The Dark Side of the Interwebs

The interwebs isn't all fun and games. There is some truly unpleasant stuff out there, and every good interwebs diver knows sometimes you have to put on the blinders and have a vat of brain bleach handy.

So, join with me, fellow interwebs divers, as we go through some choppy waters into some unpleasant places. I present to you: the interwebs diver's guide to the dark side of the interwebs.

Dark Side #1: Soapboxes for Nutjobs

There have always been crazies in the world. From the flagellants of olden times to the witch hunts of Salem, nutjobs have hounded us from day one. Usually, they can be safely ignored, ostracized and locked in the asylums that are probably best for them and us.

Unfortunately, the interwebs is an excellent place for crazies to get out their message of madness out to the world. David Icke is one. He starts small in this video, talking about small things leading up to the grand finale: Jewish people are actually shape changing lizards who live among us.

Without the interwebs, he's just another homeless man raving on the street. With the interwebs, he's a celebrity. Another one is timecube. I warn you not to go to that place, as therein only madness and sorrow live.

Something about how negative one times negative one is negative one. Then they go on to ascribe sides of the earth to races. What is it with crazies and race? It seems like nutters are attracted to bizarre racial theories like nerds to the interwebs.

Of course, there are a few more widely accepted ones, too. Zeitgeist is a big youtube video some worship like the religion it tries to disprove. And everyone knows of Loose Change, the youtube video that claims 9/11 was an inside job.

Dark Side #2: Providing support groups for horribleness.

Everyone is different, right? And these differences should be celebrated and encouraged, right? Wrong. There are some weird, messed up people in the world who should be ashamed of who they are.

In the past, they've lurked in basements (their parents') and back alleys, rightfully ashamed of who they are. Now, thanks to the interwebs, they can meet others like them and form supporting groups, encouraging them to be all freaky and awful.

I sound really mean right now, but I'm sure you'll agree when you realize I'm talking about groups like NAMBLA. Seriously, go check that out, then curse at me for getting that on your browser history. You're probably on a watch list... sorry.

These are people that could never meet in person. How would they start talking about that subject? But thanks to the anonymity, here they are, in all their freakish raiment. This category also includes pro-anorexia blogs and websites for white supremacy groups (though, sadly, they existed way before the interwebs).

Dark Side #3: Avenues for Illegal and Unethical Actions

Okay, sure, you can e-mail your drug dealer, but that's not what I'm talking about. Go on down to Craig's list and look under the job section. There is usually an adult area, in which all sorts of actions which aren't technically prostitution can be found.

How do I know about this? I'm not on trial here!

Also, as the Renaissance Woman found, marriage is far from a sacred institution on the interwebs. Just check out Ashley Madison. Sure, I've seen worse, but man, that is one heck of a website.

Imagine if you found that on your husband/wife's history. Even if they were curious or incredulous, how much would that hurt the old trust factor? I can't help but wonder how long it will be until divorce courts start demanding to see membership lists from them.

Dark Side #4: Creepy social networking sites, and other forms of data mining.

I've already covered this pretty well here. But this also applies to google, (I don't think a link is necessary, do you?) and their creepy e-mail reading algorithms.

Dark Side #5: All the gross stuff.

I'll do us both a favor and leave this description blank.

The dark side of the interwebs... a horrifying look at humanity's ugly side brought into the light. Beware, my fellow divers, and avoid looking directly at it. If you have any other knowledge of dark sides of the interwebs, please please please please don't tell me.

7331 Haxors

Hacking. One of the least understood skill sets in existence. Based in the world of the interwebs, whose technical side few can claim to fully understand, hacking is a vague, broadly defined word basically meaning any possible combination of doing things you aren't supposed to on the interwebs or on other people's computers.

Here's how a great deal of hacking works: people write programs or scripts that tell a computer to guess password and user name combinations at prompts. A computer can guess a lot faster than an average person can type, up to a few billion guesses every second.

Eventually, the guessing computer will get the password right, if given enough time. Fortunately, complex passwords take a lot of time to guess.

We live in a modern age, where free and easily downloaded firewalls, anti-viruses and anti-spyware programs can render 99% of all hacking attempts obsolete. But somethings, probably considered hacks, are still all too easy to learn and use.

For instance, this article details how to crash interwebs explorer. There, Now you know how to hack. You can't turn me in now, you're in too deep already!

The history of hacking is a wide and varied one, taking place all over the world. Feel free to peruse the map below, showing the locations of some of the biggest hacking events in interwebs history.


View Blog Map in a larger map

And I totally lied about penguin hackers.



Diving Deeper -

http://www.sptimes.com/Hackers/history.hacking.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_computer_security_hacker_history

http://www.francesfarmersrevenge.com/stuff/misc/hack/index.htm

http://www.crime-research.org/library/crime1.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/19/AR2010021902643.html?hpid=moreheadlines

http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1670

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/08/02/british.hacker.mckinnon/index.html

http://www.geek.com/articles/news/japanese-hacker-arrests-doubled-in-2007-20081111/

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_sof_pir_rat-crime-software-piracy-rate

Facebook; Creepy or Outright Malicious?

This video was reccomended to me by a friend lately. Go ahead and watch it. I'll wait.

...man, I forgot how long that video is. Hm... what to do, what to do... oh! Lolcats! Man those little guys are hilarious. I should kill this blog and make a new one devoted entirely to lolcats and loldogs. I wonder if interwebsloldogs.blogspot.com is already taken...

Okay, you've watched it. Pretty creepy at first glance, but a little far fetched. Conspiracy theories abound on the interwebs, and noting that some big name investors have invested in multiple things doesn't necessarily mean that the government is 1984-style creeping on our facebook pages.

But anyone who knows about facebook knows how genuinely stalker style they are. This site explains ten privacy settings that can make it less likely you'll be stalked or creeped by those who wish you harm, but nothing prevents facebook from using your data for their own nefarious ends.

And by nefarious ends, I mean selling data to marketing companies. You see those ads on the side of facebook? Ever notice how wonderfully targeted they are? It's because they can read your status. For instance, change your status to married, and you'll see all sorts of different ads targeted at newlyweds. Change your likes to 'Ice Cream', and you'll probably see some ads for Haagen-Daaz.

Is this necessarily a bad thing? I mean, if this is 1984, it's about the most benevolent form of 1984 imaginable. A big brother that carefully notes what you like, and makes suggestions for your further enjoyment? Doesn't sound too dystopian.

Of course, there has been a lot of complaints about facebook. The whole "invasion of privacy" thing is a big one. There have been many cases where authority figures (colleges, law enforcement, even secret service agents) have supposedly used facebook to track down people making inappropriate posts, threatening remarks or posting pictures of themselves breaking the law. (source)

IMHO, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Sure, there might be a slippery slope leading to a total police state, but now facebook primarily uses their information to help you find cool new items and services you might like. They're making fabulous amounts of money doing it, and if this helps law enforcement track down criminals, so much the better.

What are your thoughts on the issue?