Thursday, November 24, 2016

"Creepy New Website Tells All"

Every move we make online is being scrutinized.

Don't believe it? According to news.com.au: "A creepy new website called clickclickclick has been developed to demonstrate how our online behaviour is continuously measured."

(And you thought your neighbors were nosey).

"Dutch media company VPRO and Amsterdam-based interactive design company Studio Moniker are the masterminds behind the site, which observes and comments on your behaviour in great detail."

Why would they do such a thing?

The designers claim it was an experiment done in a "lighthearted" way to prove a point: Big Data has destroyed your privacy.

"From the minute you visit the website, it begins detailing your actions on the screen in real-time."

And get this--there's a voice offering a running commentary about your behavior.

"What we do is just a little funny: we use a voice, a kind of psychologist who will assign properties" (to your behavior), they say.

While VPRO and Studio Moniker may just be conducting a funny little experiment to bring awareness, Big Data is busy tracking and analyzing our every move.

Nothing funny about it.

A wise man once said: "Your web searches about sensitive information might seem a secret between you and your search engine, but companies like Google are creating a treasure trove of personal information by logging your online activities and making it potentially available to any party wielding enough cash or a subpoena."  Electronic Frontier Foundation
"Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops" -- Luke 12:3.
News:

  • Business Insider: Israeli Ambassador: Iran is smuggling weapons to Hezbollah on commercial flights.
  • Fox News Channel: Law enforcement on alert about possible holiday terror attacks in U.S.
  • The Jerusalem Post: Widespread fires rage through Israel; Arab world celebrates. 



Thursday, November 17, 2016

"Photoshop-For-Voice: New Technology Puts Words In Our Mouth!"

'Seeing is believing'  became obsolete once Photoshop made sure we could no longer believe our eyes.

Now we've got the equivalent for our ears: A new "voice manipulation" app, VoCo made by the software firm Adobe.

"The software makes it possible to take an audio recording and rapidly alter it to include words and phrases the original speaker never uttered, in what sounds like their voice," according to BBC News.

"At a live demo in San Diego recently, Adobe took a digitised recording of a man saying "and I kissed my dogs and my wife" and changed it to say "and I kissed Jordan three times."

The edit was simple and took only seconds.

By using a text-based tool to create a synthesized voice track, it is now possible to put words in the mouth of another.

Horrified by the development, Dr. Eddy Borges Rey, a lecturer in media and technology at the University of Stirling said:

"It seems that Adobe's programmers were swept along with the excitement of creating something as innovative as a voice manipulator, and ignored the ethical dilemmas brought up by its potential misuse.

"Inadvertently, in its quest to create software to manipulate digital media, Adobe has (already) drastically changed the way we engage with evidential material such as photographs," Dr. Rey said, referring to Adobe's Photoshop.

"This makes it hard for lawyers, journalists, and other professionals who use digital media as evidence."

Not to mention the risks associated with no longer being able to believe anything you see or hear.

Having just come through one of the most contentious election cycles in recent history, just imagine (if you will) the extra added attraction of a voice-mimicking app in the wrong hands.

Welcome to the age of deception.

The 2020 Election should be interesting.

A wise man once said: "God's word is the same, yesterday and today and a million years from now." Franklin Graham
"Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you," declares the LORD. Then the LORD stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down. To destroy and to overthrow, To build and to plant." Jeremiah 1:9-10
News:

  • MRC NewsBusters: Poll: 70% of voters do not believe the media is honest and truthful.
  • Technology News: Google, Facebook move to restrict ads on fake news sites.
  • Vocativ: AT&T and NASA to build National Drone Tracking System to protect drones from hackers 

Thursday, November 10, 2016

"The Trump Effect: Healing The Great Divide"

Now that the shock and awe has worn off, President-elect Donald J. Trump has a big-league job on his hands: spend the next 4-8 years making America great again.

Our job? Heal the Great Divide.

