I refer you to the following article:
http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/06/city-to-job-applicants-facebook-myspace-log-ins-please.ars?utm_source=Ars+Technica+Newsletter&utm_campaign=02b200dd05-June_26_2009_Newsletter&utm_medium=email
Basically the government of Bozeman, Montana is demanding people provide their usernames and passwords for websites such as Myspace and Facebook in their job applications.
I am amused at the amount of swear words littering the comments on that article. Ars Technica people are usually so much more civilised, just goes to show how pathetic Bozeman's government is!
Someone else has pointed out that this violates Facebook's Terms of Service:
4. Registration and Account Security
Facebook users provide their real names and information, and we need your help to keep it that way. Here are some commitments you make to us relating to registering and maintaining the security of your account:
...
6. You will not share your password, let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account.
It is likely that other sites have similar clauses.
I am wondering if someone has just misinterpreted something here...surely they can't be asking for people's passwords? Why not ask for your house keys and have a look in there! Fair enough if they want to search for prospective employees on the Internet, since anything they do find and access is in the public domain, but this is just a step too far.
People are wondering if it's a trick question - if you do provide your passwords then you're an idiot so you don't get hired. Seems a bit strange to me.
Yet another person is saying that providing your Social Security number (which I assume is the equivalent of Britain's National Insurance number) to a prospective employee is surely even more dangerous than giving out a Twitter password, but I think they've missed the point. The number is to help prove you're eligible to work in the country. Nicking passwords off people is just not in the same league.
The interviewer [from a local news station] was wise enough to point out that there were far less invasive ways of obtaining access to some of this information, such as having Bozeman open its own Facebook account, at which point Sullivan [Bozeman's attorney] apparently said that might be worth looking into.
No, REALLY? Bunch of prats if you ask me.
Friday 26 June 2009
Monday 22 June 2009
Utterly stupid.
Kate Moss has destroyed the only copies of a new batch of songs by boyfriend Jamie Hince's band The Kills.
An argument between the duo resulted in the model throwing her man's bag into a nearby swimming pool, not realising that it contained a laptop holding the only copies of six new Kills tracks. A devastated Hince apparently dived into the pool to try and salvage the equipment, through his efforts proved fruitless (Daily Mirror).
Either this is some ridiculous publicity stunt, or like a similar tale from Calvin Harris (who blamed Heathrow's Terminal 5 for losing the "only copy" of his new album), an excuse to get more time to write the album OR....Hince is a complete and utter idiot. If something is that important you BACK IT UP. For goodness' sake.
In other news...A-Level History students do not know what the words "despotic" means when used in conjuction with "Hitler". Seriously. WHY are you even bothering taking the exam? Surely they must have come across the word when learning about Hitler? Once mistook it for "weak" and wrote their entire essay based on what they believed the word to mean. Apparently they are going to protest about this. If anything, anyone who took M3 with Edexcel this session should be protesting due to the unfair inclusion of the trapezium rule, a C2 concept which people would have normally have studied a year before taking M3 or even two years, as we did. Especially given that the examiners failed to test candidates' knowledge of Newton's law of gravitation - why not ask a question about that instead of something already covered in AS Level Maths? Going back to the History paper, perhaps this is just a sign of the narrow range of students' vocabulary. Forget trying to introduce compulsory foreign languages at GCSE Level, we need to be educated more about the richness of the English language.
An argument between the duo resulted in the model throwing her man's bag into a nearby swimming pool, not realising that it contained a laptop holding the only copies of six new Kills tracks. A devastated Hince apparently dived into the pool to try and salvage the equipment, through his efforts proved fruitless (Daily Mirror).
Either this is some ridiculous publicity stunt, or like a similar tale from Calvin Harris (who blamed Heathrow's Terminal 5 for losing the "only copy" of his new album), an excuse to get more time to write the album OR....Hince is a complete and utter idiot. If something is that important you BACK IT UP. For goodness' sake.
In other news...A-Level History students do not know what the words "despotic" means when used in conjuction with "Hitler". Seriously. WHY are you even bothering taking the exam? Surely they must have come across the word when learning about Hitler? Once mistook it for "weak" and wrote their entire essay based on what they believed the word to mean. Apparently they are going to protest about this. If anything, anyone who took M3 with Edexcel this session should be protesting due to the unfair inclusion of the trapezium rule, a C2 concept which people would have normally have studied a year before taking M3 or even two years, as we did. Especially given that the examiners failed to test candidates' knowledge of Newton's law of gravitation - why not ask a question about that instead of something already covered in AS Level Maths? Going back to the History paper, perhaps this is just a sign of the narrow range of students' vocabulary. Forget trying to introduce compulsory foreign languages at GCSE Level, we need to be educated more about the richness of the English language.
Thursday 11 June 2009
Exams...
...also known as a time for me to pretend to revise and sit at the PC all day!
