text:
The 4 opens
The #dotcon can not be fixed, the #fashernistas who keep flocking to new "ethical'ish" ones are a problem not a solution.
The #4opens:
Are a simple way to judge the value of a "alt/grassroots" tech project.
Open data – is the basic part of a project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_data with out this open they cannot work.
Open source – as in "free software" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software this keeps development healthy by increasing interconnectedness and bringing in serendipity. The Open licences are the "lock" that keep the first two in place, what we have ain't perfect but they do expand the area of "trust" that a project needs to work, creative commons is a start here.
Open "industrial" standards – this is a little understand but core open, its what the open internet and WWW are built from. Here is an outline https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_standard
Open process – this is the most "nebulous" part, examples of the work flow would be wikis and activity streams. Projects are built on linking trust networks so open process is the "glue" that binds the links together. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Process
Don't trust the #fashernista
Thinking about Uber and the dysfunction of Facebook.
Its time to #reboot many part's of the #openweb With the "visibility" of the failing of #dotcon such as #failbook privacy/obscured agronomic control of you, #uber and the race to the bottom culture.
The will be a plausible "class" of people who come up with convincing sounding solutions, these #fashernista are not part of any solution and are a clear and historical core to our failers in the past.
I understand its hard to see the differences of tech projects what is worth supporting and what not. We have issues from two different directions that have to at least a little understood to have a hope of supporting projects that have the possibility to be part of a real LINKING alt.
* #fashernista thinking/working
* the #geekprobelm
These are opposite side to the same coin.
"A river that needs crossing - On the political side, there is arrogance and ignorance, on the geek side there is naivety and over complexity"
A good first step solution to both is the #4opens
They will dis-empower the worst of the #fashernista thinking by shining light on their actions and mediate to a better outcome the "closing push" of the #geekproblem by keeping the LINKING in place.
Simple and sweet a first step solution in a hash tag ;)
A look at were alt/grassroots media is at
A look at some of the current alt/radical media projects in the UK
Novra media
These guys are some of the most intelligent "idiots" I know. They produce good content and they produce a lot of it.
You can see them trying to build themselves into the new Guardian/Buzzfeed/***media. The root problem am hoping is the limited understanding/interest of the open web due to them having built there careers inside the #dotcons of Twitter and Facebook etc. In this the is hope for these guys.
The now "old" upstarts who keep getting it wrong by building something that might have been the thing to do if they had done it 10 years ago and most importantly as a open network rather than a closed portal.
Hard to say if the is hope for them.
The Canary
The tabloid of left alt-media, my thought is that am glad some one is doing these and its not me :)
Now these guys would be valuable as part of a Open Media Network (OMN) partnering up to work as outreach for the more content soled groups. Its a nobrainer and not to far away from the funding model as a bigger alt means a bigger them, more revenue – everyone wins.
The fact that they are now linking after each story gives hope.
Built by the social media generation so little real understanding of the open web and limited interest in being part of the open world. Is this an unsolvable problem?
The granddaddy of the current alt/grassroots media, they are a niche publisher of trade union grassroots news. Good content that all the other groups should LINKING to and share BUT CURRENTLY DO NOT, this sums up the issue with current "alt" media.
With a bit of investment they should be at the centre of a OMN
Am going to take a little time to try and help them out if they need/except help.
Radical film network
Has been taken over by a bunch of career building academics. There events have been so pointless that I have never been to one of them, and, I was around at the setup. I have been one of the most prolific radical/alt/grassroots film-makers of the last 20 years its odd that isn't it, that am alienated from something calling it self "the radical film network".
Outcome – CHANGE THE NAME to #fashernista film makers / academic career building network
The Media Fund
Grew out of realmedia and share many of its NGO facing. Good and needed project if it can refocus on real media outcomes The 4#opens and the linking of alt-media.
A open "trust" peer to peer standereds based network thats needed.
Still worthwile as a video part of a network but pointless with out this wider linking project.
* "KINDA" #4opens project
Why do alt/grassroots media fail
Stupid individualism and the visionOntv CJ video templates.
Our templates for video journalism are designed to simplify and empower normal people to make coherent video news pieces using the tools they already have. They are successful at this if people fallow the template's – it says this at the end of most of them. The issue that creates failure is a standard one for the possibility of an alternative "stupid individualism".
Our shared western society is based on a hegemonic false senses of individualism, were the reality is largely faceless bland conformity thinly covered by a surface of lifestyle fashion. This is the bases of consumer capitalism our "wealth" is built on. The current world view atomises any possibility of building an alternative and shows up as a block in most attempts to build one. The disparity of wealth on the surface and poverty of the underlying human condition (some more hippy types would call this "spirit") is striking to many thinking and feeling people.
Our templates boil down more than 30 years of experience of awarded wining fast turn around video journalism to a A4 cartoon sheet. The instructions are clear and complete, if you fallow these, after a few attempts you will likely have mastered the bases of audio visual story telling and from this point of basic mastery opens a whole world of creativity and real genuine "individualism" of the less stupid kind.
Over the last 10-20 years of teaching few actually get this far and we know this because we have trained thousands of citizen journalist over hundreds of workshops at both undercurrents and visionOntv. Why? I would put into view my old friend/foe "stupid individualism" as the explanation (though would admit the are technical challenges as well).
The impotence of the template is more in what it doesn't say. The is much more information in the omissions, this is how it fits on a A4 with pictures. It distils what does work and explains this. And leves out much that people do by default that dues not work.
Simply, people do not fallow the template, often they do not even pick them up and read them, they then go onto do what THEY think is video making, they do all the bits that the template purposely omits and very few of the bits in them, the result is almost always a dis empowering mess. This is the same outcome with all groups we work with.
We live in an individualist society, were we are all "empowered individuals". The problem is evident in that this is our empowerment is an almost all an illusion, we are all dis-empowered individuals with egos let lose on dispoling mode. We think we are empowered because everything around us that works is on bureaucratic auto pilot, we don't actually have to create anything original and lack the base skills to so when the rare option comes round.
Our templates are such a rear opportunity, if you can take your mind out of dispoleing mode and fallow the instructions – the first step and a rare hopeful sign for us as trainers is a budding CJ actually checking the steps on the paper template as they go though the filming.
This is a example of "stupid individualism" a block on many parts of building an alternative.
Some background http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity_fetishism
Power Politics of the "undead left"
I have found memories of fighting the Power Politics of the "undead left" during the London Social Forum many years ago - lots of knotted strings of organic garlic around the top "taking the power table" to highlight the uncomfortable "undead left´s" grasping for power.
Then the ad hock crew taking away the top table altogether during the lunch break and arranging all the chairs in a circle. Their faces were a delight, coming back after lunch and it kinda/might have worked... but the splits of "not thought of here" took over and the undead were permissioned to take back the space at the next meeting.
The ESF movement faded and now is a shadow - no alt was built.
The use of cultural myths and traditions will mediate and disempower "power politics" but it's a chicken and an egg to get these embedded in groups that are already ensnared in "power politics".
The rainbow gatherings used to work this way till they were "disrupted" by the digital shift and capture by the #dotcons now the gatherings themselves are broken due in part by being organized through #failbook
The #OMN could fail from the same issue. The myths and traditions are in place PGA and #4opens. But the project does not have deep roots to weather the inrush of success. And on the other hand will likely not last the slow growth needed for the roots to dig deep.
Starting/Doing the "Risistence Expo project is unsettling for the same resion.
The idealogical swing
In the 19th century we had a fight between the conservatives vs fundamentalist liberalism fighting/feeding inhuman industrial growth which lead to a human backlash in the 20th century of social democracy – that is a mediated democracy to push humanan growth (progressive liberalism). The late 20th century neo-libreal (fundamentalist liberals) pushed us back into a 19th century world view which has brought with it the balenceing ideas of conservatism of trump and brixet.
The idea is to do it different. Socialism and ecolagisam spring to mind. If we can bring the progressive liberals back it can open the space for these other world views. If conservatism takes over then we have the revaluation of "communism" as a balance as Neo-liberalism is a inhuman deadend that we should not be repeat.
The conservatives (trump) and the radicals are both pissing on liberals for good resions. Though it might turn out that a renewed progressive liberalism (Corben etc.) might be the best path. Pee in moderation can be a good fertiliser :)
For a view of neo-liberal dealing with a political created ecological disaster this podcast is a good direct reminder http://irishhistorypodcast.ie/podcast-directory/famine/
Building alt/grassroots media networks to challenge the traditional media
Our current groups doing alt/grassroots media are to limited in there idea of what media could/should be. The is either a naivety or a dishonesty to all the current grassroots/alt media. They act and think they can be "big media" with out controlling the distribution of there content in any real way. This is in no way unusual the mainstream media is continually making this very same mistake. All of them rely on the the #dotcons which nowadays is largely the Facebook algorithm for the there content distribution.
Our current grassroots/alt media have web sites so already have one foot in the openweb, but non of their sites prominently link in any meaningful way to each other. They do podcasts so anther foot in the open web, but all their effort for outreach is inside the #silos such as Apple itunes etc. it's hard to directly blame them, though we should and will, for this sorry state.
So why are we here? On the one hand we have the #fashernista embrace of the #dotcons which most of the current crew built there careers inside. On the other we have the suicidal embrace of #encryptionists complexity and parallel "standardisation" into a pointless/shrinking in to nothingness alt-tech ghetto were our alt-geeks are.