Let's face it, gang, this election cycle has been brutal. It has turned Americans against each other to a degree not seen in recent history. People are at each others throats--from the #NotMyPresident crowd taking to the streets, to the Trump Train gloaters--things have gotten down right ugly.

CBN News cited a recent Reuters/IPSOS survey indicating the election has caused:

  • 15% to stop speaking to a family member or close friend
  • 14% to block a family member or close friend from social media
We call this the "Trump Effect"--you're either with him (meaning the conservative platform) or against him.

CBN News spoke with Anne Graham Lotz (Billy Graham's daughter) about what Christians can do to help heal the divide.

"I think the most critical thing that God's people can do is pray. Two is to repent of our sin and three is to keep our focus on God," she said. "God is the One who will bring healing. It's not a political party or one particular person. Our faith has to be in God."

Lotz went on to say, "Prayer made the difference in the election, particularly among white, born-again evangelicals, who voted 81% for Trump, not to mention the countless churches across the nation that committed to praying for the election."

"I see what happened in this election as being a tremendous movement of God in answer to prayer."

Her challenge to God's people? Don't stop now.

A wise woman once said: "When God's people will pray with a humble heart, repenting of our sins, then God promises He will hear our prayers, He will forgive our sin and the third element is that He will heal our land." --Anne Graham Lotz
"Jesus said, 'Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.'" --Matthew 12:30
News:

  • Daily Mail: Anti-Trump protests turn violent amid nationwide demonstrations involving tens of thousands
  • Breitbart: Anti-Trump rioters vandalize monuments with "DIE WHITES DIE" graffiti and break windows in downtown New Orleans.
  • The Daily Caller: Twitter Erupts With Calls For Donald Trump To Be Assassinated; while others call on Secret Service to investigate threats. 

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

"Crazy Country=Crazy Election: Let's Make America NORMAL Again"

"No matter what happens in this election, what Trump represents isn't crazy and it's not going away," said tech billionaire Peter Theil. 

Theil has made billions investing in technology, but his $1.25 million donation to Donald Trump has made him a pariah.

In the Silicon Valley, the once celebrated Theil is now being ostracized by his peers--shunned in an area where Trump support is the equivalent of social suicide. Theil doesn't care.

While Trump is far from the perfect candidate, concedes Theil, he represents a new path: Making America normal again.

"Just as much as it's about making America great, Trump's agenda is about making America a normal country," Theil said. "A normal country doesn't have a half-trillion dollar trade deficit. A normal country doesn't fight five simultaneous, undeclared wars. In a normal country, the government actually does its job."

Theil believes Trump will remake the Republican Party and spark new American politics that overcomes denial, rejects bubble thinking, and reckons with reality.

"When the distracting spectacles of this election season are forgotten and the history of our times is written, the only important question will be whether or not that new politics came too late."

"It's not a lack of judgment that leads Americans to vote for Trump; we're voting for Trump because we judge the leadership of our country to have failed."

A wise man once said: "When a society rebels against God, absurdity rules." --Tim Wildmon, American Family Association President

"Always be joyful. Keep on praying. No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." 1Thessalonians 5:16
"A Christian who refuses to vote for Trump because they can't look beyond the candidate to the Republican Platform is voting against:

  • A child's right to life
  • Constitutional Supreme Court Justices who uphold God's definition of marriage
  • Defense of Israel
  • 2nd Amendment and God-given rights of self-defense
  • Religious liberty
Christian, recognize if Trump loses, the Republican Platform loses with him."
Listen to this message and vote biblically: What is the Christian Vote? by Pastor Jack Hibbs, Calvary Chapel Chino Hills (note: you must click on "Listen" to start)

News:

  • World Net Daily: Trump V.P. pick, Mike Pence, calls  nation to prayer and repentance.
  • CBN: Pastor Saeed Abedini says Trump gave his family $10,000 while he was imprisoned in Iran; urges Christians to vote for Trump.
  • Fox News Channel: Sources say investigation into Clinton Foundation has taken a "very high priority" that may result in an indictment.