Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

SOUTH KOREANS ADDICTED TO THE INTERNET - (AND SO ARE WE)

Eric Metaxas writes for "Breakpoint": (my emphases)

By most estimates, South Korea is the most-wired society in the world. South Koreans “enjoy” virtually universal internet access at speeds and prices that Americans can only dream about.

But that access comes at a high price: By official government estimates, nearly two million South Koreans can be described as “internet addicts.”

Now, the words “addict” and “addiction” get thrown around a lot in contemporary culture, but what would you call the following: a Korean couple repeatedly leaves their apartment and goes to an internet café where they spend all night playing an internet game. One night they return to find their three-month-old daughter dead from malnutrition and dehydration.

This actually happened in Seoul. While it’s the most extreme case, the difference is one of degree, not kind. An episode of PBS’ “Frontline” showed South Korean kids at government-sponsored rehab centers trying, mostly in vain, to wean themselves from their dependence on the internet.

GOOGLE ANNOUNCES PRIVACY CHANGES ACROSS PRODUCTS; USERS CAN'T OPT OUT

Another reason to be wary of google.  Click here.   HT: Drudge

Google announces privacy changes across products; users can’t opt out

HOW TO MANIPULATE YOUTUBE

I was pleased to come across an especially helpful article in today's Wall Street Journal, "Hidden Tools Find What You Want on Youtube."

[...] Sharing videos with friends is one of the most popular uses for YouTube, but sometimes you      want to share just the best part of a video. With two clicks, you can trim videos to begin exactly where you want and then share them. As a video is playing, right click at the point where you'd like your video clip to start and select "Copy video URL at current time" to get a URL for the trimmed video. When others open the link, it will start right at the spot in the video where you right-clicked. No longer will a video clip take too long to reach the best part . . .

Edit Better

If you've ever recorded a video shot in portrait mode that you'd rather share in landscape or vice versa, the video can be switched to the correct viewing angle, saving viewers from tilting their heads to one side to watch. Do this with YouTube's editor in the cloud, youtube.com/editor. Here, people can edit (including rotate) existing videos or upload new videos. Content can be mixed in with other video clips from the Creative Commons site, soundtracks can be added by choosing from a selection of music, and text slides can be dragged in to display between video clips.

If you'd rather use a third-party company for editing, multiple options are listed at youtube.com/create. A company called Vlix recently announced its integration with the YouTube site, bringing its editing features from the Vlix iPhone app—like artsy designs and text slides—to the site. Magisto automatically skims videos for the best footage and creates short clips with that content, and the Xtranormal Movie Maker lets people add text, such as a personal narration, to an animated video. (Never underestimate the entertainment value of hearing your words come out of an animated bear with a robotic voice.) . . .

IRANIAN CHRISTIAN PASTOR YOUCEF NADARKHANI FACES EXECUTION FOR REFUSING TO RECANT HIS FAITH IN CHRIST

I heard about the case of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani last week, and am glad to see the press is beginning to publicize it.  Nadarkhani pastors a church of about 400 people in Iran. This afternoon Drudge linked to a Fox Report.  Yesterday the Washington Post published an article by  Jordan Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice.  The case  is urgent and ominous.  Nadarkhani could be executed any day.  Please read below and click through to "continue reading.."

Just days after Iran released two Americans accused of spying, an Iranian court has upheld the apostasy conviction and execution sentence of Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani.

The 11th branch of Iran’s Gilan Provincial Court has determined that Nadarkhani has Islamic ancestry and therefore must recant his faith in Jesus Christ. Iran’s supreme court had previously ruled that the trial court must determine if Youcef had been a Muslim before converting to Christianity.

However, the judges, acting like terrorists with a hostage, demanded that he recant his faith in Christ before even taking evidence. The judges stated that even though the judgment they have made is against the current Iranian and international laws, they have to uphold the previous decision of the 27th Branch of the Supreme Court in Qom.

