Finite Jest

I am struck by how accurately Wallace predicted the current state of (social) media. With the advent of AI and algorithmic feeds there has been an increasing loss of agency in how we engage with social media, which became increasingly optimized for addictive qualities and driving engagement through outrage.

I have read that being offline / having a circle of real life friends is now a status symbol. Though I wonder if this approach throws the baby with the bath water. I remember when facebook only showed me posts from friends rather than feeding me an endless scroll of video shorts from influencers, it was nice... no algorithms, just a dozen posts a day from my 100 friends that I knew IRL and cared about, even if we no longer lived in the same city.

I want to try to recapture some of that early web 2.0 feeling. Basically I want a website where:

• you can only post once or twice a day max
• you can view and interact with a limited amount of posts
• maybe you can setup a group for just you and 12 friends, but you still get to upload only a limited amount of times daily

 I did not find any existing application that fits this niche. But I can code (not frontend but that can't be too hard, right?). Thinking about Infinite Jest reminded me that this blog exists, and I decided to make it a "build in public" journal since the name fits the theme.

I am used to python, and can use FireStore to take care of a lot of authentication and DB management stuff... for frontend petite-vue might be enough for whatever I need (I have only ever really used vanilla JS... react gives me migraines) and bootstrap should be enough for styling. I heard this tech stack being called the "Petite Fire" stack

I will call this project "Finite Jest". When pushed together the letters F and J kind of look like the Kanji for 10,000 (the symbol 万) which I heard used as a slang for "sure". So I will go with that as a logo for now.

FCC Rollback: What just happened? And what is next?

Today (Tuesday the 28th) the senate and the house, under the Trump administration, voted to repeal the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules which past last October under the previous administration. If you find yourself a bit confused regarding what exactly is going on, you came to the right place. In this post I will attempt to breakdown how this legislation might affect the simple user, what you should be worried about (if at all), and what you can do about it today.

Also, for now, lets leave the political bashing out of this and avoid Armageddon analogies.

What Just Happened?

The bottom line for all of this is: it is now legal for your internet service provider (ISP, the technical term for AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile...) to collect, store, and sell data regarding your internet usage. This includes but is not limited to: Web browsing history, App usage history, Content of communications such as messages, emails and online chats.

This is ofcourse in addition to the social security number of the consumer and bank information, so technically anyone that buys this data could know is was specifically you. Not to mention, they can now also sell your geo-data (the GPS data from your phone).

What Really Changed Though?

Under the FCC rules the companies needed your permission to sell this information. Now they don't take a look at this excerpt from the FCC press release explaining what data the companies need your permission in order to collect and sell:

Will they though?

Yeh man, probably they will. When FCC was first putting together the bill CTIA (The Wireless Association, a lobbyist group representing AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile USA, and Sprint) claimed "Web browsing and app usage history are not 'sensitive information" and pushed very hard against the legislation. Since this data allows advertiser to engage in targeted marketing like never before, you can bet there will be quite a market for your data.

Also, here is what we know for sure the companies are already keeping:

• Comcast: Believed to retain IP addresses that connected to BitTorrent for 180 days.
• Verizon: IP address assignment (What IP belonged to which user) are retained for 18 months.
• Qwest/Century: Same logs as Verizon, up until one year.
• Cox: Same as Qwest. 

 

Inconvenient, But I Have Nothing to Hide...

Maybe, but we have seen time and time again that private companies often fail to stop hackers from gaining access to their database. Do you really trust an advertising company to protect your internet usage history and even content of communications? What someone gains access and leaks everything? What if someone decides he dislikes a comment you have made, finds the leaks and decides to dox you?

For example, angry users are already making plans to purchase the internet search history of Senator Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan.

Ok, What Now then?

Lets break this down by application:

Protect your Browsing Data:

Luckily, there are different options that provide different levels of security. Lets go from easiest to hardest:

Incognito Browsing

Does NOT help for shit, you are just asking your computer not to remember the you went to that porn website. The Version/AT&T/T-Mobile server knows its is you and can now legally store this information.