With these issues in mind I have been outreaching to these groups for the last year, and building real working openweb linking tech as part of the #OMN project. This currently is not been getting far past their naivety/self interest/career focused thinking. Fair anufe if that is as far as there imagination/aspiration goes, but this is a clear problem for working alt/progressive/left media that urgently needs to be addressed. I will keep outreaching, if you wont to help with this outreach get in touch.
They link to meany alt-media crews at the end of each story which is nice, but no links on front page yet.
They have no links on the front page to alt media crews. They used to have a linking page inside there site, now I cannot find it? If anyone can find links can they send me a URL please. They are looking like going backwords to a more tredtional 20th centery view of what media is?
They have no links on the front page to other alt-media crews and I cannot find any links inside their site. They have source links in there story's which is not much of a step. This is a clear a failer in alt/grassroots media turms.
Open letter to 4 alt/grasssroots media groups about the openweb
DRAFT (please comment)
Building up alt/grassroots media would be nice to get a reply :)
Hi guys,
Good to get a reply about this project from you.
OMN is a network of Open Media Sites. Its a push to #reboot the openweb that most "value" you currently use has been built upon in the last 20 years. Your careers were built on the destruction of the digital commons its time to pay this back. The cost to your career is light and the openweb can and should be run in parallel to your current use of the #dotcon distribution.
The currency (value) of the web is the link without linking content (no matter how good) has little/no value online and will likely not be seen offline.
Left wing and progressive sites DO NOT LINK and share content with each other. This leads them to have little or no value outside the bubble/echo chambers. And we are surprised and depressed when we keep looseing, there is nothing surprising about this, but there is something depressing about it.
Why is the OMN different to all the other activist tech failed projects.
The top 5:
1) It's based on the #4opens, meaning it doesn't have the buy-in (sell out) issue of NGO's and dotcons and can spread as wildly as the original world wide web (www) if people start to use/build it out.
2) It's KISS, that is simple and standards based, so open to be built-out in unseen directions and open to wide creativity. It galvanises and empowers openweb projects.
3) It's not under the control of one group and is a "universal/standard based so can build and link many niches to link and thus build a real alternative.
4) It solidifies a morality of co-operation and trust rather than fear and compation. Its left wing rather than right wing. All current projects are products of right wing thinking in structure and expectations.
5) It gives the tech/grassroots #fashionista's something useful to do and promote at their events. Its hard to express the pointlessness of all the current alt-tech.
reply from one of the alt-media/grassroots groups
Aren't "existing" doing this anyway, linking all media groups together? Afraid I'm not techie enough to understand what OMN is, how it's different, or any of the points you've made, but I'm happy to go along with what everyone else decides if it can be explained in plain English!
We have done some "user story's" https://github.com/Openmedianetwork/OMN/wiki/user-storys hope this helps get away from the tech :)
This is a part list of current working roll-out https://github.com/tomspost/OMN/wiki your content already appears as links on all these sites as you post it.
All current successful projects are networks or in the case of the #dotcon social networks (closed) sudo networks.
Currently the OMN is the only bud of a network we have in place in the alt/progressive.
What dues the OMN mean for the your org
Nothing has to change in what you do if you don't want to do more.
To be part of the network you add a easy OMN sidebar/section/page to your existing site with the content flow you are interested in from any OMN site. You control what appears on your site.
At the moment the is just the one/first that covers the best of grassroots media from a UK and a bit of globle news focus so use that one http://omn.openworlds.info:8080
That's it, you can do more if you like but don't have to.
What this means is that your site will link and share content with other grassroots/alt media sites on there sidebar/section/pages.
Your content as you publish it on your site will appear (you do not have to do anything for this to work) on many other OMN sidebars/sections/pages on other sites and blogs.
It will play a role in "aggregating" the viewership of alt-media, everyone gains from this.
What we are talking about is building expanding distribution outside Facebook/twitter. You can, and should continue to use Facebook etc. what the OMN dues is start to build independent and horizontal alternative that run/expands in parallel, its working now and easy to use.
Am more than happy to help set-up the embeds in your website, will likely take 20 min.
Just in case you are worried about security of your site all scripting is striped from the articles and links and the embed is a standard plug-in that comes from the dotcon markets that 1000's of people have been using for years with out any issues.
Its mature and safe tech that just works.
Ps. if this outreach duse not work its looking like time for a bit of a kicking.... phwww..... crap.
Stupid individualism and the possibility of an alternative
Stupid individualism and the visionOntv templates.
Our templates for video journalism are designed to radically simplify and empower normal people to make coherent video news pieces using the tools they largely already have. They are successful at this if people fallow the template's – it says this at the end of most of them.
The issue that creates failure is a standard one for the possibility of an alternative, I call it this "stupid individualism".
The disparity of wealth on the surface and poverty of the underlying human condition (some would call this "spirit") is striking to many thinking and feeling people. Our shared western society is based on a hegemonic false senses of individualism, were the reality is largely faceless conformity thinly covered by lifestyle fashion. This is the bases of consumer capitalism our "wealth" is built on. The world view atomises any possibility of building an alternative and shows up in as a block in most attempts to build one.
Our templates boil down more than 30 years of experience of awarded wining fast turn around video journalism to a A4 cartoon sheet. The instructions are clear and complete, if you fallow these, after a few attempts you will likely have mastered the bases of audio visual story telling and from this point of mastery opens a whole world of creativity and real genuine individualism.
Very few actually get this far and we know this because we have trained thousands of citizen journalist over hundreds of workshops at both undercurrents and visionOntv. Why? I would put fowered my old friend/foe "stupid individualism" as the prime explanation (though would admit the are technical challenges as well).
The impotence of the template is more in what it doesn't say, the is much more information in the omissions, this is how it fits on a A4 with pictures. It distils what does work and explains this.
People do not fallow the template, often they do not even pick it up and read it, they then go onto do what THEY think is video making, they do all the bits that the template purposely omits and very few of the bits in it, the result is almost always a dis empowering mess. This is the same thing with all groups we work with.
We live in an individualist society, were we are all "empowered individuals". The problem is evident in that this is our empowerment is an illusion, we are all dis empowered individuals with egos let lose on dispoling mode. We think we are empowered because everything around us that works is on bureaucratic auto pilot, we don't actually have to create anything original and lack the base skills to so when the rare option comes round. Our templates are such a rear opportunity, if you can take your mind out of dispoleing mode and fallow the instructions – the first step and a rare hopeful sign for us as trainers is a budding CJ actually checking the steps on the paper template as they go though the filming.
This "stupid individualism" is a block on many parts of building an alternative.
Some background
Looking at the tech and organising of UK alt/grassroots media
How meany sites link to anuther alt/grassroots media sits. from this list of 38 UK sites only 2 link to anuther site.
Many people find it hard to understand the underlining understandings that push projects based on flow and linking such as OMN and openweb. Here is a short list of activish projects.
Is a place for holding/hoarding closed data – this is used by the #dotcons to extract funding form "free users" when mainstream/alt silo projects finish, as 99.9% do, the data varnishes and is lost, and in this the effectiveness of any alt building is diminished. Silos do not use open licensing for content re-use. Just about every alt/grassroots media project is a silo. It's about capturing data. Its obvious that this is a unthought through issue of "churning"
Is an idea that you can be the big one, all the small fashionista websites aspire to be the big one and by doing this they are working to the logic of the #dotcon and working against the logic of the openweb. They are building a project to lock there users into their project. Portal and silo are overlapping (but different) ideas for building web projects. In the mainstream, Apple is a prime example of this working. In the alt/grassroots almost all alt/grassroots media projects are portals. It's about capturing users, just as silos are about capturing data. For a left wing group this looks much like "recreating the Soviet Union" the one party to rule the state.
Are for-profit data silos in the old days working as portals, more recently they are building out siloed networks as a pseudo networked portal. Its both sad and bad that many alt media projects unthinkingly aspire to be #dotcons
Is where ALL the value is on the open web. Without links content has NO VALUE. This is a obvious statement, its hard to understand the the lack of understanding around this simple thing.
Is a grassroots web standard that is still at the base of many of the dotcon world but is being pushed into the background of the openweb by building silos/portals in the grassroots/alt. RSS is like an open LINK with added data, thus adds value to the web. Its a powerful open tool that we still have. An API is like a geek control freak super power of RSS - the problem is in the complexity/control freak bit...
A subculture that is control/obscurity and more recently technical solutions to trust (wraparound right) this has always been a closing force on open projects. This helped to strangle the original successful alt/grassroots media projects and is pushing for the shrinking of the open web.
The unthinking desire for new/innovation/conformity. A wider subculture that churns the growth of alt/grassroots so little can grow beyond seedlings.
Are greedy dispoling of resources both human and money. The liberals that use bureaucratic funding to push out the geek/fashernista agendas over alt/grassroots projects. These are uneasy friends and clear (invisible) enemys.
Is both a technical thing of wires and frequency and an understanding of mutual aid and of "diversity of strategy". It's native to the openweb and should be at the base of any alt/grassroots media project. In the closed #dotcon the widespread use of A/B testing is a pail controlled shadow of this.
wikipedia is an example of this. It's basic stuff open source project stuff. LINK
Looking at the tech and organising of UK alt/grassroots media. Do sites link to other alt-media projects? Do they support/display openweb standards (RSS)
First DRAFT (please message me with corrections/info)
the canary
Has a RSS feed, regular updates, copyright group silo, it has no outside linking
UPDATE: site back online, no visible RSS but can find a hidden one. Its likely copyright and a silo.
