[Tfug] [Bulk] Re: Stallman vs Ubuntu

[erich]

Ubuntu is a popular distro. It is not surprising that there is a 
temptation to use
its resources for monetary gain. But yipes, they've got Stallman on 
their case.

Remember that Google does this as part of their business plan to earn 
revenue
for the company, and it's no deep dark secret.

Perhaps if Ubuntu had been forthcoming about what they were doing they 
wouldn't
be in this mess.

                                                                                                                            
Erich

Rich Smit wrote:
> Sure, Ubuntu is invasive to your privacy … so long as you pay for 
> everything with cash, didn't have to submit to a background check to 
> get your job, don't ever drive through a CCTV monitored revenue trap, 
> keep your cellphone switched off until you need it, and definitely 
> never post photos online that you took with a smartphone. So that 
> about narrows it down to one individual who (unfortunately) shares my 
> first name.
>
>
> On Fri, Dec 14, 2012 at 7:06 PM, Bexley Hall <bexley401 at yahoo.com 
> <mailto:bexley401 at yahoo.com>> wrote:
>
>     Hi Keith,
>
>
>     On 12/14/2012 5:50 PM, keith smith wrote:
>
>         I worked for an HMO about 15 years ago.  I built a model that
>         determined
>         the risk of the groups that were utilizing under the different
>         plans.
>         This info was used by underwriting and sales and service to
>         set pricing.
>
>         All I needed was their purchase info and I could have built a
>         predictive
>         utilization model based on actuarial numbers.  If I could have
>         obtained
>         their driving info from the black boxes, now being installed
>         in some new
>         cars, I could have assessed their risk here as well.
>
>         You eat too many burgers.... you became a higher risk.
>
>
>     What people *don't* understand is the non-obvious correlations that
>     "big data" can make apparent.
>
>     E.g., you figure eating lots of burgers is eating lots of red meat
>     which has a higher probability of resulting in heart disease, etc.
>     But, what you probably *wouldn't* "guess" is favoring "action"
>     movies is correlated with higher resting blood pressure (I'm
>     just making this up) which is correlated with higher probability
>     of heart disease.  Or, reading lots of romance novels correlates
>     with obesity which correlates with higher healthcare costs.  Or...
>
>         "The ratio of the length of a man’s index finger to that of his
>         ring finger may seem like a strange thing to measure, but new
>         research suggests that it’s linked with penis size. The lower
>         the ratio, the longer the penis."
>
>     Who the heck ever thought to correlate these two (three!) data??
>
>
>         All the data is  out there today. Most of us use our credit or
>         debit
>         card for every purchase.
>
>
>     <grin>  A "paranoid" friend shares my refusal to use "store cards"
>     (Safeway, etc.) out of concern for purchase tracking, etc.  The
>     look of smug arrogance on his face *melted* away when I asked him
>     if he uses credit cards for his purchases... <grin>  He then
>     understood why I always had so much CASH in my wallet!
>
>     [I wonder if there are rules -- between the cc companies and the
>     merchants -- governing how that data can be used (by the merchant).
>     I.e., why would any company institute its own "store card" (NOT a
>     credit card, just a "reward card") if they already have access to
>     all this identifying information?]
>
>
>         This stuff is not rocket science. Almost anyone can create one of
>         these models.
>
>
>     And, data seldom gets stale.  Next year someone might come up
>     with an off-the-wall correlation that is statistically significant
>     (finger length vs. penis length???) that reveals something even
>     *more* interesting!
>
>
>
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