When asked to “repent” by the judges, Youcef stated, “Repent means to return. What should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?” The judges replied , “To the religion of your ancestors, Islam.” To which he replied, “I cannot.”

It is reported that Youcef was able to see his children for the first time since March and was in good spirits speaking of how he longed to serve the church upon his release.

FIVE WAYS THE INTERNET IS RUINING OUR CULTURE

This article by John Hawkins is worth reading.  I continually wrestle with the amount of time I spend on the internet.  How much of it is truly important and worthwhile?  Could I be spending my time more wisely doing other things?   And then there are other questions:  How is the internet changing the way we think?  What about our attention span? and so on..

Hawkins notes that les than 150 years ago many of the life-altering inventions we take for granted today were invented during that very limited time period.

Just to give you a few examples, here are the years when the following inventions first became mainstream enough to be acquired by 75% of American households: radio – 1937, refrigerator – 1948, television – 1955, telephone – 1957, automobile – 1960, and the VCR – 1992. The Internet just hit that same magic mark in 2007 and the ramifications of that may be more serious than we realize.

The interest has brought enormous benefits.

... every person reading this column could reel off a plethora of great things about the Internet: connecting friends across the world, cheaper communication via email and Skype, new business opportunities, games, MP3s, internet dating, file trading, social networking, streaming movies, Amazon, Google, eBay, Craigslist — it goes on and on.

But he suggests the negative results of the internet tend to slip under most people's radar.   He suggests five ways the internet negatively affects us:  1) Pornography  2) A coarsened culture  3) Time-waster, concentration-breaker, short-term-attention maker  4) The rise of conspiracy theorists, and  5) Dramatically increased press bias.

He does a good job elaborating each of the five ways the internet negatively affects us.  I recommend clicking through and reading the entire article.  More excerpts follows.  (This blog post revised 9/19/11)

JOHN EDMISTON - TEN WAYS THE INTERNET IS CHANGING EVANGELISM AND MISSIONS

Edministon writes:    (HT: VirtueOnline)

There are currently 1.7 billion active Internet users; another three billion are expected to be added in the next five years. The developing world will soon go online as cell phones become smartphones and as cheap digital devices such as netbooks and e-readers proliferate.

The rollout of fiber-optic cable in Africa and massive satellite communication projects will also mean that bandwidth availability and reach will increase. Within five years, at least half the globe should be online; within fifteen years, Internet reach should be almost universal. Global proclamation will soon be within the reach of any Christian with a computer.

The changes are not only quantitative, they are also qualitative. The very nature and dynamic of Christian ministry are being fundamentally altered due to the new possibilities for relationship, connectivity, and information delivery that

DETAILS OF A 100 MILLION FACEBOOK USERS PUBLISHED ONLINE

My long-standing decision to steer clear of Facebook seems vindicated.  Click here for the story behind the headline above.  (HT: Drudge)  My previously posted concerns can be found here and here.

FACEBOOK PRIVACY CONCERNS PERSIST

Story here. (HT: Drudge)

ARE "Google" AND "YouTube" PRO-ISLAMIC AND ANTI-CHRISTIAN?

It sure seems that way.  When the Google story broke -- "Google Blocking 'Negative' Stories on Islam," Google said it was just a snafu.  But now, as Pamela Geller points out, YouTube is operating in exactly the same manner. (Google owns YouTube).  Check it out.

I discovered the bias independently.  For a long time (throughout most of 2009), anyone who googled "Muddling Toward Maturity Blog," would be taken to "Muddling Toward MaturityBlog: Anti-Christian" - one of the subcategories on my blog!  I had to write the following message, dated May 26, 2009, to those who used Google to come to my blog:

WEIRDNESS WITH THE GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE AND "MUDDLING TOWARD MATURITY"

For those who have ever used the Google search engine to find "Muddling Toward Maturity," you are probably aware that Google always brings people directly to one of my sub-topics, "Anti-Christian."  I wonder why that is so.  Does Google have a bias?  I don't know, but be that as it may,  I have many other topics!  If you have newly arrived at the "Anti-Christian" sub-topic, please check current posts here.

