Like many climate skeptics, I have a couple of fake Twitter harassers who operate using the same sort of tactics that cowards tend to use: fake accounts, fake emails, fake everything. These are people who apparently feel that this sort of behavior elevates their own feelings of self worth while keeping them hidden from any blowback. As I’ve always said, anonymity breeds contempt.
The best thing to do is just ignore them, because they crave attention.
Looks like this sort of behavior is on the way out, according to this story on a release from Twitter.
Twitter is taking another step forward in ensuring that its service is a safe place to be. The company today announced that it’s giving everyone access to its quality filter, which automatically screens out tweets from suspicious accounts and hopefully will minimize or eliminate abuse from taking place on the platform.
Users will also now have the ability to limit which notifications they receive across both mobile and the web.
During the company’s second quarter earnings call, Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey responded to complaints around harassment, bullying, and abuse that seemed to be running rampant on the service. He acknowledged that Twitter hadn’t done enough, but promised that it was working on not only improving enforcement of its policies, but also developing new technological solutions to combat the hate.
Full story: http://venturebeat.com/2016/08/18/twitter-makes-the-quality-filter-available-for-all-users-to-prevent-abuse/
I believe we are on the verge of the end of free speech as we know it, via the internet. To keep us “safe”, disharmonious voices will be edited out for various reasons. The mass media has been dethroned, so to speak, and the big important people of the world are losing the ability to control “the narrative” . . and have devised solutions that can be presented as helpful improvements to the online experience. (Under UN guidelines)
It’s like “no fly” lists . which require no trial, no jury of peers . .. and we can see many calls for “No fly, No buy guns” either, as a “common sense” safety precaution . . which means an “alienable right” can be alienated by simple decree.
And cries of unfairness because radical Islamists can post nasty/discomforting things, will be used to justify preventing us from posting nasty/discomforting things . . according to UN guidelines . .
Oops, I meant to write; *… an “unalienable right” can be alienated …*
I wonder what the reaction would be if we applied the “no fly” reasoning to other rights, such as :
no fly, no vote
no fly, no freedom of speech
no fly, no warrant needed
no fly, no religious freedom
no fly, no double jeopardy protection
no fly, no assembly
no fly, no trial by jury of peers
and of course, no fly, no due process, which is already in place by the use of a no fly list.
No fly, no job driving trucks, since they can be used as weapons, as can buses, and cars
No fly, no drive.
No fly, no job as a teacher . . or doctor …
Safety first, after all
Freedom of speech as a constitutional right doesn’t apply to private companies, such as Facebook or Twitter. They can censor anyone for anything, as long as it’s within their stated policies. And if it isn’t, they can change the policies. The first amendment protection only applies to government making laws against it.
Correct. In fact it only protects political speech.
To Tom in Florida (never visited there, but maybe sometime):
Because of corrupt interpretations, what you say may be what it has become, but the original text reads that “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech…” It makes no qualification as to the content of that speech.
One can also make the observation that whenever anyone’s speech is the subject of possible legal restraint, it is, ipso facto, “political” speech.
However, it lays no such prohibition on the States…
Michael,
You must understand the reasoning behind “freedom of speech” and why it pertains only to political speech. Prior to the writing of the Bill of Rights seditious libel was the rule. One could not publicly criticize government/public officials. This was legal doctrine in England and was passed onto the Colonies. Many of the Founders felt that it was a pathway to dictatorship when those in power could prevent and punish those who openly opposed them. And as the Bill of Rights specifically pertains to actions that the government cannot suppress, then it becomes clear that the intention was to restrict government action against those who would speak out against it.
“but also developing new technological solutions to combat the hate.”
How’s that likely to work out?
Yeah, I hate when they try to do that.
@Kpar – we hate you, so we ban you.
(I can’t resist.) Well, “hate” is 75% “ate” and “h” must stand for “hunger.” So, if everyone was well-fed, there would be no hate, right?
Oh you dirty, dirty Lexophile
Twitter is dying a natural death.
What a relief. It has lived an unnatural life.
Bad idea. You want a free and open market place of ideas, you have to allow it all or it is no longer a free and open market place of ideas. Don’t feed the trolls works. If you are easily offended not participating in adult political conversation also works.
The biggest problem is Twitter has a horrible track record in evaluating “quality of Tweets”, It would not be surprising if a “sky is falling chicken-little” at Twitter determines anyone or anything associated with wattsupwiththat.com is of “poor quality”.
True it is a user option to turn it off or on. But what an option to provide; an option that throws control of a persons world view based on politically biased bureaucratic numskulls at Twitter. Is it any wonder that Twitter stock keeps dropping, when its initial mission statement and promise is gradually subverted into becoming a PC echo chamber. Plenty of left and right wing echo chambers out there, the market is flooded, another dumb business move by Twitter.
