Two unrelated things

[sholio]

sticksandsnark, the Rodney/Teyla fic/vid/art exchange, is taking signups 'til Feb. 14. This year they're open to gen as well. (Still dithering. I guess I'd better get my dither on and make a decision, shouldn't I?)

On a more serious note (picked up from rydra_wong), a heads-up - apparently there are serious privacy concerns with Google Buzz. I'm not on Google Buzz or Gmail, so I have no firsthand experience with this, but I wanted to pass it on to those of you who are. Here's a Cnet article on the issue, and another that explains how the flaw is built into Google Buzz's setup process, as well as instructions on disabling it (should you want to).

Comments

[crashbarrier.livejournal.com]

The "privacy" issues with Buzz are not as serious as they sound.

My friend who is a professional sys-admin explains it in his LJ linked below.

http://sobrique.livejournal.com/536470.html?style=mine

For those who are worried, all it is, is that the systems default setting forwards information to your followers feeds automatically UNLESS you turn it off. The system will also location tag you on posts.. again You can turn this option off.. So nothing worse than what Facebook can and does do with your info every day..:)

[sholio]

The big problem, though, is that Google made opt-out what should have been opt-in. And people at a midlevel range of tech knowhow -- not people like your friend, but those who use gmail for their email and don't think too much about it otherwise -- have no idea what they've done by saying "yes" to Google Buzz ... because it doesn't tell them, not in any kind of user-friendly way.

Facebook is a giant hole of privacy suck, it's true, but at least you know what you're getting into when you sign up for it. The fact that Google is pushing Buzz on its users means that millions of people who have been using a simple, happy email client for years are suddenly confronted with a dialogue box asking them to do something. How many of them are just going to click to make it go away? How many are going to read it in a cursory fashion, think, "Oh, that sounds useful" and click okay without really knowing what they've said OK to? I do have a Facebook account (I kinda hate it, but a lot of my family is on it), but suddenly having my fannish email account, after years of being nothing but an email account, suddenly enroll me in Facebook? A WORLD OF NO.

... I mean, yeah, the truly worst-case scenarios (like the first blog post I linked to, the woman exposing herself to an abusive ex -- or journalists accidentally exposing anonymous sources) are probably going to be incredibly rare. But heck, even though I have absolutely nothing to lose if I accidentally cross the streams of my personal and fannish communication (the worst-case scenario for me is just a little embarrassment), the idea that a simple mouse-click could suddenly mean that my parents and grandparents and husband, etc, would be able to see all my contacts for coordinating the Genficathon and so forth -- I don't like that at all.

(Edited to add, however, that since I'm *not* on gmail and have no firsthand experience, I'm just going off word-of-mouth here ... and I don't want to accidentally spread alarmist rumors without info to back them up. So I do appreciate the counterpoint.)

[crashbarrier.livejournal.com]

Hey no problemo..

I had a bit of a OMG! moment when I heard about it then found out it wasn't as bad as it sounded..

[wneleh.livejournal.com]

My annoyance is that my preteen daughters use gmail (I don't). We monitor what they send and receive, but without the current flailing I wouldn't know that we need log in and disable their Buzz-ability.

[x-varda-x.livejournal.com]

Oh, it would be wonderful to have you sign up for Sticks and Snark! I love your stuff :) (although I'd be scared to write for you if we got matched)

*sends dither-destroying prod*

[sholio]

Can't decide! I'm already having trouble with my other commitments ... and then I have Genficathon to run (really should open signups for that soon ...) - gah!

[x-varda-x.livejournal.com]

Genficathon, eh? I'll have to remember to sign up for that! XD

Also, the Sticks/Snark thingie is only 1000 words - like I ever write 1000! *glares at SGA_Santa entry monster* :P

[astridv.livejournal.com]

(Still dithering. I guess I'd better get my dither on and make a decision, shouldn't I?)

*puppy dog look*

[ratcreature]

Is this "Buzz" thing available for everyone yet, do you know? I have a google mail account, but I have not seen anything related to this in my inbox. Maybe it is because the last two days their standard view does not seem to want to load for me and I had to resort to their basic display without all their ajax-y gadgets.

[siria]

*encourages you to dither in the direction of sticksandsnark :>