(This message was first posted January 19, 2009.  Because Google continues to send searchers to the "Anti-Christian" sub-topic, it requires reposting.)

Today things are better.  Now if you google "Muddling Toward Maturity Blog," you are taken to my home page.  But the 2nd item listed on Google is "Muddling Toward Maturity Blog: Anti-Christian."  I have scores of sub-categories on my blog, many with more posts than "Anti-Christian."  So why does the Anti-Christian category come up as the second listed?  You answer the question.

FOR THOSE DOING RESEARCH ONLINE - AMAZING TECHNOLOGICAL HELPS!

The ever-helpful Justin Taylor has posted a link that should prove a huge help to those doing serious research.  He links to David Instone-Brewer at Tyndale House in England:

With the following free software you can:

• access your work on any computer, and write it at the same time as a colleague
• never lose your work - automatically save to the internet every few seconds
• never ruin your work - previous versions of a document are always available
• add library catalog entries to your bibliography automatically, in your chosen style
• attach notes to a book or article which you can search and find later
• copy web pages or articles or documents which you can search later
• search videos from many sources (like YouTube) and save them (increasingly important!)
• copy pages from online books and save them as searchable documents
• save photocopies online and search them as though they were text documents

Check out his post for four free softwares that, when combined, can do all of this.

Me:  Amazing!!!  The website has a lot of items posted on its left side,  including  this post for backing up work.

UNIQUE PHOTO TECHNOLOGY

A friend sent the following e-mail to me:

Place your cursor at the top of the photo. You will notice it is 6:10 PM.  Bring the mouse down slowly over the photo without pressing the button on the mouse.  Do not right or left click. Night time appears, the lights come on, and at 7:40 PM, it's dark!   Photo Technology at its best!

Click  below.

   http://61226.com/share/hk.swf

Who's Tracking You?

This article in the current (January, 2009) Popular Mechanics magazine has prompted me to re-think my internet use to some extent.  It left me with the understanding that anything done online is automatically preserved for history and for anyone smart enough to get at it.  Every click is recorded.  I knew that before, but the article drove the point home more forcefully than ever.  Of particular concern to me are online storage  websites that I need to rethink.

How to Protect Your Privacy on Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn

Mint, a free personal finance software website, offers valuable (and easy to understand) privacy protection information for Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn here.

IS INFORMATION OVERLOAD AFFECTING OUR ABILITY TO THINK AND FOCUS?

Most definitely.  L. Gordon Crovitz published an article today in the Wall Street Journal and mentioned a new book called "Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age" by Maggie Jackson.   The book sounds fascinating.  Crovitz says author Jackson "warns that the cumulative effect of new technologies is that we may be losing our ability to maintain attention more generally.  Attention requires focus, awareness and what she calls executive attention."

Relying on multitasking as a way of life, we chop up our opportunities and abilities to make big-picture sense of the world and pursue our long-term goals," she writes.  "The way we live is eroding our capacity for deep, sustained, perceptive attention--the building block of intimacy, wisdom, and cultural progress.  Ms. Jackson concludes that "as we plunge into a new world of infinitely connectible and accessible information, we risk losing our means and ability to go beneath the surface, to think deeply."

Check out this Amazon review.

On the same subject, do read "Is Google Making Us Stupid?: What the Internet is doing to our brains" in the current (July/August, 2008) Atlantic Monthly.

TIME MAG: 50 BEST WEBSITES 2008

Time: 50 Best Websites 2008.

32 CRUCIAL WEBSITES FOR EVERY INTERNET FREAK

Click here.   (HT: Evangelical Outpost)

CHRISTIAN GROUP SUES GOOGLE FOR FAILING TO ACCEPT ANTI-ABORTION ADVERTS

The Daily Mail reports:

A Christian group is suing Google over the internet giant's refusal to take its anti-abortion adverts.