(Their website is hacked/down so posted the #failbook link used to have RSS and regular updates. Anyone know what's happening? Update they hope the site is back online soon.)
Real Media
UPDATE: website back online copyright, no visible RSS feed but you can find ones. Its a a bit of an aggregater but has been suffering from poor spam control. Its pretty much a portal/silo – but could be more.
(They used to have an interesting website for the tec used, but it ended up being just a silo, they look like they are rebooting? Maybe a another silo? we shall see.)
Update they are rebooting as a linking site, lets hope its not a silo.
Has regular good content, RSS, they are a product of the #dotcon social media wave and good at it. Copyright/CC is not stated. The site is a silo with no outside linking
No RSS feed, starting to look a bit "old left" regular updates, no copyright/CC notice. A silo with no external links
The Bristol Cable - Bristol
No visible RSS feed, it kinda probably tries to obey the 4 opens maybe. It's a WP blog site in this it's a media silo with no external links.
Port Talbot Magnet
no visible RSS feed, it mostly fails the 4 opens due to copyright, data and organising. It's a WP blog site, in this it's a media silo with few if any external links.
New Internationalist - based in Oxford
Has RSS feeds, it kinda passes the 4 opens using a CC licence for its content. It links to the visionOntv project.
The Ferret - Scotland, based in Edinburgh
Looks like the old media transitioning to the new media. No visible RSS feed or copyright/CC notice. Is trying to be "open process" looks like a WP site.
Strike! - based in London
looks like a archive of a print mag? Has a RSS feed :)
Positive News - based in London
Dated looking site, hard to read, no RSS feed and a copyright notice. A silo.
Slaney Street - Birmingham
Did not load
Manchester Mule - Manchester
Has RSS feed but last article end of 2015 so not an active site. Probably for fills the 4 opens.
Co-operative News - based in Manchester
Nasty looking site and no RSS, copyrighted, its a silo
Ethical Consumer
No RSS, copyrightish, old looking site.
Marlborough News Online
no RSS, copyright
West Highland Free Press
no RSS, copyright, its a silo.
Star and Cresent - based in Portsmouth
No RSS, no copyright notice? Its a silo.
Morning Star - based in London
Has a RSS feed but its empty, copyright, silo.
Cambria Publishing Co-operative
publishes paper books?
Zed Books - London
paper books and online reading lists, no RSS I can see.
Sheffield Live!
copyright, has a RSS feed, looks bureaucratic open.
Blake House - based in London
no RSS, fashionable calling card website with out content, probably copyright?
Media Co-op
Calling card website with out content, no RSS, likely copyright.
Ignite Creative - based in Oxford
Calling card website with out content, no RSS, copyright.
Shedlight Productions - based in Southampton
calling card website with out content, no RSS, copyright.
Steel City Film and Media Co-op - based in Sheffield
its a #failbook page, maybe open?
Trafford Media & Communications - based in Manchester
(mostly a printer, but also do film production)
calling card, no site.
The Community Channel
The granddaddy of NGO media, no RSS feed, likely copyright silo.
Jammu Kashmir TV
it has content, silo?
Open Audio
Has a working RSS feed
Inform My Opinion
Has working RSS feed but it fails in my pod catcher, its a page on a #dotcon?
has RSS feed, copyright, silo?
AMP Worcs
calling card.
A Television
Half finished calling card site.
Hastings independent press
No RSS, no copyright/CC notice, a silo with no external links.
Copyright, no RSS feed, has some old school widgets which might show external links. Its a local news silo.
Has RSS feed and CC licence, no external links on front page, its a silo but better than most.
Has a RSS feed, its a silo but the is hope for it.
its a blog in the old school sense, has RSS
its a silo with no RSS and no external links
A lot of the original links came from https://www.facebook.com/jdaviescoates
FAQ - why use open websites
We need to get activist to actually use alternative net infrastructure.
Q. Its to complex to use this geek software.
A. So was Facebook when it started, almost nobody understood what twitter was for for ages – all new experiences are hard. Its actually ONLY a question of motivation then familiarisation through repartition.
Q. Activist internet site are ugly – if they just look nicer people might actually use them.
A. After bad UI is put to one side (and this can be an issue) the is a direct correlation between full user functionality and bad looking sites – you can make site look nicer by dis-empowering the user or by shaping and controlling there interactions – but freedom always looks messy just look at Facebook its one of the more messy sites out there – it overcomes this issue by good UI and familiarity – people get used to "functionality - ugliness" after they use the software every day.
Q. My activist site has no way for the "user" to be part of the site beyond limited commenting.
A. Yes activist sites are generally in the stone age of hierarchical control freakery, use sites that are web02 not web01 the actually are some projects out their. Complain to admins if the is no peer -to- peer production on an activist site, then actually use the peer production tools they set-up such as wikis and forums.
Q. Why not just use Facebook groups/ fashionable web2 site, every one is on there anyway.
A. This way leads to the death of the open internet/society LINK
Q. Can i trust activist sites with my privacy.
A. On corporate site's that most activist use, such as Facebook you can only hide from your friends not from your enermys. This is generally true for the open web in general and is something we need to understand. If you have a secret take the activist to the garden and whisper it in there ear, do not rely on any fig leafs of corporate privacy settings or promise of activist client server encryption LINK
Power polatics and the race/gender card
Deal with issues, allowing them to be pushed under the carpet has a cost.
The are real issues round gender/race politics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_politics Then the is a the sad and bad playing of the race/gender "card" that is sometimes used when real issues become stressful.
This happen to me a year ago at the Good Social Centre in Dalston. The was a "monster" dominating process by talking over everyone with a steady flow of power politics. I was confronting him about this at a project meeting.
Activists strangely tend to have issues with direct action when it happens in there community's, they sat around looking from one "monster" to the other "monster (me)" making no judgement between the two. In the end he played the Asian "race card" and that was the end of that.
He terrorized and wrecked the space for a year before he was final excluded from space meetings. Sad and bad...
Yes playing the race/gender card can highlight a real issue but sometimes its just more power politics. And if the issue is down to power politics in the first place then this is likely the second not the first reason the "race/gender" card is used to block.
In the case above it turned out that he was a mentally ill, druggie, control freek, with a MBA in bullshit. Sadly he did have real talents, that were key to the project if he could have been helped/supported out of the nasty power politics. This was only fully understood a year latter after he was excluded from the meetings.
Ps. Truth is good, he could have played the "mental illness" card, every one would have agreed and helped him.
Alt-geek culture is broken - indymedia
An introduction to a "unspoken" problem. Everything is "pointless" in till you do something "that is not", if we keep repeating the pointless stuff were/when is the "that is not" going to happen?
An example of the geek problem can be found in the flowing and fading of radical alt/grassroots media at the peek of the #openweb
The basis of any new media is the technology it is transmitted/mediated by. In the case of newspapers this is the printing press, and for radio and TV it is access to the transmission spectrum. The open internet changed this "traditional" media which was based on a world of (vertical) analogue scarcity. As the accessing technology improved, it created a radically (horizontal) digital media space.
This was intently filled with (naive in a good sense) alt-media such as the Indymedia project (IMC). In this post I am looking at how this was killed off by internal geek/process dogmatism at the same time as its space was colonised by new/mainstream such as blogging and social media.
We are now coming full circle to where we started with closed client/server, algorithm-determined, gatekeeper, for-profit networks dominating media production and consumption. The corporate gate keeping venture capital driven (and invisible ideology) algorithm is the new printing press/broadcast spectrum that we started the century with.
What part did radical geeks play in this?
Let's look at the successful global indymedia project, which was based on open publishing and open process through a centralised server network. Before this the radical video project undercurrents, while not so open, was again based on a technical hub. They had the only free digital editing suite for production of grassroots video, thus anyone wanting to produces radical content was funnelled though this grassroots gatekeeper. With IMC, it was publishing to their hosted servers.
The indymedia network was setup in the very avant-gardist open model that was to dominate the internet for a time. Like undercurrents it succeeded because of its technical centralisation – the server was the ONLY place citizen journalist content could be published without hard technical knowledge. This monopoly was later lost to the growth of individualistic blogging platforms and later corporate social media. But what I want to argue here is that it died before this due to internal (process) pressures.
Indymedia was set up on the open, open, open, open, pseudonymous model.
* Open source (free software)
* Open publishing (post-publishing moderation)
* Open licence content (non commercial re-use)
* Open process (everything was organised on public e-mail lists, open meetings)
* Pseudo-anonymous (you didn't have to provide an e-mail address or a real name to publish)
Let's look as some of the pragmatism that allowed the project to take off:
* The project was initially pragmatic about open source as it used the closed realmedia (RM) video streaming codec and servers. But the core project was committed to the free software path where technically possible.
* Open publishing was the basis of the project, things could only be hidden (not removed) because they broke a broad public editorial guideline. Even then they were added to a background page so were still public. In this the publishing process was naïvely open.
* Open licence stayed with the project to the end.
* Open process was gradually abandoned, a clique formed then fought and split, this was the main reason the project ossified and could not adapt to keep its relevance in the changing world of blogs and social media.
* (Pseudo) anonymity was part of the abandonment of open process and led down many of the technical dead ends that finally killed the relevance of the project to most users.
