The Flat Earth conspiracy theory, which posits that the Earth is flat rather than spherical, is a fascinating example of how ancient beliefs can resurface and influence modern thinking. This theory challenges the fundamental scientific understanding of the Earth’s shape, a concept that has been well-established since the time of the ancient Greeks and further […]
PizzaGate originated in 2016 from the hacked emails of John Podesta, Hillary Clinton‘s campaign manager, published by WikiLeaks. Internet users on platforms like 4chan and Reddit began to interpret these emails, focusing on those that mentioned pizza and other food items. They falsely claimed these were code words for a child sex trafficking ring operated […]
Disinformation Dictionary of Psychological Warfare The cat is well and truly out of the bag in terms of understanding how easily wide swaths of people can be misled into believing total falsehoods and even insane conspiracy theories that have no basis whatsoever in reality. In their passion for this self-righteous series of untruths, they can […]
The Snow Revolution was a series of popular protests beginning in Moscow in 2011, demanding the reinstatement of free elections, the ability to form opposition parties, and the end of massive state corruption. The protests were sparked by claims of electoral fraud in the 2011 Russian parliamentary elections and were further fueled by Vladimir Putin‘s […]
Buckle up, we’re in for a wild ride. Many of the serious scholars of political history and authoritarian regimes are sounding the alarm bells that, although it is a very very good thing that we got the Trump crime family out of the Oval Office, it is still a very very bad thing for America […]
The digital world is binary: made of 1s and 0s, discrete bits and bytes. The organic world is made pretty much entirely of spectra — a continuum or gradient along which multiple states or options exist. It is fluid and boundaryless in a way that makes the “real” world constructed fundamentally differently from the digital […]
Kompromat is compromising material on a head of state or other important figure; typically used for blackmail purposes. A term derived from the Russian words “ΠΊΠΎΠΌΠΏΡΠΎΠΌΠ΅ΡΠΈΡΡΡΡΠΈΠΉ ΠΌΠ°ΡΠ΅ΡΠΈΠ°Π»” (compromising material), kompramat is a tactic frequently associated with espionage, politics, and business in which sensitive, damaging, or embarrassing information is gathered, kept, or used to influence, control, […]
Exfiltration is the removal or copying of data from one server to another without the knowledge of the owner. In the context of cybersecurity, exfiltration describes the unauthorized transfer of data from a computer or network. This can be data of any type, such as sensitive corporate information, personal identification details, intellectual property, or classified […]
Doxxing is intentionally researching and broadcasting personally identifiable information about an individual with the intent and purpose of having law enforcement called on them for spurious reasons. The doxxing term is derived from “dropping dox” or “documents,” and it refers to the malicious practice of researching, collecting, and publicly disclosing someone’s personal and private information […]
Dezinformatsiya is a term for Russian information warfare. It’s also a Russian term from which the English word “disinformation” is derived. Dezinformatsiya refers to the deliberate spread of false or misleading information with the intent to deceive or manipulate public perception, political discourse, or strategic outcomes. This concept isn’t new; it has historical roots in […]
Extremism is a mentality; a black and white worldview. It’s a willingness to go too far to meet one’s objectives — to violate moral boundaries in pursuit of one’s aims. A political extremist is an individual or group adhering to ideologies that are far removed from the mainstream beliefs of society. These ideologies often promote […]
Regardless of whether or not you agree that slashing spending, fiscal austerity, balanced budgets, and a low federal deficit are good ideas, the fact remains that the Republican Party does not generally live up to its aims of expense reduction and small government. As hard as it is to believe, there are still some people […]
Some of the more interesting bits From Obama‘s State of the Union speech, 2015: President Obamaβs tech-centered State of the Union: full text, and digital rights concerns β Boing Boing. p.s. cool visualization of Twitter mentions during the speech (via srogers @ cartodb)