Friday, August 24, 2012

Day4 - How we screwed (almost) the whole Apple community (updated)

A chilling—not terribly surprising—story about using the internet echo chamber against itself.

With each step further away from the source ,the perception that this would be true, increased. On Reddit, where the original entry was made we saw it as a 0 mode, the image was posted, nothing more or less. Newspapers and blogs who drew attention to the whole thing (Yahoo, Macworld, Wired) took it with a grain of salt, so the truth factor goes down a bit. The commentators to the articles however took it almost as 100% truth, raising the truth factor bar. The commentators / readers who tok it further in their own social media (Twitter, G +, Facebook) defined it as the truth, all doubt is gone. In what segment do you pick up your information, and which one affects people the most?

Day4 - How we screwed (almost) the whole Apple community (updated)

Language Log » One little adjective

More on data quality in the public sphere. A shame here is that even those who have the rhetorical wherewithal to create nuanced criticism can opt for sound-bite-ready snarkiness instead. Our friends at language log illuminate and clarify once again:

But in the meantime, a warning to candidates for elective office: watch every word, every little attributive adjective. You may not have meant it the way it sounds; they may not even believe you meant it; but if you utter even a two-word phrase that sounds outrageous, that'll be enough rope for them to hang you with. They are playing linguistic Gotcha, and the game is deadly serious, and losers don't get elected. Be careful out there. Get your adjectives checked out by a linguist up front. And stay away from TV studios if you aren't a master of on-the-fly self-editing.

Language Log » One little adjective

Botched Restoration of Ecce Homo Fresco Shocks Spain - NYTimes.com

Yes, data quality is everyone’s responsibility, but that obviate the need for professionals.

A case of suspected vandalism in a church in a northeastern village in Spain has turned out to be probably the worst art restoration project of all time.

An elderly woman stepped forward this week to claim responsibility for disfiguring a century-old “ecce homo” fresco of Jesus crowned with thorns, in Santuario de la Misericordia, a Roman Catholic church in Borja, near the city of Zaragoza.

Botched Restoration of Ecce Homo Fresco Shocks Spain - NYTimes.com