Everyone's been talking about Spotify (and if you're thinking "No, I jolly well haven't!" then you a) are just as barmy as me for using the phrase "jolly well" and b) haven't been paying attention to recent announcements about the growth of Spotify's catalogue) and so I figured I may as well try it out.
For the uninitiated, a less busy blogger than I would outline what Spotify is in three chunky paragraphs, but I don't have the time so I'll keep it short: Spotify is a free, legal music streaming service, made available to the public through the use of short adverts every 20 minutes or so.
Now I'm fairly impressed by the range of music on there, and it's a great way to sample an album before buying it. While I may have used last.fm for this purpose in the past, there's no denying that Spotify's catalogue is just a hell of a lot more extensive.
So, on to the music:
Jimmy Eat World - Futures: Listening to "Pain" was a right nostalgia trip back to 2004! I haven't heard this song for five years. The rest of the album is fairly good too.
The Bronx - The Bronx: People who are acquainted with The Bronx will be wondering "WHICH ALBUM?!" - I checked out the third one. The thing I find with The Bronx's music is that it's good, but it all blends together. Maybe I need to listen more carefully but I find it hard to distinguish between tracks.
Refused - This Just Might Be The Truth: A stonking great hardcore album. Excellent.
Esser - Braveface: If you like the singles then this record is a must. I know people go around saying this all the time, but I genuinely believe this is one of the better pop records released this year.
Lady Gaga - The Fame: Sadly the same can't be said for this album. Four or five songs in, my brain gave up and I stopped listening. That said, "Poker Face" is one heck of a great pop song.
---------------------------------------
As for the aforementioned exams...
M3: The worst exam I have ever done. Ever.
LTA4: Hamlet question wasn't very nice, John Clare one was excellent.
LTA6: A really nasty desensitised extract from a former nurse, but otherwise not too bad. (Which translates as: could have been a lot, lot worse.)
CPT4 and CPT5: Er. These papers were really short. Gotta be honest - I seriously lacked motivation since I don't need high marks in these two papers. That said, the fact I don't even have to pass English to get into uni was even more demotivating!!
---------------------------------------
....finally, go and vote:
http://awards.kerrang.com
My suggestions: Gallows, The Ghost of a Thousand, Gallows, Gallows. Er. Just please don't vote for a band that hasn't done anything this year (ahem, Lostprophets, as much as I love them!)
Currently listening to: Yourcodenameis:milo - They Came From The Sun. Checkitout.
Everyone's been talking about Spotify (and if you're thinking "No, I jolly well haven't!" then you a) are just as barmy as me for using the phrase "jolly well" and b) haven't been paying attention to recent announcements about the growth of Spotify's catalogue) and so I figured I may as well try it out.
For the uninitiated, a less busy blogger than I would outline what Spotify is in three chunky paragraphs, but I don't have the time so I'll keep it short: Spotify is a free, legal music streaming service, made available to the public through the use of short adverts every 20 minutes or so.
Now I'm fairly impressed by the range of music on there, and it's a great way to sample an album before buying it. While I may have used last.fm for this purpose in the past, there's no denying that Spotify's catalogue is just a hell of a lot more extensive.
So, on to the music:
Jimmy Eat World - Futures: Listening to "Pain" was a right nostalgia trip back to 2004! I haven't heard this song for five years. The rest of the album is fairly good too.
The Bronx - The Bronx: People who are acquainted with The Bronx will be wondering "WHICH ALBUM?!" - I checked out the third one. The thing I find with The Bronx's music is that it's good, but it all blends together. Maybe I need to listen more carefully but I find it hard to distinguish between tracks.
Refused - This Just Might Be The Truth: A stonking great hardcore album. Excellent.
Esser - Braveface: If you like the singles then this record is a must. I know people go around saying this all the time, but I genuinely believe this is one of the better pop records released this year.
Lady Gaga - The Fame: Sadly the same can't be said for this album. Four or five songs in, my brain gave up and I stopped listening. That said, "Poker Face" is one heck of a great pop song.
---------------------------------------
As for the aforementioned exams...
M3: The worst exam I have ever done. Ever.
LTA4: Hamlet question wasn't very nice, John Clare one was excellent.
LTA6: A really nasty desensitised extract from a former nurse, but otherwise not too bad. (Which translates as: could have been a lot, lot worse.)
CPT4 and CPT5: Er. These papers were really short. Gotta be honest - I seriously lacked motivation since I don't need high marks in these two papers. That said, the fact I don't even have to pass English to get into uni was even more demotivating!!
---------------------------------------
....finally, go and vote:
http://awards.kerrang.com
My suggestions: Gallows, The Ghost of a Thousand, Gallows, Gallows. Er. Just please don't vote for a band that hasn't done anything this year (ahem, Lostprophets, as much as I love them!)
Currently listening to: Yourcodenameis:milo - They Came From The Sun. Checkitout.
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