Links - 17th August 2013

"The most perfidious way of harming a cause consists of defending it deliberately with faulty arguments." - Friedrich Nietzsche

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Five ways to stop the NSA from spying on you - "“The laws of physics will not let you hide your location from the phone company,” he says. The phone company needs to know where you are in order to reach you when you receive a phone call. So if you don’t want the NSA to know where you’ve been, you only have one option: You need to turn off your cell phone. Or if you’re feeling extra paranoid, take out the battery or leave your phone at home."

Hamas Killed the Baby, Egyptian FM Kissed the Dead Baby, CNN Blamed Israel

Answer to Trolling: Why do you troll? - Quora - "To make people angry. Specifically, I troll people whom I disagree with and don't respect. I do it because having a rational conversation with them isn't possible, so why not get under their skin and have some fun in the process?"

Woman used nude photos of fiance’s ex to get her fired - "The court heard that it all started because Siti Nurazlin, 28, felt that her fiance’s family preferred the victim to her. Her fiance used to be in a relationship with the victim... she posed as a male police officer and contacted the victim via phone text message, pretending to be interested in her. They went on to have a seven-month-long online relationship, conversing every day. Siti Nurazlin used fake email addresses, a fake Facebook account and borrowed phones to keep up the relationship. During this period, the victim sent photos of her family as well as 10 naked photos of herself to Siti Nurazlin. The “relationship” ended when Siti Nurazlin took on another guise: she posed as the girlfriend of the “police officer” who put a stop to it... in the final part of the plot, Siti Nurazlin pretended to be a concerned mother who had a son studying in the secondary school where the victim worked. In December 2011, she wrote to the principal of the school, saying she found four nude photos of the victim in the textbook of her “son”."
You don't need to be a kid to be dumb enough to send nude photos of yourself to (not to mention get into a relationship with) someone you've never even met (or presumably spoken to)

Russia surgeon 'stole heroin from drug mule's stomach' - "Officers who checked drug containers removed from the courier believed one was missing and carried out a search. Five grams were found in the clothing of the surgeon, who was himself found to be in a state of narcotic intoxication"

Apple’s App Store and Freedom of Expression Online - "Apple’s app store policies interfere with what Jack Balkin calls a “democratic culture” in which “ordinary people can participate, both collectively and individually, in the creation and elaboration of cultural meanings that constitute them as individuals.” The iOS ecosystem has become pervasive enough that Apple’s policies have a substantial effect on freedom of expression online. It is therefore perhaps time that we strongly consider applying the principles of net neutrality to the iOS ecosystem. In other words, “app neutrality” should govern the iOS app approval and rejection process in order to ensure that freedom of expression within the ecosystem, as well as the larger online ecosystem, is protected and nurtured. Just as we would not look kindly on a regime that arbitrarily rejects—or approves, then rejects—websites because of their political content, we should not look kindly on a regime that does precisely this on the mobile sphere. As the market for mobile devices and services continues to grow at a rapid pace, an expanded conception of “app neutrality” that includes app non-discrimination within mobile app stores should become an increasingly important part of the network neutrality debate."

Sex With An Ex Might Be A Good Idea - "A post-marriage bedroom jaunt among people who still longed for ex-lover resulted in "significantly better adjustment" compared to those who were not having sex with their ex, the study notes. "

Bo Xilai’s Trial Exposes Truth About China - "As is the case with all political scandals, the Bo Xilai affair has exploded several important myths about one-party rule in China. Among these myths, the most alluring and widespread is the idea that the post-Mao leadership has perfected a system of managing internal conflict and maintaining elite unity. Proponents of this idea, dubbed “authoritarian resilience,” argue that China’s leaders have bypassed the need for democracy. Instead, they employ devices such as term limits, a regular rotation of appointments, systematic screening and mandatory retirement as effective means of divvying up power among competing groups and individuals. On paper, these arrangements seem flawless. But in practice, they can be gamed, and the competition for power inside an opaque regime that resists binding, well-acknowledged rules can be especially fierce... The denouement of Bo’s saga will also help destroy yet another widely accepted myth about the Communist Party -- namely, that the regime is a meritocracy. This idea has a tight grip on Western politicians and business executives who have interacted personally with top Chinese leaders. Adjectives like “smart,” “dynamic” and “cosmopolitan” are generously applied to officials like Bo. It remains a puzzle to China-watchers how these Westerners, who speak no Mandarin and normally spend just an hour or two with characters like Bo, could have reached such definitive assessments about their capabilities"

North Korea unveils Android smartphone - "Funny thing about an open-source operating system -- it can show up in the most unexpected of places. North Korea has unveiled its own Android smartphone through its state-controlled KCNA TV news channel, which recently showed supreme leader Kim Jong-un visiting a "cell phone factory." Dubbed "AS1201 Arirang" after a Korean folk song, North Korea says its smartphone is manufactured using "indigenous technology." Yet on the phone's screen you can clearly see the stock Android UI, as developed by Google in Mountain View, Calif."