Lets look at this final one in more depth
Firstly, it's important to realise that any attempt at anonymous publishing in a client server relationship even at its most restrictive and paranoid would produce pseudo anonymity. ie. you might be able to hide from your mates and your employer but you cannot hide from the "powers that be" if they are interested in subverting your server and its internet connection.
The internet is inherently naïvely open, its built that way, this is why it works. The recent Edward Snowdon leaks highlight this to the wider public view.
- the integrity of the ISP and hosting was always based on trusting a tiny anonymous minority of geeks
- the physical security of the server could never be guaranteed.
- as the project process closed the identity of these core geeks became tenuous/invisible.
In activism just as the man driving the white van repeatedly turned out to be the police/corporate spy, the invisible server admin is the obvious opening for the same role – am not saying this is what existed, rather just trying to highlight how you cannot build a network based on this closed client server infrastructure/culture that IMC became. Given the open nature of the internet, it became dangerous to push IMC as an anonymous project.
There were four fatal blocks:
- the repeated blocks and failure and delay of decentralisation of the servers to the regions.
- the blocks on aggregation, then the closed subculture aggregation that final happened as a parallel project
- the focusing on encrypted web hosting and self-signed certificates put a block on new non-technical users that proved termanaly offputting.
- the failed "security theater" of not login IP address locally on the server as a limited security fig leaf. They could simply be logged on the ISP/open web instead.
These, together with a shrinking of the core group, led to the project becoming irrelevant in the face of the growth of more openly accessible blogging and then social media.
Let's get positive and suggest some ways the IMC project could have flourished and still be a dominant grassroots project:
* The base level of the project should have actively decentralised as the technology matured to make this feasible. Every town needed its own DIY run server.
* Then regional aggregation using RSS (really simple syndication) would make this grassroots media presentable as outreach media.
* A national aggregation site could then have compete directly with the (then) declining traditional media outlets.
* Recognising that the IMC project was pseudo-anonymous at best, IMC could have built a parallel encrypted peer-to-peer gateway app/network to feed into this to provide true(ish) anonymity for publishers to this ongoing open media project.
* The decentralisation would have been a force to keep the process open by feeding though new people/energy – this would have naturally balanced the activist clique forming/closing in the centre.
* As blogging became popular and matured these could have been "ethically" aggregated into the network to build a truly federated global open media network such as http://openworlds.info is working to be.
* Social networking could have been added as an organic part of this flourishing federated network.
If this had happened, it's not too much to say that the internet would have been a different place to where it is now. The IMC project highlights some of the failures of activist/geek culture. If we are to (re)build the open web we need to learn from this and move on.
(find photo of indymedia Sheffield masked up photo)
This is sadly not a metaphor for an open media project
It should be obvious to people now that even the most paranoid centralised closed internet is only pseudo-anonymous at best. We need to learn how to live with "open" to build the world we want to see. And our geeks fighting for closed are actually a problem for us, just as much as "them".
Moveing through/past "blocking" in activism
Outline of 20 years ups and downs of grassroots activism in the UK
In my expirence the flowering of the indymedia networks followed by the first years of climatecamp were the high points of activist culture. The end of climate camp was the low point of activist culture, after this the drift to NGO and fashion was wide and dissipating.
Occupy was a break in activist culture, it was the first mass "internet first" on the ground manifestation that happened disconnected to the past of activism because of the use of #dotcons tools as prime organising space. The old couture has been discredited by the failings of climate camp, the new dotcon tools had been celebrated and used well by Ukuncut etal. Were Ukuncut was a reboot of old climate camp crew, Occupy was a project of the #failbook generation in all its wide reflective madness.
Were are we now? The old left is rebooting with a broken mix of the blairite right and the Stalinist/toxic left both pulling at the radical liberal centre. Alt media content is being rebooted but the network it needs to build, to stop its drift to NGO burn out is missing. The right is ideologically bankrupt and visibly grasping, but stronger than ever.
In activism currently we are full of the biter taste of occupy and NGO worshipping of dotcoms and careerism. The working of the 21st century is potentially different to the workings of the 20th century the are groups, networks and individuals that embody this and a larger group/individuals who fight for the past century working practices.
The "certainties of the 20th century" are grasped in our frail and trembling hands, the first stage of a "network" reboot is to let go of these "certainties" one constructive path to this is to fill in the gaping activist memory hole by looking at what works and what dose not. The lost and flailing progressive alt needs foundations bridging this gap to build on.
The IS NO SHORT TERMISM HERE but the is speed and nimbleness, plenty of fun, creative motivated building to be done. Many of the foundation problems can be built in parallel as a "network" so it can happen faster than most can imagine.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Am currently working on two projects to take steps to medate the issues I ouline here:
The Witches Cauldron - open activist archive
The use of language and writing by activists has an impact.
The use of language and writing by activists has an impact.
Possessiveness "us-them" is a root failing in open structures that cant be avoid, BUT, best not to feed it.
"Bring your flyers, posters, leaflets, newsletters, news clippings, video footage, photographs, banners, artwork and disobedient objects, and display them in the open spaces."
"your" is possessive the sentence makes just as much sense with out it.
"Bring flyers, posters, leaflets, newsletters, news clippings, video footage, photographs, banners, artwork and disobedient objects, and display them in the open spaces."
In the second one this is less "us and you" and "one telling the other what to do."
When working with/in open structures best to just take all the "pointing" words out. Sentences generally work fine with out them.
Just had a "discussion" about this for the expo.
participative facilitation teaches thisparticipative and inclusive
Activism and flaring egos go hand in hand
Activism and flaring egos go hand in hand
Well that almost went well with editing the headboards for the activist project. Shame on us all for it degenerated into shit behaver for the last 45 min.
Its understandable X wanting a say on the project – an open way to do it would have been to say lets make some changes to this KEY doc and discus it for a bit. Then do it.
The doc had been though at least 4 drafts and was waiting for a polish at this stage. This drafting had shaped it as a "open process" with out the "you-me" that often peppers language. The definitions (subjects) were all outside on the boards rather than in the intro. This left open and inviting space to take part.
At this stage while all ready over time the way people acted was like lighting a match to a messy explosion. When Y attempt to mediate then closed the job half done, with Z coming in blind, a nasty mess was (hopefully) resolved in a nasty way. We did not need this to happened.
Open process is not a solution but it helps.
Open Spaces and words we use
Why do all alt/grassroots events have the same speakers
I start to understand why all alt/grassroots events have the same speakers. Looking about you send out invites to everyone who has done it before. To reach out to new people would be taking a risk, would be hard work to hand hold them though the process. The lack of time and resources leaves little focus than to just repeat the past. This is a hard realization and incite into poverty.
Am starting to feel slightly ashamed of not knowing this before. ideas please, we do need to fix this.
Not a #conspiracey rather a #fuckup we are only human.
"To be honest you should be commended for putting it all together in the first place. No one else is doing it and it's essential. Every form of direct action is worthy and amazing given the world we live in."
"1 a bit of mentoring goes a long way
2 offer expenses and look for some funding - either grant funding or crowdfunded
3 offer speaker training events"
Your idea would work if we had the time and the funding, time is relative but funding for alt/left is tiny and hard to get. Almost all left'ish funding is dispelled in #NGO and #fashernista pointlessness. Ideas for diverting some of this waste might be a start? Actually it is a good time to try this, who is up for it?
Find and Join the OMN


text:
Thread: Water Treatment systems...
Results 1 to 10 of 19
#1 Water Treatment systems...05-07-2013, 11:28 AM
Now living in Florida one of the things you have is hard/bad tasting water.
Personally I think the water is fine but SLW will disagree.
Another is companies trying to sell you systems to treat/filter it...
For years I have resisted talking to these people but last week I was in a good
mood and a nice lady called that sounded like my departed grandmother so I
listened to a "survey" that ended with a pitch to have a guy come out and
test our water. He was here yesterday and I give the kid an A+ for the
sales job. And no, we haven't bought anything. Yet.
I don't want to mention the system name yet but does anyone have a whole
house water treatment system, who puts it out, and what do you think
of it???? Would you recommend it or is it a POS???
PM me if you don't want to answer out in the open. Thanks!!
SR.May the FORCE be with you!
|« Previous Thread | Next Thread »

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Blonde On The Prairie: Don't give ugly a voice
The chaplain at my work witnessed it. I came to my office and stood in the doorway of the conference room where most of my co-workers gathered.
"May I have your attention please? I have an announcement to make," I announced in my best announcement voice.
The room hushed as they all turned their conversations off and their ears on. They took their stare off the glare of their computer screens in order to properly delve in to the proclamation I was about to proclaim.
Like with any proclamation that is introduced with a flame of drama they stood doing that thing we humans do. We expect bad news, worthy of gossip and opinion and judgment. I've learned that to self-efface myself is the most humorous of humors and so I burst out with what I needed them to know.
Now just a few years back I wouldn't have thought of proclaiming what I did. Instead I hid. Hiding from it which quickly turned in to hiding from them made me feel like nobody would know how ugly I really was.
Being ugly can cost a girl a whole lot of money in case you didn't know. But being ugly can get you judged too. An ugly girl like me was worthy of just one thing or so my head told me. That's the thing about ugly girls. We wallow in the wonders of ugliness wondering why the rest of the world is so ugly too. I was ugly through and through. That's why hiding came in so handy.
I didn't want to be ugly but the circumstances surrounding my reality were even uglier than me. That's the other thing about ugly people.
