeps nailing some of the same things I've been seeing.
Near the end, he suggests history is the new, last undiscovered continent, which artists are exploring as if it were a jungle (cf. my posts on Barney, Linzy, and Trends at the 2009 NYC Fairs.)
Find Bourriaud's altermodernist "manifesto" (and another instance of the video) at the Tate. (Interesting to compare the comments there to those on YouTube.)
July 21, 2009
July 20, 2009
Pres. Jimmy Carter Resigns from his Church over Discrimination Against Women
"'Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status . . . ' (Article 2, Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
"'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.' (Galatians 3:28)
"I have been a practising Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around the world.
"So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention's leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses . . . ordained that women must be 'subservient' to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service. This was in conflict with my belief – confirmed in the holy scriptures – that we are all equal in the eyes of God.'"
More at the UK Guardian (the story's been scarcely mentioned in the corporate U.S. media).
July 18, 2009
Big Bro Amazon Remotely Deletes Purchased Copies of "1984" from Thousands of Kindles
Too grotesque not to reblog; details here.
July 17, 2009
C Street
"In some of their documents, Doug Coe, the leader of the group, was actually advising another member on what to do with his wife, who the member felt was demonically possessed, and Doug Coe said that's quite possible. The symptoms, were, uh, and there's just no way to make this sound respectable, the symptoms were that the woman was complaining that she wasn't sexually satisfied by her husband. That was to them a symptom of demonic possession."
(Despairing:) Hahahaha!!!
July 16, 2009
Video of First Men on the Moon (Apollo 11, 1969)
Remember how NASA lost the original video? Apparently they never found it; they say it was a lot better than what we've seen on t.v.
In honor of the 40th anniversary of that landing, they're "refurbishing" footage from the t.v. broadcasts. Some of it's online here; more to come. It's pretty wonderful.
More at NPR; more on Apollo 11 at Wikipedia.
The plaque, among other things, was left on the Moon. ("We came . . . for all mankind"; and we planted the U.S. flag on it. Thanks for the thought.)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
