Privacy

The Week in Privacy Problems: Who's Hacking, Selling, and Manipulating Your Data

By Kate Conger Thu., Jan. 31 2013 at 11:44 AM
Categories: Make It Stop, Privacy, Ugh

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Flickr user José Goulão
This hasn't been a good week for privacy -- but is it ever, these days? Here are the hot messes that dominated the depressing privacy discussion this week.

Hacking:

Last night, Chinese hackers broke into the Times' computer network and stole every single employee's password, then used the data to access 53 employees' personal devices. The paper attracted Chinese ire when, back in October, it reported that China's prime minister, Wen Jiabao, used his position to stockpile wealth and hid it behind a shady network of investment vehicles and offshore accounts.

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Ugh

Hollister Paints Another Totally Necessary Mural On Houston

By Rosie Gray Wed., Oct. 5 2011 at 9:56 AM
Categories: Kvetching, Manhattan, Rosie Gray, Shopping, Ugh

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Bowery Boogie

Because SoHo needed another enormous mural depicting a Southern California symbol. Hollister's latest addition to its display of murky brown mega-advertising is the California state flag, a natural fit for the space that used to have a DKNY mural with the Statue of Liberty.

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Things to Worry About

Rat Bites Woman as She Waits for J Train

By Jen Doll Thu., Sep. 8 2011 at 9:52 AM
Categories: Ew, Infestations, Jen Doll, MTA, Things to Worry About, Ugh, Ugly Animals in Rightful Danger

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Brace yourself, fellow commuters, as this is horrible news. Now, to add to our various rational or irrational New York City fears, we have the fear of wearing open-toed shoes while sitting on a bench on a subway platform, because a rat might be hiding underneath it and notice us there and pop out and bite us on the foot. Seriously.

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MTA

MTA Restores Limited Bus Service

By Nick Greene Sun., Aug. 28 2011 at 5:16 PM
Categories: Hurricane Irene, MTA, Nick Greene, The Wheels On the Bus, Ugh

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The MTA has announced it will start to restore limited bus service today. Manhattan and the Bronx will be the first boroughs to have working bus routes, with Queens and Brooklyn to follow. Staten Island is too much of a mess right now for them to give a concrete time frame. Go to MTA.info to find out what routes are in service. As of right now, the BX1-BX55, M1-M116, and the Q1-Q113 are running on delayed schedules. Everything else is suspended. [@nickgreene]

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Things to Worry About

How Much Should You Worry About Death By Vampire Bat Bite?

By Jen Doll Tue., Aug. 16 2011 at 9:31 AM
Categories: "Trends", Jen Doll, R.I.P., Things to Worry About, Ugh, Ugly Animals in Rightful Danger

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Baby vampire bats: Slightly less worrisome?
The U.S. has experienced its very first death by vampire bat bite. But far from being a moment to celebrate, this is a moment to worry about. (R.I.P., man in Louisiana who died of a vampire bat bite that gave him rabies -- that sounds terrible.) So, what does this mean for the rest of us? As The Week asks, is this "a growing trend?" How much should you worry about this happening to you? Let us investigate, unscientifically.

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Weather

The Outdoors Sucks Today

By Esther Zuckerman Mon., Jul. 18 2011 at 4:15 PM
Categories: Esther Zuckerman, I Heat NY, Ugh, Weather

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This is a servicey post: If you can avoid it, don't go outside today. Not only are temperatures in the 90s, but the National Weather Service has also issued an "air quality alert," which is in effect until 11 p.m. Simplifying a lot of jargon, this means that pollution levels are high, so breathing is not fun. And it's not over after that -- get ready for a chance of some thunderstorms tonight. And highs in the 90s for most of the week. (Friday looks especially fun with a forecasted high of 97 and a little glowing symbol for "Hot.")

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Politics

Carnival Workers Mad at Obama; Nation's Political Discourse To Be Taken Off Life Support

By Nick Greene Thu., Apr. 28 2011 at 1:54 PM
Categories: America, Barack Obama, Nick Greene, Politics, Stupidity, Ugh

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A subset of nomadic amusement park workers have issued grievance towards President Obama for remarks he made during yesterday's birth certificate press conference. During the press conference, which was held to disprove a bunch of lunatics, Obama said, "We're not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers." Carnival workers are upset because of his use of the term, "carnival barker." America has turned into a massive malfunctioning tilt-a-whirl, and it's not going to stop no matter how much you vomit.

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Go Away

Facebook Imbeciles Think Japan Tsunami Is Karmic Payback for Pearl Harbor

By Rosie Gray Sat., Mar. 12 2011 at 11:28 AM
Categories: Facebook, Go Away, Japan, Natural Disasters, Rosie Gray, Tweet and Sour, Twitter, Ugh

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It seems that no disaster is too grave for Facebook's large population of assholes to say offensive things about. The newest thing is that people are taking to their Facebook statuses to say that Japan "deserves" yesterday's tragic earthquake because it's "karma" for Pearl Harbor. It's happening on Twitter too!

These small-minded jingoists are forgetting two things: 1) The U.S. actually dropped two atom bombs on Japan at the end of World War II, killing up to 150,000 people, and 2) There is no such thing as "karmic payback" when it comes to devastating natural disasters. Via BuzzFeed, I've learned that if you go to this site called Openbook.org and search for Pearl Harbor statuses, you'll find a shocking number of them. Click through for some examples.

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Things to Worry About

Creepy Victorian-Era 'Proto-Hobo' to be Dug Out of Ground

By Rosie Gray Sun., Feb. 13 2011 at 3:06 PM
Categories: Rosie Gray, Stating the Obvious, The End Times, The Olds, Things to Worry About, Ugh

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Nope, not scary at all.
This article asks, "Should the Leather Man, 19th-century proto-hobo of New York, be exhumed?" No, obviously not. Everything about that sounds bad. Why do we need a dead hobo to be dug up? What will we do with him? Not "we," per se, just in general.

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Ugh

Breaking: Subways Are Germy

By Jen Doll Tue., Jan. 18 2011 at 5:58 PM
Categories: Health, I Really Do Heart NY, Jen Doll, Public Service Announcement, Subway Fun, Ugh

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via mrshawnliu/flickr
If it's not people without pants on the subway making you sick, or rats crawling on people's faces on the subway making you sick, it's the subway itself making you sick. According to a new British study, if you ride public transit you're six times more likely to come down with an acute respiratory infection, yuck.

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