Usually there is an underlying circumstance to it all. Not one person asked me why I was ugly. Maybe that's not a proper question to ask but it should be. Ugly makes bigger lines show up between your brows and makes your lips drip low off your face like the lips of giant cow. Cow rhymes with sow and I felt as ugly as a giant hog inside and out. I truly felt like my body was made of glass and inside I was a giant, jagged rock trying to throw myself out of it. I wanted to shatter into pieces so someone would take note and ask me why I was so ugly. The giant, jagged rock just bounced off of me though. People passed by seeing just the clean glass on the outside but only when I'd let them see it. Ugly people look better behind clean glass.
I told you being ugly is expensive. I bought products off of television infomercials and even tried a homemade concoction or eight. I tried oatmeal and eggs, drinking vinegar, rubbing them with the oil from some herb in Australia, dabbing on oil from an emus bird and even crushed up aspirin and rubbing alcohol. Nothing worked. I just got uglier. The giant, jagged rock inside of me was getting more jagged and my glass was now getting fingerprints. My emotions from all the gunk in my life that had built up along with whatever was happening on my outside had almost done me in. A girl can only hide for so long. If she continues hiding in the midst of all that internal and external stress –her glass will break without the giant, jagged rock having to even be involved.
I got diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Stress kills. It's not a joke. Soon after I took a trip to the Mayo Clinic and found out there was a reason why I was so ugly.
Jump ahead to the proclamation I was about to make to my office and in front of the chaplain.
"I would like to announce that I have a pimple!"
I didn't just proclaim it. I did that thing football players do when they cross the end zone with a touch down. I began a happy dance right there in front of my co-workers. They didn't laugh at first. They needed a moment to let it sink in that I even dared speak the word "pimple" out loud let alone being truly, madly, deeply happy about it. Their laughter delighted me and even made my pimple appear happier.
In exactly 3 months I'll have surpassed the milestone age of 45. A woman begins going through some prominent changes at this stage and to get a pimple at my age without it being high-sugar related means to me that I'm still young enough to get a pimple. I needed to share that news with the people I hide nothing from and I needed to share it with you!
The ugly of my mind disappeared long ago and not just because I was treated for diabetic-related acne. I realized right quick that ugly is a choice and I don't need to give ugly a voice. I will be a voice if I see ugly happening in you though. There is no need for you to suffer inside or out. Your glass is cut to reflect a spontaneous shine. In fact-it's cut to reflect back the pimple that grows beautifully on you too. Don't hide it. Proclaim it. There is nothing ugly about beating ugly to the punch.
Ingstad lives on the prairie near Valley City and writes this column for the Times-Record.


text:
The Big Picture: An Intro to the Web Design Process with Colin MacdonaldDecember 31, 2:00pm - 2:00pm
Mānoa Campus, Krauss 12
What skills and knowledge do you need to create a new web page or to maintain an existing website? What possibilities exist to improve your pages or to add major new features?
PNM offers a broad range of courses designed to address these and many other issues facing the web designer. The very breadth of subjects and issues can be daunting for novice or prospective web designers. This workshop helps by providing a general overview of the web design process. You can see where the pieces of the web design puzzle fit together and discover which tools (e.g., Dreamweaver and Photoshop) and information (e.g., sitemaps and wireframes) you need to build better websites.
Colin Macdonald is director of web operations for the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. He instituted the first multimedia courses at the UHM Department of Communication, where he taught multi-media design and development for over a decade. He is a core faculty member of Pacific New Media.
Ticket Information
Call 956-8400 to register; workshop fee $50
Event Sponsor
Pacific New Media, Outreach College, Mānoa Campus
More Information
Susan, 956-8244, email@example.com, http://www.outreach.hawaii.edu/pnm
Saturday, January 18
The Impact of Immigration & English Language Learners on Education in HawaiiMānoa Campus, 2515 Dole Street, Richardson Law School, Classroom 2


text:
FLYNN, PORTER PROPEL AMERKS TO 6-2 WIN OVER HEATby Staff Writer / Buffalo Sabres
(Abbotsford, BC)… The Rochester Americans and Abbotsford Heat met for the second time in as many nights Wednesday at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre, where the Amerks cruised to a 6-2 win in the back-end of a two-game set between the North Division rivals. The win improves the Amerks to 25-16-2-1 (53 points) on the season and moves Rochester within two points of the top-ranked Heat for first place in the American Hockey League's North Division standings.
Brian Flynn scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner, and added an assist while Kevin Porter also finished with a three-point night (1+2) for the Amerks, who scored four unanswered goals to break a 2-2 tie. Mark Mancari (1+1) and Patrick Rissmiller (0+2) also picked up multiple points, while Luke Adam and Frederick Roy also scored for the Amerks. David Leggio, who returned to the lineup tonight following a one-game absence from the team, turned in a 38-save effort to extend his personal win streak to six games and claim his 24th win of the season.
Ben Street and Brady Lamb each tallied single goals for the Heat and goaltender Barry Brust made 25 saves in the loss. In just three games against the Amerks this season, Brust has surrendered 12 of his 35 goals-against to Rochester, including 10 in the last two meetings between the two teams.
Flynn's team-leading 16th goal of the season provided the Amerks with a 1-0 lead just 5:43 into the opening period. An early two-man advantage presented several quality scoring chances, but Rochester would strike eight seconds after the power-play had expired. Amerks captain Kevin Porter made a dash toward the net from the right corner, but as he was bumped off the play by an Abbotsford defender, the puck slid to an open Flynn, who snapped a quick shot inside the far post. Brayden McNabb also earned an assist on the goal, giving the second-year blueliner eight assists in his last six games.
A power-play tally by Street at 15:41 would make it a 1-1 game as he finished off a give-and-go with former Amerk Joe Callahan for his second goal in as many games. Street, stationed along the right half-wall, left it in the high slot for Callahan, who then made a return pass to a breaking Street and the Heat's top point-getter handcuffed Leggio with a shot off the left post.
Rochester regained the lead just 39 seconds into the middle frame after a wrap-around goal from Adam made it a 2-1 contest. Adam corralled a loose puck behind the Abbotsford net and circled around looking to pass, but instead caught Brust off guard and tucked a shot under the netminder's right pad for his 10th of the season.
The Heat would rally again, though, as Tyler Ruegsegger set up a booming one-timer by Lamb, whose blast from the point found the upper left corner at 7:23 to even the score at 2-2.
The standstill wouldn't last long, however, as the Amerks retaliated with back-to-back goals in a span of 2:55 to go up 4-2, beginning with another goal from Flynn on the power-play goal at 15:33 . With Tarnasky camped at the top of the crease providing a screen, Flynn moved in from the left circle and snuck a bid between the legs of Brust.
Then, minutes later, Porter's 15th of the season gave Rochester a two-goal advantage after drawing Brust out of his crease and flipping a puck to the top of the cage. Rissmiller sprung Porter free with a pass up the middle of the ice, and after showing tremendous poise, was able to force Brust to leave his post and pick the right corner from the goal-line.
The Amerks put the game out of reach 4:38 into the third period as Roy swept in Rissmiller's rebound before Mancari finished off a nifty tic-tac-toe passing play with Porter and Kevin Sundher to give Rochester the 6-2 win.
Rochester closes out its four-game road swing as the Amerks make their way to Cleveland on Tuesday, Feb. 12 for a midweek North Division showdown with the Lake Erie Monsters at Quicken Loans Arena. Game time is slated for 10:45 a.m. with all the action being carried live on WBER 90.5 FM.


text:
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text:
Hey All,
I'm looking to create an image hosting website with some social function, namely a custom activity stream to display
the most popular content on the website at the top of an endless scroll. This is the first time I've worked on a
project of this nature. I've included some of the features that I'd like included in the website below. Is there
anything I should consider before passing my requirements on to a developer/things I should consider about the
project in general?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Primary Goal: Create user accounts
• Personal Accounts:
o Requires a name, valid email, and password for signup.
o Allows users full site functionality to like, wish-list
o Allows users to post content in a single image upload form
o Stores wish listed items in user account panels.
o Stores all user activity in a database
• Business Accounts:
o Requires a name, valid email, and password for signup.
o Allows users limited site functionality, without ability to like, wish list
o Allows users to post content in a streamlined, multiple image upload form
Primary Goal: Create forms for users to upload images
• Allow all users to upload images.
• Automatically resize images
Primary Goal: Create a live activity feed for user images
• Allow all user posted images to appear on a central live content feed.
• Add two social icons (like, wish list) to every image.
• Automatically refresh content each time a new post is made.
• Display content in endless scroll format
Primary Goal: Create an activity stream of ordered posts based on a set of rules
• Order posts based on the amount of attention a post has received from users on a points system basis. Images with most points appear at the top of the page.
o Image clicked- adds 1 point to score (opens in a shadow box with option to share via facebook or twitter)
o Image liked- adds 2 points to score
o Image wish listed- adds 5 points to score
• Collect information on each image and the attention it receives from users for storage in a database
• Content displays in endless scroll format.
You have to consider where and how to store your images. For example I have implemented my own wrappers in zend framework for Amazon S3 storage. It's important because at the beginning you wouldn't like to loose your money and Amazon would help you spending decent money on that.


text:
and that's why I don't want everything in the cloud.
Why do you think keeping data on your own computers makes it more secure? Big break-ins make news, but that doesn't mean they are the most common.