The Christian Institute, a "non-denominational Christian charity", wanted to pay Google so that whenever the word "abortion" was typed into the popular search engine, its link would appear on the side of the screen.

The link would have read: "UK abortion law  -  news and views on abortion from the Christian Institute. www.christian.org.uk."

But Google refused the advert because it said it had a policy of declining sites which mixed the issue of abortion with religious views.

Its Dublin-based advertising team replied: "At this time, Google policy does not permit the advertisement of websites that contain 'abortion and religion-related content'."

Google does, however, accept adverts for abortion clinics, secular pro-abortion sites and secularist sites which attack religion.

Top 10 Obscure Google Search Tricks

Interesting and helpful.  Click here.

How To Track Down Anyone Online

From Lifehacker.com   Click here.  Another site has still more ideas.  I stumbled upon both at popurls, quite an interesting collection of popular articles, photos, and videos.

Facebook Users Protest Online Tracking

For the story click here.  (HT: Drudge).   I posted privacy concerns earlier here and here.

Update - A blogger asks and details a question:

So the question that Facebook absolutely needs to make clear is simply: “When we click ‘no thanks’ or opt-out of a site, is that data then being deleted and therefore not stored anywhere?”

He posts evidence that Facebook still collects all manner of data, even if it isn't published.

- PC World adds an article

SUPERBUG' HITS MYSPACE; infiltrating members' accounts and spamming over and over again to their friends...

Matt Drudge links to the story. 

Facebook is Stalking You and How to Block It

Click here.

25 Unexpectedly Useful Websites for the Uncommonly Curious

Click here.

Ricidulously Useful Websites

Wow!  What a helpful list of websites.  Click here.

Facebook and Privacy Issues: A Real Problem

Or at least some see it as a problem. Recently I have received a number of invitations to be a friend on Facebook.  (Begun 3 years ago, it claims 40 million active users and 200,000 more signing up every day). I have reluctantly declined because I vaguely remembered reading something about privacy issues. Then yesterday I read this article that restates and reinforces the privacy concern.

Facebook plans to escalate its use of personal data to target advertisements to individual users, despite mounting privacy concerns surrounding social networking sites.

. . .Chris Kelly, the chief privacy officer, added: “We have always said that information [submitted by users] may be used to target adverts.”  . . . He suggested that internet-users could no longer expect to remain anonymous online, but

See Who's Editing Wikipedia

Wired came out with a major article yesterday.

Wikipedia Scanner -- the brainchild of Cal Tech computation and neural-systems graduate student Virgil Griffith -- offers users a searchable database that ties millions of anonymous Wikipedia edits to organizations where those edits apparently originated, by cross-referencing the edits with data on who owns the associated block of internet IP addresses.

Lots of others are chiming in with ramifications and revelations, such as Michelle Malkin and  Guardian newspaper.    Michelle Malkin says,

Yes, you can now identify and track Wiki vandals at, say, the NYTimes or Al Jazeera. Very useful tool.

Hot Air helps explains how it works.

"Netroots" Defined and Explained

Click here.

New Search Engine Plans to Track Down 6 Billion People

Click here.  (HT: Drudge)  I have copied the full article below.  Note that networking websites such as MySpace will be mined for data.

A US web firm is preparing to launch an ambitious Internet search engine that it hopes will eventually track down the names of the world's six billion people.

Spock.com says it has already indexed 100 million people and is adding a million names per

How Presidential Campaigns Use Technology and the Internet - Mitt Romney Example

Here's a five minute YouTube visit to Mitt Romney's campaign headquarters where young 20 somethings run the technology and website division of his campaign.   The video offers a behind-the-scenes look at how technology operates front and center in presidential campaigns.  (Note:  I am not posting this as a Romney supporter.   My current hope is that Fred Thompson will live up to expectations).   

Do You Really Want Google To Know So Much About You?

I don't.  This article discusses Google's goals.   (HT: Drudge)