Man, 64, finds penis missing upon waking after drunken night - "Neighbours of Geraldo Ramos claim that he was attacked by a dog as he stumbled around the Dominican Republic naked while drunk. But Mr Ramos, of Santiago, doesn't believe their version of events and is none-the-wiser as to how he came to be dismembered... The dog which is said to have attacked him has not been traced, nor indeed has Mr Ramos's penis."

Why Apple Can’t Be Trusted with the App Store | Cult of Mac - "in 2010, at least, Apple was willing to use its control over the app store to give the company an unfair advantage in unrelated business deals... Apple this week removed the Bang With Friends app, which existed to enable users to proposition people they follow on Facebook to find out if they are “down to bang”... As far as I can tell, the pulling of this app is arbitrary. I’m guessing Apple just doesn’t like the sound of it. I would be surprised if Apple considered as one of its corporate missions the need to prevent people from having sex with each other, or the use of apps for people to discover that they are attracted to each other. I suspect that the baby boomers who run Apple just find language commonly used by millennials in poor taste... Apple, in fact, has a long history of banning apps based on them being in poor taste. An app called iBoobs was banned, even though there was no nudity in it. The app showed a cartoon clothed upper torso of a woman. By shaking the app, the breasts jiggled. So what’s the rule here: You can show female bodies as long as they’re not in motion?... If Apple wants to be a standard, global agent for content, we need to trust them. And for us to trust them, they’ve got to earn our trust by creating a rule-governed, level playing field."

Good Samaritans need protection - "In October 2011, a two-year-old toddler was left bleeding on the streets of Guangdong in China, after being hit by a van. Eighteen people walked by and refused to help, and the child was run over a second time. In a survey conducted a month later, most respondents thought the people who passed the injured toddler without helping were afraid of getting into legal trouble."
Funny, I thought all this was due to the logic of capitalism gone mad

It Now Appears Possible to Hack a (Fancy, Japanese) Toilet

46% Are Pro-Choice, 43% Pro-Life - Rasmussen Reports™ - "46% of Likely U.S. Voters now consider themselves pro-choice, the lowest finding in three years of regular surveying. Forty-three percent (43%) say they are pro-life, matching the highest finding to date. Eleven percent (11%) are undecided."

When Is a Royal Baby a Fetus? - "the American media used this phrase “royal baby” to describe the pre-born infant. It’s not strange for leading pro-life thinkers like Eric Metaxas and Denny Burk to refer to a fetus as a “baby.” It's not strange, either, for people to refer to a child they're expecting as a "baby," regardless of where they stand on the issue of abortion. It is strange, though, for outlets like the New York Times and the Washington Post and Boston Globe--which purport to be neutral on the issue--to use this seemingly explosive phrase without so much as a qualification. And why is this strange? Because it codes a pro-life position into their description of the unborn child."

Singapore Social Escorts Losing Business To Casinos, Business Dropped By 30% - "Social escort agencies are complaining that they are losing business to the local casinos. The agencies tell reporters that business had dropped 10% initially when the casinos opened. It has since dropped by 30%, and they are looking at ways to attract more customers... Most customers are apparently married men who tend to accompany their families during holidays and festivals. Business at the agencies usually drop by about 30% on Christmas Day, and 60% during Chinese New Year. The agencies also reveal that many female escorts are university educated and most escorts will provide "special services" to clients."

The pillow that makes long-distance relationships less lonely - "When one person goes to bed, the ring wirelessly communicates with his lover's pillow and causes it to gently glow. When he puts his head on the pillow, he can hear the real-time heartbeat of his partner, no matter how far away."

Swedish boys' new hero: pram-pushing Spiderman - "This is not the first case of toy catalogue controvery in Sweden. In October, 2009, sixth grade students from Växjö, southern Sweden, made a storm by reported toy retailing giant Toys "R" Us to the Reklamombudsmannen (Ro) for gender discrimination. The 13-year olds decided that a Christmas catalogue featured children in "outdated gender roles", with boys too often in "action filled" pictures, and girls only in "passive poses""
Comments: "Spiderman is supposed to be a superhero, not a nanny."
"Yeah, I'm sick and tired of these gender roles society forces upon me. For now on I am going to use the ladies restroom. I imagine it is much more sanitary than the mens restroom."
"Im seriously getting fed up with this kind of thought process that you have to go out of your way to prove a gender neutral or break gender stereotypes, rather than just advertise it individually where no gender or more needs to be though about."

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