Interesting Links for 19-05-2014

[andrewducker]

• I just ordered the most awesome t-shirt ever.
  (tags: t-shirts lotr )
• A set of unlikely, but true, facts.
  (tags: facts unlikely )
• Led Zeppelin is Officially Getting Sued Over ‘Stairway to Heaven’
  (tags: music copyright viafanf )
• How discrimination against sex-workers led to one woman's medical-fee fundraiser being cancelled.
  (tags: usa sexwork

Comments

[quirkytizzy]

Conspiracy theorists drive me nuts for all the reasons that article outlines. I had to lay out a rule on FB about spouting conspiracy theories about 9-11, it got so bad.

Not only does it show a blind adherence to illogical thinking, it's like "If the secrets of the government and the world are really out there, do you think it's going to be contained on a website with green text on a black background and flash graphics that were outdated by 1997?"

Everyone wants to feel special. But bullshit like that IS not the way to do it. There's a reason why Snow and Manning were able to blow the lid off government secrets - they had top secret clearance. Do the yahoos on my FB have top secret clearance? No.

I could rant on forever. But yeah, GREAT article.

[andrewducker]

Oh yes.

Not that there aren't real conspiracies - clearly the government (and other groups) keep secrets a lot of the time.

But when it gets to the stage that your conspiracy theory requires thousands of people to keep perfect secrets, it's got a bit silly :->

[quirkytizzy]

Agreed all around. There were rumblings of the NSA collecting data - that was a real one. But overall, when it requires vast amounts of networking on a global scale -

well, human beings just aren't that organized. Greed and cruelty are selfish things. They don't share well with others. That includes information.

[gonzo21]

They've got a new trick too. I sometimes drop by the Above Top Secret forum, which is one of the biggest conspiracy theorists websites. Occasionally there is something interesting, mostly I just drop by to chuckle at the crazy. But I can only cope with it in small doses because, KAJKLDJAKJFKDFFFFFF THE STUPID!

But since the Snowden papers came out, they found a small reference that governments sometimes use paid shills on websites to spread disinformation.

So suddenly, you're probably already ahead of me here, any time anybody pipes up with a piece of evidence that contradicts the CRAZY CONSPIRACY THEORY or asks a question that similiarly contradicts the madness, the instant response from the True Believers is endless cries of SHILL! SHILL! WE'VE BEEN INFILTRATED BY A GOVERNMENT SHILL!

[cairmen]

I'm using the same techniques that "The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter" is using, on an upcoming web series. Powerful stuff, and despite their mild FUD about "this is way more complicated than it looks", surprisingly simple to use.

[andrewducker]

Ooh, cool. I'd love to see that. And it's been far too long since we hung out!

[gonzo21]

Those graphics are incredible. I wonder what the system requirements will be.

That will just... destroy the next-gen consoles.

[octopoid_horror]

A counterpoint to discussion of next-gen graphics

[gonzo21]

Holy moly. That could be one of the worst launch trailers I've ever seen.

[andrewducker]

Wow.

Someone actually paid money for that.

And then decided that it was worth sharing with the world.

Mosquito

[danieldwilliam]

Nice idea for the mosquito preventor but some good comments on the prevalance of very small pools of water.

When I was a teen-ager I lived in a mosquito infested area of Australia. No malaria but it did have a similar-ish disease and also, mosquitos are a pain.

So one of our little domestic tasks was to makes sure that any little bits of water were not left standing.

[apostle_of_eris]

Is there any good work on the psychology of conspiracy addiction? I really don't understand the ferocious grip of that genus of brainworm.

[andrewducker]

There's a bunch of stuff on Cognitive Dissonance, when people try and take in new information that contradicts their beliefs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance

This is one of my favourite examples:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Prophecy_Fails

(Which you've probably already heard of)