HTTPS

If you glance at your URL bar you will probably find that the website begins with either http or https. These are different protocols that your computer is using to communicate with the blogger internet server. HTTPS is quite a lot more secure, it encrypts most of the data being transferred but the server will still know which websites (and which pages in that websites) you went to. Basically, the content of your messages, as well as username and password are now probably encrypted, but the URL and your GPS location are still transparent.

The good thing about the HTTPS is that you can probably set-up your PC to always use is it in under a minute. First and foremost, latest versions of Firefox, and Chrome have https enabled by default and now warn users when the websites use insecure http login (meaning, your ISP can see your username and password).

Most importantly, the "Electronic Frontier Foundation", a non-profit digital rights group, have released an firefox / chrome extension called "HTTPS Everywhere" which will make sure you are always have this essential level of protection.

Still confused? Check out this HTTPS ON, HTTPS OFF Gif from the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

TOR

Sadly, things get complicated fast, as seen in the GIF above, even with HTTPS everyone can still tell which websites you are visiting (and which pages in these websites). The only way to make sure no one knows the name of that site you go to late at night is to use TOR.

Here is an excellent step by step guide courtesy of the DarkNetMarketsNoobs sub-reddit.

Also, check out this TOR ON, TOR OFF Gif (again from the Electronic Frontier Foundation):

Protect your Phone Messaging Data: WhatsApp Vs Telegram:

While Telegram was traditionally seen as a more secure messaging app, the fact that it does not encrypt messages by default (which whatsapp does), in addition to recent vulnerability concerns and the fact that it does not use any well known encryption standard causes most to prefer whatsApp.

Btw, unrelated, but Snapchat can legally store anything sent via it's app so keep it PG.

Conclusion

Remember how we left out the political bashing at the beginning? Well here it comes.

This issue is beyond partisan alignment, it has the potential to hurt all Americans and the only reason it was passed now is the current political climate being too chaotic for us have the sufficient bandwidth to tackle such issues. Meredith Baker, the current CEO of CTIA (the wireless lobby group responsible for pushing this repeal) is a republican that was appointed by president Obama as the a member of the United States Federal Communications Commission. I suspect that neither the democrats nor the republicans really understand much of the legislation, and dount how much they would care if they did. Your only option is to educate yourself, protect yourself, and when the fight for net neutrally comes (and this is definitely the next item on the CTIA agenda) make sure your voice is heard.

Magnificent Seven Male Archetypes: A Character Study Of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai

With all the buzz around the recent trailer for The Magnificent Seven 2016 remake, I thought it might be suitable to revisit the original film. Not the 1960 western of the same name, but Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese epic Seven Samurai. In fact, you might be surprised to know how many westerns (and Clint Eastwood characters) are old west style remakes - sometimes with almost identical lines - of Japanese films with cowboys instead of samurai (A Fistful of Dollars, The Outrage...).

Although Kurosawa's films are cinematographic masterpieces, this review will focus on the characters and relationships portrayed in this movie (to be honest, everything to be said about Kurosawa's cinematography have already been said in words much more eloquent than mine).

In contrast to the standard portrayal of the samurai as a lone heroic worrier dedicated to a strict code of conduct and motivated by noble ideals, Seven Samurai takes place at the end of the samurai era, and follows a group of seven overwhelmed protagonists. Considering the fact that the samurai became universally idealized as a model of manliness, Kurosawa's film provides an alternative narrative not only of the samurai era but also manliness itself. With this in mind, it is possible to interpret the seven protagonists as seven archetypes of masculinity, and their struggles as the ones of masculinity facing social and political adversity.

Before looking into the characters, lets consider the setting. The Sengoku period was a time of civil war and turmoil; The peasants suffer from bandits (often disgraced samurai themselves) taking advantage of the lawlessness and raiding their villages, and while the samurai are still considered a distinct and prestigious class, they are being undermined by the introduction of gun powder and modern weaponry.

Against this backdrop Kurosawa portrays seven men; Samurai hired by a poor village as a last resort against an imminent bandit attack.