It doesn't follow that the impact on any one user is greater, though.
But it makes it far more probable.
Ah, that's a good question. In theory, central servers will have better security than Joe Average will know how to install. In practice, N times as many users will make the target f(N) times as inviting (where f() depends on who is doing the evaluating). This means that it is f(N) times as likely to be attacked by a human but equally likely to be attacked by zombies, worms and maybe the occasional vampire, since those won't care about N or f().
If you are concerned about human crackers, then f(N) becomes the
The rewards for hacking thousands of sites in one go are much greater that the rewards of hacking a single user site. For that reason, the big site will be the one facing the most attacks by the most sophisticated black hats..
So your solution to keeping websites from being hacked is to store the website at home on your desktop pc?
Isn't it obvious? Because the impact of hacking a server containing data from thousands of users is FAR greater than hacking a single desktop. That's why the parent is right.
The collective computing (and bargaining) power of several thousand computers is FAR greater than a single server, hence the proliferation of botnets.
This is why BOTH of you are right, and why the ONLY safe place for ANY of your personal information is wrapped nicely in strong crypto.
Oblig. http://xkcd.com/538/
In short... It's more secure because nobody cares about his private data, and even if some hacker did care about his data specifically, whether or not it is on his own computer makes no difference.
On a large system, such as WordPress, each individual user's data is of insignificant value, but the whole of it may have some value.
It is easier to break 1 machine with 50,000 users than 50,000 machines with 1 user each.
It is easier to break 1 machine with 50,000 users than 50,000 machines with 1 user each.
It is more efficient to break 1 machine with 50,000 users than 50,000 machines with 1 user each.
Fixed it for ya. The number of users doesn't make it easier, it just makes the potential return on the effort more significant.
Why do you think keeping data on your own computers makes it more secure? Big break-ins make news, but that doesn't mean they are the most common.
The distinction here is if you maintain your own data on your own system, you're (probably) a small target. Aggregating a large number of small targets onto a single site makes that site a big target.
Yes, for human attackers (who are the biggest threat in data theft for the time being, but expect zombies to get better at it). An automatic attack can't tell if a.b.c.d has one user or a million, it's just an IP address that the code will scan and attack if it has the script for it.
Also, if the increase in security exceeds the increase in temptation, you're better off aggregating. Which means, however, that there's a practical limit to how far you should ever aggregate (since the practical limit on how sec
I wouldn't say my machine is more secure than that of WordPress -- although, since theirs has been compromised and mine has not, I guess that's open for debate. One big difference is, I know what and where my vulnerabilities are, and I have my fingers in there daily so I'll know pretty quickly if and when someone breaks in. When hosting stuff on Other Peoples' Servers, you never really know for sure if they are secure, how secure they are, etc. Until you find out the hard way, of course.
Not to mention they have a myriad of processes so going through and exploiting just one of those through social engineering will probably net you something. On my system no-one else needs access to it, whereas 'cloud' businesses are built on many people having access to the system so naturally that's an easier social engineering target.
Why do you think keeping data on your own computers makes it more secure?
Well, I can pull the ethernet plug out whenever I want, for one thing.
Two of my busiest computers aren't even connected to the Internet except during rare occasions, during which most of my important storage is not exposed because I pulled those plugs, too.
I trust myself more than I do a bunch of people I don't know, "in the cloud". And if I screw up, I know who to blame.
Why do you think keeping data on your own computers makes it more secure?
Because SUCK is not a rigid requirement of my own computers, handed down by some PHB without regard for what the poor bastard engineer guys think about it. I don't have any conflicts where I need to put other parties' interests above the user (me).
For example, I don't ever even think about going to extra trouble to make my computers less secure, in order to make them "CALEA compliant." I don't ever even think about implementing a de
Or stored on anything connected to the net at all? Do you really think most people's personal computing equipment (including - maybe especially - their smart phones) is more secure than a cloud service?
If I were betting on which, as a class of internet connected storage - cloud services, or personal hardware - is more secure, I'd bet on cloud services.
that's where the money is.
say you are a black hat, you gonna go after amazon cloud services or ME as an individual at home.
individuals are gonna get hit one at a time... the cloud is a really big juicy target
security through fifty-leven different systems & methods for each record.. kinda security through obfuscation.
my method will be different from my neighbor
if we are both on amazon cloud-- you only gotta get in once.
security through fifty-leven different systems & methods for each record.. kinda security through obfuscation. my method will be different from my neighbor
Though in the terms of most consumers all that means is your key is under the mat, his is in the plant pot. I keep mine in a hornet's nest but leave the back door open incase I can't get past the hornets.
> But even if it is harder to break into a cloud service, the reward:effort ratio is much, MUCH higher for the cloud service.
That's a darn good point.
This isn't an exploit for Wordpress itself, it's the Wordpress.com site getting hacked. This headline seems to be more attention-grabbing than it should be.
wordpress.COM is a hosting service service which offers Wordpress blog setups out-of-the-box.
wordpress.ORG is where the software itself is published.
Care to point out how "the cloud" is involved in this case?
Clearly the security admin's head was in the clouds
I know a place where no one's lost,
I know a place where no one cries,
Crying at all is not allowed,
Not in my castle on a cloud.
The Word Press devs promoting integration with Facebook is like handing Sweeney Todd the razor and saying "Shave away, whatever you like."
It starts with FB managing the identities and next, the discussion threads, and slowly creeps throughout - until WP is a hollow frame on which to drape FB parts.
Eviler than Google. And that's saying a lot.
>> Eviler than Google. And that's saying a lot.
Er.. Anything from Apple|Microsoft|Oracle|Sco might have made slightly more sense. But then, if you had taken your medicine today on time, we wouldn't have had this discussion. Just saying...
It doesn't matter how much you keep trying, Mr. Beck, Slashdot won't hire you after your gig at Fox News is done.
But they don't own me they though rent me with really cool shit.
Even after they rented me they kept improving the shit they rented me with.
They win too. The serve me up small text ads. Ones that kind of hang back and allow me to see the stuff I want to see.
Because they rented me they also can do a better job of making those unobtrusive text ads sometimes useful.
If they fuck us over then their flock runs away. Then their profits go down. They do not want to do that.
What they want is to continue to serve me r
Login: Half the sites I visit these days have a facebook login option to access that site's account. A subset of which no longer really -have- an account management of their own.
Discussion threads: Almost every site that has discussions threads seems to use Disqus these days.
Avatars / Profile pictures: Thanks to the use of Disqus, that'll be Gravatar, but even sites that still have their own commenting system seem to be jumping to Gravatar; including WordPress.com
I'm not sure who knows more about people
I refuse to sign up for sites like that. I played around with OpenID for a bit, but stopped pretty quickly. A single point of failure is really not a good thing.
Gravatar is particularly bad because it is uniquely* identifying to your e-mail address.
(* as far as MD5 is unique for the purposes)
If you were ever silly enough to use your e-mail address on some random blog to make an anonymous post - falsely trusting that the site wouldn't make this public - and that site decides to add Gravatar -without- making sure it only adds this for non-Anonymous posts... bam. exposed.
In addition, of course, Gravatar knows who you are, at least by e-mail address (not sure what othe
Facebookâ(TM)s New Realtime Analytics System: HBase to Process 20 Billion Events Per Day
Via: High Scalability: [highscalability.com]
The need for such a high powered analytics system is driven by Facebook's brilliant plan for world wide web domination via the viral propagation of social plugins, all tying the non-Facebook web back into Facebook and the Facebook web back into the non-Facebook web. Basically anything that people can do is captured and fed back through Facebook and anything done on Facebook can be displayed on
If obtaining API keys was the target, then we are gonna have a fresh wave of spam. Shyte.
They stole everything, but, "beyond that, however, it appears information disclosed was limited."
'Automatic had a low-level (root) break-in to several of our servers'
I was seeing some unusual activity on my blog hosted there. I opened a ticket and they thanked me for the info but never got back to me. Just emailed them regarding the ticket to see if they were related. Good thing I immediately went and changed my password for them. I guess I better change it again just to be safe. Mine is definitely not in the dictionary or guessable so I'm not to worried unless they can decrypt the password file. I would hope they encrypt their password file... I'll probably als
I guess I better change it again just to be safe. Mine is definitely not in the dictionary or guessable so I'm not to worried unless they can decrypt the password file. I would hope they encrypt their password file..
If they raided the entire fridge, even if it was encrypted, they'd have the keys and thus all the passwords on a silver platter.
I think what you meant to say is you hope the passwords were hashed .
Yes, the passwords on wordpress.com are hashed:
April 13th, 2011 at 5:27 pm
WordPress passwords are hashed and salted using phpass.
http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/security/#comment-124231 [wordpress.com]
Personally, I like my hash salted. But that's just me.
Where did the anonymous reader get information regarding the hacker's access to "passwords/API keys for Twitter and Facebook accounts"? On a related note, it appears that the anonymous reader cannot properly copy and paste; It is Automattic and not Automatic.
Surprise!! Another CGI system is breached. Yes, I am one of those guys that thinks php is stupid!
Along with the whole idea of CGI based native call methods built as plugins directly into a web server.
Why don't you just give everyone the root password on your webserver and save them the effort and you the embarrassment?
At least that way you can say I knowingly did it instead of admitting you run CGI crud in the 21st century.
A century where VM technology makes such drivel totally unrequired.
