My Bots Weblog

«Another day, another study. This one comes from the Australasian Journal of Clinical Environmental Medicine and says that the signals spewing from the Wi-Fi router in your office can trap certain metals within brain cells and increase the chances your kids will develop autism. This is just the type of cheery news we need right before a holiday. Dr. George Carlo, author of the study, is known for his research on the effects that mobile phones have on people. His latest findings come from testing children with autism from 2005 to 2006. He said, "The electromagnetic radiation apparently causes the metals to be trapped in cells, slowing clearance and accelerating the onset of [autism] symptoms." He goes on to link the vast increase in the use of mobile phones and Wi-Fi to the worldwide rise in autism rates in children. Before you panic and run home to unplug your Wi-Fi router and throw it out the window, rest assured knowing that there is a contradictory study floating around, too.»...
Source: http://www.informationweek.com | Source Status Category: Stratégies d'Influence/FUD

«Dismantling fear, uncertainty, and doubt, aimed at Wikipedia and other free knowledge resources Mind set | Easy By Aaron Krowne Online on: 2005-03-28 In this article, I respond to Robert McHenry's anti-Wikipedia piece entitled "The Faith-Based Encyclopedia." I argue that McHenry's points are contradictory and incoherent and that his rhetoric is selective, dishonest and misleading. I also consider McHenry's points in the context of all Commons-Based Peer Production (CBPP), showing how they are part of a Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) campaign against CBPP. Further, I introduce some principles, which will help to explain why and how CBPP projects can succeed, and I discuss alternative ways they may be organized, which will address certain concerns. Introduction Recently, a friend of mine passed a rather noteworthy online article my way. The article, published in Tech Central Station, was entitled "The Faith-Based Encyclopedia," and was written by Robert McHenry [McHenry, 2004]. McHenry, the Former Editor in Chief of the Encyclopedia Britannica, was quite critical of Wikipedia in this article. Perhaps this comes as no surprise to readers who are already detecting the potential for a slight conflict of interest here. Still, I expected to learn something from this article, as Wikipedia is not perfect, and McHenry seemed like a reputable individual. Instead, I was greeted with an onslaught of FUD that left me flabbergasted. I can honestly say I learned nothing from "The Faith-Based Encyclopedia." The goal of FUD is to make money when the free software competition cannot be defeated fairly in the marketplace For the uninitiated, FUD stands for "Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt." It is a term popular within the free software community, used to describe the use of lies and deceptive rhetoric, aimed chiefly at free software projects. It is an accurate term. In brief, the goal of FUD is to make money when the free software competition cannot be defeated fairly in the marketplace. This can be done by scaring consumers through wild propaganda, or more recently, confusing courts through more subtle arguments.»...
Source: http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com | Source Status Category: Stratégies d'Influence/FUD