1. Shimada Kambei - The Old Man: The leader, a war-weary soldier and the most experienced of the seven. It is hinted that he became disgraced after he led and lost a battle against the forces of a rival warlord, resulting in the death of his master. Moved by the farmers suffering, he decides to assist them despite having nothing to gain. In contrast to the lonewolf hero trope, Kambei repeatedly emphasises the importance of teamwork "We can't risk 20 [houses] to save three. And if this village is destroyed, those three cannot survive on their own. That is the nature of war. By protecting others, you save yourself. If you only think of yourself, you'll only destroy yourself. Such selfishness will not be tolerated. You're all in one boat." and he is the one that establishes seven as the minimum number of samurai required to defend the village. Pondering the future, Kambei comments that their victory is a pyrrhic one from which they gained nothing, the farmers being the sole winners.
2. Kyzuo - The Master: An extremely talented samurai, the character is first introduced fighting a duel. No formal explanation is given as to why he decides to join the group, but it is hinted that he simply fancied the challenge. Despite Kurosawa building the character as the most skilled fighter of all the characters, Kyzou is shot and killed by the bandit chief near the end. This can be seen as metaphor for the changing times and the diminishing status of the samurai in the era of gunpowder.
3. Okamoto Katsushiro - The Boy: Young and inexperienced, Katsushiro is the son of a wealthy retired samurai who became a wondering swordsman against his families wishes. His ideals and desire to learn from Kambei and Kyzou are what moves him to join the group. After experiencing both war and love his immature notions of heroism are replaced with a more realistic and pragmatic outlook.
   

   
4. Hayashida Heihachi - The Existentialist: Cheerful and upbeat, in contrast to most Samurai that are too proud to accept the peasants offer of food in exchange for protection, in his first appearance Heihachy is seen chopping wood for a bowl of rice. Despite admitting to being a mediocre swordsman, he is recruited for his charm and wit. He jokes that he is from the "Wood Chop School of Swordsmanship" and - quite morbidly - compares cutting down enemies to chopping wood. True to this self contradicting nature until the end, he dies sacrificing himself to rescue a farmer despite previously advocating to kill the peasants as punishment for deceiving the group.
   
5. Katayama Gorobei- The Strategist: Jokes that despite having a "strong name" he is not really that tough. He is a skilled archer and acts as the second in command to Kambei, organizing the defences of the village. He is killed when a mistake by Kikuchiyo foils his defensive strategy.
6. Kikuchiyo - The Fool: Portrayed by Toshiro Mifune, arguably the most famous actor in Japan at the time, Kikuchiyo is an abrasive and loud buffoon who claims to be a samurai despite being born as a Farmer. Despite coming across as a comic relief, he is surprisingly insightful about the dynamics between the social classes and is the only one that seems to be aware of the complexities faced by both groups "They [Farmers] pose as saints but are full of lies! If they smell a battle, they hunt the defeated! They're nothing but stingy, greedy, blubbering, foxy, and mean! But then who made them such beasts? You did! You samurai did it! You burn their villages! Destroy their farms! Steal their food! Force them to labour! Take their women! And kill them if they resist! So what should farmers do?". He is the fourth and last of the seven to fall, killing the chief of the bandits in his last breath.
7. Shichiroji - The Soldier: The former lieutenant of Kambei, he resumes his role as his right hand man. When asked to join the mission that "will bring neither money nor fame" he does not hesitate. Although yearning for a glorious death in battle alongside his former brother in arms, Shichiroji survives, this prompts the now famous line  "Mata iki-nokotta na" (So, once again we have survived), Kambei, aware of the changing era and the facts of war replies that they have lost again, and it is the farmers that have won.¹
   

Considering the rapid changes in Japanese society following the second world war it can be argued that Kurosawa was making a point regarding the fate of social rules, structures, and concepts - especially the ones used to define masculinity. One could argue that we live in a similar time of uncertainty, as such, Seven Samurai is as relevant as ever.

Finally one can only hope that The Magnificent Seven remake will try and maintain some of the social commentary of the original, instead of delivering seven more of the same would be Client Eastwood man's man action heroes for us to be entertained by.  

^{1. Actually, having both "The Boy" and "The Old Man" survive could be interpreted as Kurosawa hinting that neither the future nor the past will be lost, and that the samurai - or at least some of what it represents - will always remain a part of Japanese culture.↩}