So use virtual
The only way today I would run a website is with a web server on the outside with no hard disk, and a java virtual machine executing the URL references on a completely separate networked machine using the apache tomcat plugin.
Wow! You could serve TENS OF USERS with that rig!
Got Geometrodynamics? Awe, too hard to figure out? Too bad.
John Wheeler cries! Then giggles. Then cries some more.
So use virtual machines, and do not tie executable code to the native environment accepting the connections or call interfaces from direct URL's.
That didn't stop someone exploiting my tomcat powered website, downloading copies of the databases.
Sure glad now I used a "shitty unimportant level" password for my wordpress.com account. Whoever it is, is welcome to keep it.
You don't hear about the companies that do keep their servers secure, do you?
Lesson: don't do business with wordpress.com.
You don't hear about the companies that do keep their servers secure, do you?
There are also reasons why the most secure organisations do not publicise breaches.
What lessons can I take from this?
If you jump off the roof of your house, you will hit the ground. If you have a really expensive house with like 5 stories, or a penthouse on 5th avenue, it may take you longer to hit the ground, but eventually.... splat.
Do you store financial, personally identifiable, or other must-be-kept-private information?
If yes, hire a pro to audit your setup and cover your ass. You can call said pro when you do get hacked to help with cleanup. If no, stay small, don't piss off your users, and stay on top of those logs.
Oh, and in either case, make sure you have current, offline backups that can be used to recover from an incident.
Be carefull, be small, and stay under the radar. Never put client data whenere it can be openly accessed on your server, encrypt everything. Most attacks will actually come from your own staff, and most likely someone with authorised access anyway. What makes these sites jucy is the passwords they may contain for other sites, and email addresses for spam or identity theft. Keep your clients so anonympus, even you dont know who they are. Except if you live in France, then you have to keep everything anyone e
Does anyone know how they got hacked? When I ran Wordpress it was like trying to plug a dike with bubble gum.
A consultant is a person who borrows your watch, tells you what time it is, pockets the watch, and sends you a bill for it.


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Love is always sweeter when expressed with chocolate. Especially on Valentine's Day.
Yes, chocolate. And the more ooey-gooey deeply chocolaty, the better. Still, there's no sense overdoing it. I've always believed when it comes to dessert, a little bit can go a long way. That's why this chocolate dream of a recipe takes the form of small-ish individual cakes rather than a single, family-sized gut-buster.
It's also why I've replaced the butter usually found in chocolate cakes with non-fat Greek yogurt. And trust me, not only won't you miss the butter, but you won't taste the yogurt. It's in the mix strictly as a lower-fat way of adding body to the finished product.
What you will taste is chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate, specifically dark chocolate. It's built into the cake batter, of course, but it also reappears as a melted surprise in the center of each cake.
Once you're gazing with admiration at the finished product, don't be surprised if you end up giving this little Valentine's Day gift to yourself.
• Sara Moulton was executive chef at Gourmet magazine for nearly 25 years, and spent a decade hosting several Food Network shows. She has written three cookbooks, including "Everyday Family Dinners."
Warm Double Chocolate Cakes
With Raspberry Sauce
Start to finish: 3 hours 20 minutes
(30 minutes active)
Servings: 8
For the chocolate cakes:
1/4 cup sugar, plus 8 teaspoons for coating the ramekins
4 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, divided
2 large eggs, whites and yolks separated and brought to room temperature
1/3 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
For the sauce:
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries (if frozen, thaw, drain and retain the liquid)
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
Coat eight 1/3- or 1/4-cup ramekins with cooking spray. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of sugar into each, swirling it around to coat the bottom and sides, then dumping out any excess.
Finely chop 2 1/2 ounces of the chocolate. Cut the remaining 2 ounces into 16 pieces, roughly the same size, then set those aside.
Bring a small saucepan of water to a bare simmer. Set a medium stainless steel bowl over it and add the 2 1/2 ounces of finely chopped chocolate to that. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is melted.
While the chocolate is melting, in another medium bowl use an electric mixer to beat the egg yolks with 1 tablespoon of the sugar until they are thick and lemon colored, about 4 minutes. Set the bowl aside and clean the beaters well.
In a third medium bowl, use the electric mixer to beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar, a little at a time, and continue beating until the whites hold stiff peaks. Set aside.
Remove the melted chocolate from the heat. Add the yogurt and stir well. Add the egg yolk mixture and stir well. Add one third of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture, stirring well, then gently fold in the remaining egg whites until they are just combined with the chocolate mixture. Divide the batter among the prepared ramekins. Cover and chill for 1 hour.
While the cakes are chilling, heat the oven to 325 F and prepare the sauce.
In a blender, puree the raspberries with the sugar. Pour the mixture through a mesh strainer, using a silicone spatula to press the pulp. Discard the pulp and seeds. Thin the sauce with water or with the reserved raspberry liquid (if using frozen berries) until the sauce has a nice pouring consistency.
Remove the ramekins from the fridge, tuck 2 pieces of the cut chocolate into the center of each and bake in the middle of the oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or until just springy when touched. Let cool for 5 minutes, then unmold or serve in the ramekins. Serve drizzled with the raspberry sauce.
Nutrition information per serving: 140 calories; 70 calories from fat (50 percent of total calories); 8 g fat (3.5 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 45 mg cholesterol; 20 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 16 g sugar; 4 g protein; 20 mg sodium.


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The seventh annual Grundy County Growth Conference held by the Community Foundation of Grundy County took a closer look at funding opportunities for municipalities this year.
The theme for the event Friday was "Funding for Local Units of Government" and had four presentations. About 50 participants came to the conference, said Julie Buck, executive director of the Community Foundation.
"Even as a rookie citizen sitting here, I know we have a gas tax, Hotel Motel tax ... but are there some other creative things we can do to increase revenue?" asked Buck.
The goal is to share funding opportunities and resources with local leaders. The base for this year's conference is the foundation's "Vital Signs of Grundy County," which is a report that collected data across 10 topic areas: economy, employment, housing, health, environment, education and learning, transportation, safety, financial health and social health.
The speakers for the conference were Rick Mattoon of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, speaking on "Midwest Economic Outlook;" Nancy Hill and Sid Inman of Ehlers Inc., presenting on "Making the Best Deal for Your Community;" Marianne Shank of the Illinois Government Finance Officers Association on "Locally Controlled Revenue: Comparisons and Contrasts;" and Mike Hoffman of Teska Associates, speaking on "TIF Success Stories (and a possible failure)."
Just two presentations in, Martha Stephenson, a Lisbon trustee, said the conference was already helpful for her.
"We're looking for funding for some different projects and funding is a new situation for me. I'm a former business owner in Coal City and, of course, there was no funding," she said. "I want as much information as possible before we embark on those projects. I find this very interesting."
Presenter Hill said the key to "Making the Best Deal for Your Community" is starting with educating elected and appointed officials about economic development and the tools available.
Without proper education, a municipality could lose out on a development, she said. For example, if a developer comes in asking to be a part of a Tax Increment Finance District (TIF), and there are too many questions regarding the TIF itself, the potential deal could get lost due to ignorance.
A TIF District freezes the assessed value of properties in the district. Any tax money generated from increases in value of those properties then goes into a special fund to be used to improve properties in the district.
Hill also explained the importance of revisiting development projects and the agreements municipalities have with them.
"It's important from a financial perspective to look at where your projects are now," she said.
Municipal officials should check if developers have done what they promised the city, village or county it would do. Are their revenue projections up to date? Have they met the conditions of the agreement?
Understanding your community's current real estate market and trends is also key. With Grundy County's small town, Hill said officials need to recognize they are never going to get a high-end Nordstrom store.
"Every project is different and looking for different characteristics, and you need to know what those characteristics are," she said.
Hill's co-presenter Inman told the crowd of municipal, school and development officials they need to be prepared to negotiate with developers and to identify the developer's financial goals. Municipalities need to make sure their financial assistance is really necessary to make the project feasible.
He instructed them to always ask for the developer's "Pro Forma Analysis," which provides an analysis of the proposed project's financial gap, its financial strength, and helps determine if the project is worthy of taxpayer money.
Municipalities also need to include a "Look Back Provision," where at the completion of the project the municipality reviews the actual information to see the financial success of the project. If the amount of financial assistance the municipality provided was higher than necessary for the developer to make a reasonable profit, the amount should be reduced, he said.
Kyla Waltermire, Morris Public Library director, returned to the conference for her second year after receiving helpful resources for funding previously.
"I thought the discussion about the overview of the United States and Midwest's economy, as it stands right now, was very insightful," she said. "It was information I did not have before."
Growth Conference points way to funding possibilities
Local officials learn ways to capitalize on funding opportunities
The seventh annual Grundy County Growth Conference held by the Community Foundation of Grundy County took a closer look at funding opportunities for municipalities this year.


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Cleveland, OH (PRWEB) January 27, 2013
BAAB Writing and Marketing Services LLC (BAAB), a woman-owned, professional writing and marketing services firm, today announces that it has earned recognition from mobile marketing solutions provider MyCity 24/7 for writing a business plan that helped the company raise $ 50,000 in venture capital.
MyCity 24/7 is a mobile app that provides companies with targeted, affordable marketing solutions. Companies rely on the applications GPS-based push technology to send messages to consumers travelling within five to 20 miles of their business locations. These messages alert users of exclusive deals, coupons and more.