I wouldn’t last five minutes on Twitter.
Twitter is a total (liberal) failure and will go the way of Gawker eventually. Just delete your Twitter accounts, block them on your browser, and delete their apps from your phone and pad devices (if you can).
There is also an alternative to Twitter in beta testing called Gab. It looks to be much, much better.
http://regated.com/2016/08/exclusive-twitter-alternative-gab-open-beta-test-monday-the_donald-readers
All that twitters is not gold.
+ many!
Very little is.
Weird that one can be harassed by a machine that they must purchase and turn on.
I demand that someone make my coffee maker stop.
I have a different take on this.
It is ultimately determinable who the bad actors are. I think it is important to find out the full catalogue of the enemies of skeptical science. I say bait them, record their activity, allow them to upload certain utilities. Start a reddit subreddit as a clandestine CAGW cheerleader, etc.. build a database.
The day is coming my friends when the pendulum will swing against the left wing. Obama used the DOJ and the IRS etc to attack his enemies. Don’t ever forget that.. This data will come in handy.
Trolls and nasty people leave tracks and the internet has a long memory.
eg.. Seth Rich, a DNC staffer sent a ton of email and DNC internal data to wiki-leaks (it is believed) That act got him killed, (it is believed)
It is conceivable that a bigger climate-gate reveal is on the horizon by way of a disgruntled CAGW activist. The RICO prosecution against skeptics has a long email record amongst the activist leftists. This is going to be revealed…I suspect… by a Guccifer 2.0 etc. I think it is inevitable.
Paul, if the Clinton scandals are (from her fake being shot at to Benghazi and her foundation) not any bigger than “Climate Gate” or “Water Gate”, a bigger climate reveal has got be a lot bigger. The MSM just white washes anything to do with the Clintons. To me after all they seem ( are?) in control of the MSM. This woman makes me ill.
Maybe this will help………
:large
Perfect 🙂
Twitter shuts down 235,000 more extremist accounts
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2016/08/18/twitter-shuts-down-235000-more-extremist-accounts.html
I have Facebook that I may open and brows once in a week but no twitter account yet. Unlike some, I have a physical life I’m trying to live which is hard enough when your on salary and your job has so much work, it pulls you into working long hours.
Hear, hear. “I have a physical life…” The distinction between reality and fantasy. People spend so much time on this, it is like an electronic substitute for dope. I, too, have other fish to fry.
On the other hand, it can be a very fluid and helpful medium of communication. My wife has a very large family, scattered all over the globe, and it is a means that helps them all knit together.
Finally, my other fish are very likely to be mediated by e-mail, so dwellers in china houses shouldn’t throw stones at glass ones.
And where are we all meeting, today?
Who would prefer safety over truth deserves neither.
===================
But I prefer a .45 ACP. It can enforce both!
A 50 caliber revolver would be better.
all you need is Shell casing sleeves and barrel inserts to change the ammo capability to anything from .22, .38, .44, .45 caliber and only 1 weapon.
Bryan A
August 19, 2016 at 2:52 pm wrote:
“A 50 caliber revolver would be better.
all you need is Shell casing sleeves and barrel inserts to change the ammo capability to anything from .22, .38, .44, .45 caliber and only 1 weapon.”
I’ve never heard of this. In fact, I’ve never heard of barrel inserts for revolvers. What kind of accuracy would you get shooting 22 or even 38 cal loads out of a 50 cal revolver? There would be quite a long jump from the casing to the rifled barrel.
Do you have a link for this technology?
Actually, the technology is decades old. You can purchase a wide variety of “sub-calibre” inserts for various firearms. For example, I have .38 Spl inserts for my 20-gauge shotgun; the insert is only the length of the chamber of the 20, but I get acceptable accuracy (say, in a survival situation) out to 25 – 40 metres. There are several manufacturers who make .22 LR inserts that work (semi-auto) in AR-15/M-16/M-4 platforms. In this case, the .22 LR bullet engages the rifling in the barrel of the rifle itself, and thus acceptable accuracy is gained out to 100 – 200 metres. It is great for just general plinking, or can be used for small game in a survival situation (5.56 x 45 does significant damage to squirrels and rabbits, unless you can make consistent head shots).
Places to look are Cheaper Than Dirt, Sportsman Guide, BudK; or just google ‘sub calibre inserts’ and see what comes up.
Hope that helps,
Vlad
If twitter and facebook merged would it be known as twitface?
