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Mr. Stallman, is that you? --- One more reason Google sucks: Google recently deleted hundreds of videos of the war in Syria. Potential evidence of war crimes

Mr. Stallman, is that you? --- One more reason Google sucks: Google recently deleted hundreds of videos of the war in Syria. Potential evidence of war crimes erased. Original uploaders may be dead. I don't think some tech people realize the consequences of their decisions.

tgarma1234 9y ago
For those that don't get the joke: https://gimletmedia.com/episode/106-is-that-you-kd/ https://gimletmedia.com/episode/106-is-that-you-kd/
- TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
  I can't imagine listening to the audio, but reading the transcript is nauseating due to the frequent occurrence of the work like.
  - welly 9y ago
    197 occurrences of the word like. This particular section of the transcript annoyed me the most. --- He’s fired. And becomes like basically a celebrity for certain parts of like the right. And they were kind of like… Like this is not what he was necessarily saying about himself, but for them, it’s like… He’s like this perfect symbol of like the qualified, brilliant, genius coder who’s the best person for the job, whatever his race or gender happen to be, who said one reasonable thing and like got fired because of political correctness.
    - TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
      That's the paragraph that led me to hitting the back button.
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  That couldn't possibly be the source of this joke, so why this particular link? (Also, frankly, this interview doesn't exactly present its participants as the sharpest tools in the shed.)
  - tgarma1234 9y ago
    The comments that followed my comment are the reason I wish it was possible to simply delete a ycombinator/hacker news profile. It's an entertaining episode from a show I enjoy. Apparently, there are no other fans of the show here. Very sorry.
    - TeMPOraL 9y ago
      You're entitled to your tastes; just because no other fans of the show chimed in, doesn't mean you need to feel sorry for posting it (though some explanation of relevance to the topic would be appreciated). So don't worry; in a day nobody will remember this subthread anyway :).
      - tgarma1234 9y ago
        It builds up over time with a slow drip drip drip. Just the constant soul destroying pointlessness of socializing on the internet though comment boards. Anyways, I googled it and no it is not possible to delete a hacker news account. I successfully disabled reddit, facebook, twitter and linkedin though. So, this is the last outpost of an abysmal time on the web. Thanks everyone. I am out.
- tzahola 9y ago
  Wtf is this?
worldsayshi 9y ago
> Google recently deleted hundreds of videos of the war in Syria Wow, that is truly evil. Do you have a source on this? Edit: found article about it: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/world/middleeast/syria-youtube-videos-isis.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/world/middleeast/syria-yo...
- Cthulhu_ 9y ago
  > Wow, that is truly evil. Arguably. Youtube is a video hosting site, it's not a political platform and has no obligation to host content it doesn't deem suitable for their platform. Those videos should be sent to news agencies, (inter)national archives, the UN, war crime tribunals, etc instead (or in addition to) "entertainment" video hosting sites.
  - ethics_gradient 9y ago
    Sure, in theory... In the end you either educate the users if you can, or try to make the big platforms more accepting of this, or both. There is no perfect solution. Being an "entertainment site" isn't a good excuse.
  - digi_owl 9y ago
    The likely reason why they ended up on Youtube was because every last Android phone (and a fair few other phones) have Youtube bundled, complete with a one button upload. In the spur of the moment, in particular in a warzone, the proper place to store something is the last thing on one's mind.
  - hwillis 9y ago
    They are under no obligation to host the videos, but they can't just delete them. It's irresponsible, immoral and unethical. By parallel, misprision of felony is a crime in the US: > Whoever, having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony cognizable by a court of the United States, conceals and does not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both. There is a moral imperative created when someone else is giving you these records. It's like someone asking you to call 911. You don't have to go out looking for emergencies to call 911 about, but you do have to deal with it when one is dropped in your lap. In this case "dealing with it" just means retaining a copy and making it available on some terms.

tgarma1234 9y ago

For those that don't get the joke: https://gimletmedia.com/episode/106-is-that-you-kd/ https://gimletmedia.com/episode/106-is-that-you-kd/

TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
I can't imagine listening to the audio, but reading the transcript is nauseating due to the frequent occurrence of the work like.
- welly 9y ago
  197 occurrences of the word like. This particular section of the transcript annoyed me the most. --- He’s fired. And becomes like basically a celebrity for certain parts of like the right. And they were kind of like… Like this is not what he was necessarily saying about himself, but for them, it’s like… He’s like this perfect symbol of like the qualified, brilliant, genius coder who’s the best person for the job, whatever his race or gender happen to be, who said one reasonable thing and like got fired because of political correctness.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
    That's the paragraph that led me to hitting the back button.
TeMPOraL 9y ago
That couldn't possibly be the source of this joke, so why this particular link? (Also, frankly, this interview doesn't exactly present its participants as the sharpest tools in the shed.)
- tgarma1234 9y ago
  The comments that followed my comment are the reason I wish it was possible to simply delete a ycombinator/hacker news profile. It's an entertaining episode from a show I enjoy. Apparently, there are no other fans of the show here. Very sorry.
  - TeMPOraL 9y ago
    You're entitled to your tastes; just because no other fans of the show chimed in, doesn't mean you need to feel sorry for posting it (though some explanation of relevance to the topic would be appreciated). So don't worry; in a day nobody will remember this subthread anyway :).
    - tgarma1234 9y ago
      It builds up over time with a slow drip drip drip. Just the constant soul destroying pointlessness of socializing on the internet though comment boards. Anyways, I googled it and no it is not possible to delete a hacker news account. I successfully disabled reddit, facebook, twitter and linkedin though. So, this is the last outpost of an abysmal time on the web. Thanks everyone. I am out.
tzahola 9y ago
Wtf is this?

worldsayshi 9y ago

> Google recently deleted hundreds of videos of the war in Syria Wow, that is truly evil. Do you have a source on this? Edit: found article about it: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/world/middleeast/syria-youtube-videos-isis.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/world/middleeast/syria-yo...

Cthulhu_ 9y ago
> Wow, that is truly evil. Arguably. Youtube is a video hosting site, it's not a political platform and has no obligation to host content it doesn't deem suitable for their platform. Those videos should be sent to news agencies, (inter)national archives, the UN, war crime tribunals, etc instead (or in addition to) "entertainment" video hosting sites.
- ethics_gradient 9y ago
  Sure, in theory... In the end you either educate the users if you can, or try to make the big platforms more accepting of this, or both. There is no perfect solution. Being an "entertainment site" isn't a good excuse.
- digi_owl 9y ago
  The likely reason why they ended up on Youtube was because every last Android phone (and a fair few other phones) have Youtube bundled, complete with a one button upload. In the spur of the moment, in particular in a warzone, the proper place to store something is the last thing on one's mind.
- hwillis 9y ago
  They are under no obligation to host the videos, but they can't just delete them. It's irresponsible, immoral and unethical. By parallel, misprision of felony is a crime in the US: > Whoever, having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony cognizable by a court of the United States, conceals and does not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both. There is a moral imperative created when someone else is giving you these records. It's like someone asking you to call 911. You don't have to go out looking for emergencies to call 911 about, but you do have to deal with it when one is dropped in your lap. In this case "dealing with it" just means retaining a copy and making it available on some terms.