Consumers use the free download mobile app for quick and convenient access to detailed information about local restaurants, events, and other goods and services. MyCity 24/7 is powered by CitySearch, one of the nations largest mobile city guides. The mobile app is supported by Apple and Google Android devices.
BAAB provided very professional business plan writing services and I received a fast turnaround on the final plan, said Michael Gabriel, CEO, MyCity 24/7. The plan has not only helped me present MyCity 24/7 to investors, but also to focus on more effective and strategic ways to market my company.
Gabriel has used the additional business funding to expand his mobile marketing business into Northeast Ohios Lake County and is looking to add more areas soon.
Entrepreneurs know the importance of developing a thorough business plan, especially if theyre seeking funding, said Apryl Beverly, president, BAAB. However, lack of time and expertise often discourage small business owners from tackling this task. Thats when BAAB steps in to help entrepreneurs document their business ideas and plan for success.
BAAB has written numerous business plans for small businesses and startups operating across a range of industries including food service, construction, consumer products, health care and more. The firm offers comprehensive business plan writing services and helps clients define who they are, what they offer and how they address the needs of their target markets.
About BAAB Writing and Marketing Services LLC
Based in Northeast Ohio, BAAB Writing and Marketing Services LLC is a woman-owned consulting firm that provides professional writing and marketing services to companies short on time and resources. Companies of all sizes operating across various industries call on BAAB for assistance writing and editing business plans, advertisements, SEO articles and blogs, brochures, newsletters, press releases, business proposals/RFP responses and more. Visit http://www.baab.biz for more information.
About MyCity 24/7
MyCity 24/7 is a mobile app that provides companies with targeted, affordable marketing solutions. The applications GPS-based push technology sends exclusive deals, coupons and more to the smartphones and tablets of consumers travelling within five to 20 miles of an advertisers business location. MyCity 24/7 recently expanded into Lake County after launching in Cuyahoga County just two years ago. Today, hundreds of Northeast Ohio business owners have boosted brand awareness and visibility by advertising with MyCity 24/7.
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Zach said they only had food trucks on weekends. And cranky old bastard dad was hungry.
For a time, I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
vaticanplum (09-14-2013)
Actually, the building that Lucky Dog is in used to be the local BW3 and we went there a lot when it was still suburban cool and just a bit funky. Then they built that mogombo BW3 the size of an aircraft carrier down the road.
For a time, I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Interesting article on the state of US Craft Beer and different markers.
Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.
All the dishes rattle in the cupboards when the elephants arrive
Has anyone here ever gone to the annual Great American Beer Festival in Denver? I'm treating myself to it in two weeks. I've heard that it is the Beer Festival to go to. I don't know about 1 oz samples; sounds a little wimpy to me but we'll see. I heard that it sold out in 20 mins. Lucky that there's stub Hub...
I attended a class at the festival that described how they judge those beers. It's not just on taste but on whether it meets the expectations of that class of beer. For instance they expect an IPA to be bitter whereas they would mark down a lager for that same quality.
I sampled my first Pumpkin Lager. Usually those are Ales.
Beer dominated the area like a Super Bowl. Everyone you ran into at the airport, hotel or on the street was talking beer. In fact Denver decided to piggyback its own beer festival that week although I didn't attend that. I was able to bounce around the numerous craft beer pubs around Coors Field. They had some tasty food too. They had an event where a chef cooked food on a stage and then they passed around samples along with a cup of beer to show how you pair food with beer. That's kind of the latest thing in the craft beer scene--seeing how food pairings enhance a beer
Even though these tickets sold out in July in 20 mins there were plenty to be had on Stub Hub. I think if I lived in the area, I'd not necessarily splurge every year and buy tickets but I'd try to do what I could to be a volunteer. There were lots of volunteers and they got generous pours to my eye as they they were allowed to imbibe.
This place was more about volume than quality. This weekend I'm headed up to the Fall Beer Festival in Detroit. I've only attended this once before but for my tastes it had the most "home runs" I've ever experienced at a tasting. Maybe it's because I prefer Fall-Winter beers but I also think it has something to do with the quality of Michigan beer. IMO Michigan beer quality is above and beyond Colorado even though in terms of production that state is #1 in the country with 240 breweries. Mich has 140. We'll see if I just happened upon a good day or if that Detroit show really is tops, but I'm looking forward to it
Bottomline is that for craft beer drinkers, American Cream Ale and Light Lager are nasty beers but we're in the minority. By sales nationwide, Bud Light and Coors Light are #1 and 2 by a long shot.(Natty Ice is also in the top 20).
FWIW, I would only touch 4 of those top 20 beers (Yuengling, Heineken, Modelo Especial, and Corona
"I never argue with people who say baseball is boring, because baseball is boring. And then, suddenly, it isn't. And that's what makes it great." - Joe Posnanski
It's tough to win medals at this competition. They first have to get entered. They only accept a limited number of entries. Then you have to transport your beer their in god shape. Then you need some good luck. Christian Moerlein is thrilled with their medal and are touting it:
http://www.hoperatives.com/?p=15434Winning a medal at GABF is mind-bogglingly hard. It's a huge competition, and being an excellent beer is only one (albeit the most important) criteria. It's a competition that rewards strict adherence to style (and the styles shift a little every year). You have to get your beer to Denver in good shape. Heck, you have to make sure you are even able to get your beer entered since there's a set number of entrants allowed. To win at GABF is really threading the needle. You have to be good, but things also have to break your way. That's why it's perfectly justified to be really, really happy if you win, but you shouldn't get down on yourself too much if you don't. You'll never know who came in fourth, after all...
I prefer beers on the lighter side of things. Pilsners, Lagers, some Ales, some IPS's, as well as Oktoberfest's. I have tried the beers on the darker end of the spectrum and never really liked them. Now I get hellatious hangovers if I have just a few dark beers.
No more Old Style at Wrigley Field.
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text:
22 U.S. Code §§ 264 - Omitted
Section 264, act Aug. 18, 1894, ch. 301, 28 Stat. 418, which related to Pan American Union, was superseded by Convention of 1928, ratified by the United States and providing that the government of Pan American Union should be vested in a governing board.
Section 265, act Jan. 25, 1929, ch. 102, title I, 45 Stat. 1102, which was from an appropriation act, related to disposition of receipts of Pan American Union, and was not repeated in subsequent appropriation acts.
LII has no control over and does not endorse any external Internet site that contains links to or references LII.


text:
Interestingly, we also can combine the results of the moving averages. In "Working together" (below), we show the results for a system that includes all three averages. This system divides its lot sizes into thirds, trading 33% of a lot based on each filter.
As we can see, not only does moving average filtering produce a rising equity curve with more profit and a lower drawdown, but it also does so with fewer trades. Profits increased from $300 to an average of $20,000 across all systems, using the same lot sizes and the same trading system signals on the same underlying instrument over the same period of time and without any additional money management rule.


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Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today gave an update on road closures in Central and Western New York as extreme weather, including low temperatures and high winds continue throughout the region.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today gave an update on road closures in Central and Western New York as extreme weather, including low temperatures and high winds continue throughout the region.
"With frigid temperatures and high winds throughout Western and Central New York, I am urging New Yorkers in the area to stay home today." Governor Cuomo said. "Anyone who must travel should exercise extreme caution. We are closing these roadways as a precaution to ensure the safety of all motorists. I urge New Yorkers to monitor news reports for any updates, and check on their neighbors and loved ones regularly."
The New York State Thruway in Western New York remains closed due to extreme winter weather conditions.
The New York State Department of Transportation has also closed several roads in Western New York. NY Route 219 is closed in both directions between NY Route 39 in Springville and I-90 in Lackawanna. Additionally, NY Route 400 is closed in both directions from NY Route 16 in East Aurora to Seneca Street in West Seneca, NY Route 75 is closed in both directions from NY Route 62 to NY Route 249 and NY Route 5 (Buffalo Skyway) is closed in both directions between I-190 and Tifft Street.
This morning, State Police will be escorting 38 trucks currently stranded at the Angola Service Area, west to the Pennsylvania state line via the Thruway (I-90).
In Central New York, I-81 has been closed in both directions between exit 31 and exit 45.
The Thruway between Exit 55 (Route 219/Lackawanna/Springville/Orchard Park/West Seneca) and Exit 61 (Shortman Road, Ripley) was closed to all traffic at 7:30 p.m. on January 6. Westbound traffic on the Thruway continues to be detoured off the roadway at Exit 50 (I-290 west), with all eastbound traffic being detoured off at Exit 61 (Shortman Road, Ripley).
Motorists to Pennsylvania and points west should exit the Thruway at exit 46 (Henrietta) to I-390 southbound and then to I-86 westbound into Pennsylvania. Eastbound travelers in Pennsylvania should exit at I-86 eastbound and then continue north on I-390 to the Thruway in Henrietta.
All closures will remain in place until further notice and motorists are encouraged to refrain from traveling during this winter weather event.
The Thruway Authority has 79 plows and 213 operators responding to the storm, including some plows and operators that have been brought in from other Thruway divisions. In addition to the large truck-mounted snow blowers, ATVs and snowmobiles based in Western New York and mobilized for storm response, additional snow blowers and snowmobiles have also been relocated to the area for use as needed during the storm.
The State has nearly 73,000 tons of road salt on-hand in the Buffalo area, along with a significant quantity of liquid magnesium chloride, which is also used to treat roadways and prevent icy conditions.
The New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) has 170 plows and 455 operators in the region to address storm conditions.