Vlad the Impaler wrote at
August 21, 2016 at 8:47 am
“For example, I have .38 Spl inserts for my 20-gauge shotgun; the insert is only the length of the chamber of the 20, but I get acceptable accuracy (say, in a survival situation) out to 25 – 40 metres. There are several manufacturers who make .22 LR inserts that work (semi-auto) in AR-15/M-16/M-4 platforms. In this case, the .22 LR bullet engages the rifling in the barrel of the rifle itself, and thus acceptable accuracy is gained out to 100 – 200 metres.”
Apples and oranges. A chamber insert is not a barrel insert. Shotguns and rifles are not revolvers. However, you raise another surprising possibility – a 22 LR bullet engaging the rifling of a an AR-15 after being loaded (presumably by expert finger manipulation) into the AR’s chamber using a chamber adapter.
Some intriguing questions:
1. how does the AR’s centrefire firing pin ignite the primer in the 22LR case’s rim?,
2. what’s your definition of “acceptable accuracy…out to …200 meters”?
3. how much lead does this trick leave in the AR’s barrel?
4. how much does this adapter cost?
Greetings:
1) The AR firing pin strikes an insert/adaptor inside of the .22 chamber, and ignites the rimfire primer compound. Part of the system is a faux 5.56 “cartridge” which contains a .22 LR chamber and some freebore. It is quite an elegant system. I’ve heard, but do not know for a fact, that some units of the US military use it to save on ammo costs.
2) Hitting what I am aiming at; since the fastest rimfire is only about half the muzzle velocity of a standard 5.56, you need to compensate for greater bullet drop. This requires some sighting in, and learning how to aim. Push comes to shove, I think I’ll be able to drop some small game w/ the system.
3) Normal leading problems can be encountered; copper-coated bullets will reduce this, and most of the ‘hyper’ velocity .22’s have fewer problems (I’ve found Stingers and Vipers work best in mine). If you’re willing to go single shot, you can use .22 Short or CB, but that should be kept to a minimum. A thorough cleaning after a session at the range is a good idea.
4) Prices, quality, manufacturers vary quite a bit; a decent system is in the $300 range, and one system I saw runs over $550. You ‘get your money back’ once you’ve gone through, oh, say, a few million .22’s, even though some 5.56 costs about the same as .22. Consider this system a “novelty”; when I bought mine, it was an actual savings (but then, .22 was about 50 cents a box … … … … ).
Hope that helps. Sorry for the confusion on chamber/barrel inserts. I don’t know a lot (or actually, anything) about barrel inserts and revolvers. Maybe others can chime in on what you are looking for. Oh, and add Gander Mountain to the list of retailers.
Vlad
Vlad the Impaler wrote on
August 22, 2016 at 3:55 am
“Hitting what I am aiming at; since the fastest rimfire is only about half the muzzle velocity of a standard 5.56, you need to compensate for greater bullet drop. This requires some sighting in, and learning how to aim. Push comes to shove, I think I’ll be able to drop some small game w/ the system.”
Your previous post cited acceptable accuracy at 100-200 yards, IIRC.
I’ve been able to shoot one inch groups at 200 yards with centrefire ammunition in an accurate rifle with good optics and selected loads. But have never been able to get even half that accuracy with a top notch scoped bolt action 22LR.
So I can only wonder in awe at your ability to get such performance out of the complicated rig you describe. I would expect ability to reliably take game such as grouse, squirrels, ground squirrels, etc., with this configuration to be limited to 50 yards, given all of the sighting compensations required (for lower muzzle velocity and ballistic coefficient, greater lateral wind resistance) plus the inherent inaccuracy of the bullet due to manufacturing limitations, deformation by the long jump from casing to the rifling, and loss of spin due to progressive leading of the barrel with each shot.
Maybe you have an unsuspected superpower that guides the bullet ;].
Well, no, not really; lots of practice, obviously. With any luck I manage to get out most every weekend. I am prone/bench, so that helps. Offhand, standing, or kneeling, it’s more a matter of luck than skill. I think once one knows their tool, the accuracy issues tend to fall by the wayside. Knowing the ballistics is another advantage (from 29-gr .22 Short to 38-gr HV LR and the ‘hyper’ velocity rounds).
Practice, practice, practice; there’s no substitute.
Let me know if I can supply any additional ideas; I use 36-gr HP most of all, having found them better than standard 40-gr. That was one of the best changes I made a few years back.
Vlad
I’m in Quebec, Canada, where shooting is extremely expensive, and AR-15 ownership could soon become prohibited.So most of my shooting lately has been of the armchair type, alas! Thanks for the offer, though.
You are very welcome; sorry to hear about your issues in your local area. Depending upon what happens in November, it is possible we’ll be in the same boat sooner rather than later.
Speaking of ‘armchair’ activities, you might enjoy “Bin Laden Liquors”. It’s been around for several years, and I think one can still find it. I haven’t played it in months, but it is always a KICK!!!
Vlad