cyberspace 2018 zeitgeist/ top headlines/ links

hi all, havent written on the changing landscape of cyberspace for over a year, although am tracking cybersecurity more recently.

it was an extremely lively/ eventful/ even dizzying year to say the least.

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cybersecurity 2017, epic saga, russian angle, hacking etc

hi all. this is now a complicated/ fast paced/ multidimensional subj to track. cybersecurity used to be a bit more arcane but the topic has expanded dramatically in only the last year based on russian hacking/ collusion accusations by our govt.

years ago read books on “infowarfare” or “cyberwarfare” predicting this exotic new aspect of international intrigue and interrelations. here it is now on our doorstep in 2017 and its having massive impact on politics and govt at this point.

love/ hate letter to stackexchange summer 2017 at ½ decade mark

hi all, have now been on stackexchange over 5 yrs, focusing on CS-related groups, mainly theoretical computer science and the computer science sites. its been a wild ride and full of a lot of color and online adventures. the cyber culture is quite rich. full of dynamic psychology and ripe for a sociological/ anthropological study. when finding this site early on and seeing their rapid growth, thought it could be a like a mini-facebook. but alas, there are really no other mini-facebooks! (lol at someone-or-other who told me in chat not long ago that SE is not a “social networking system”!) its a winner-take-all situation in capitalism and mirrored in cyberspace.

for 4 years focused on building up my online rep. shew, it sure/ really isnt easy! esp if one wants to have a personal style to their posts! the site culture is very “left brained”. analytical. exacting. its that old japanese expr applied to cyberspace:

the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.

cybersecurity/ cybercrime/ social media summer 2017

hi all! its a wild moment in the history of cyberspace. everything is agitated it seems. a list of the highlights of big news for me. russian election cyberhacking is more widespread than previously understood/ considered.[a][d] think that maybe ppl are missing some of the point of espionage operations which are designed to be secret and only successful when cloaked, ie is it like an iceberg with a large part submerged? could it be our own intelligence agencies are witholding devastating information? there are hints of that & it seems increasingly likely at this point.

reality winner leaks a classified document relating to russian election hacking and is likely to go to jail. think shell be lucky with less than 5 yr.[c]

cyber 2017, milo yiannopoulos, pewdiepie, online content, other zeitgeist

hi all, two recent high profile events caught my eye, #1 the meltdown of Milo Yiannopoulos and #2 pewdiepie losing a lucrative contract with Disney for his controversial youtube content. these seem to me to be strongly reflecting current cyber zeitgeist in various ways. so, a release of another/ the latest huge batch/ selection of items/ headlines.

in case #1 its “live by the sword, die by the sword”.[a] yiannopoulos reminds me of british commentator piers morgan who made a big splash years ago with his biting/ acerbic analysis of america, but seemed to burn out from his high profile/ near-trollery. did not track milo much at all but his downfall splattered very heavily across sites regularly browsed. it seems like a case of “troll culture”. theres also connections to the video game area. and of course, intense connections to current politics/ Trumpism which is still impacting cyberspace with roiling waves.[i]