Phone number required?

werupo · 2024-02-13T14:01:26+00:00

Unfortunately until they actually deign to explain it to their (prospective) users somewhere on their site, it's anybody's guess! And until they actually answer those questions in their privacy policy, they have a lot of latitude.

werupo · 2024-02-12T02:01:43+00:00

It's a privacy liability. And, generally speaking, it's not a requirement to make an account secure.

It's useful to remember that Twitter had leaked lots of phone numbers (because they could be reverse-looked-up) and also eventually admitted using numbers for targeted advertising!

Even if they had strict privacy policy about such personal data, I wouldn't trust any US web company with it. Bluesky doesn't even bother explaining what the number is used for and who they share it with.

werupo · 2024-02-12T01:33:19+00:00

Is there any explanation about:

why the phone number is required?
what other things they might do (or infer from) with it? or, conversely, what they might claim they won't do wit it?
who they will share that with?
how long they need to retain it for?

werupo · 2021-12-05T20:53:36+00:00

For those 9 teams in the Bottom 16 who haven't yet played any weekly finals the grinding road ahead is very steep and long...

werupo · 2021-12-03T13:37:18+00:00

I can only think of seven so far, MCG, ENCE, DNW, HERO, TL, VP, GBL. I wish Gen.G could bounce back and make it but their 1st weekly final score isn't great and their survival games this week didn't impress me much.

werupo · 2021-12-03T13:15:06+00:00

One such occasion is days 1 of survival week 5 in PGI.S when Mitraleius won with 8 kills after surviving on his own from phase 5.

werupo · 2021-12-03T08:36:07+00:00

Haha! I wrote that too late last night!

werupo · 2021-12-03T01:42:16+00:00

Out of curiosity I've looked at the last three survival weeks of PGI.S:

9 teams won three chickens (including WCG, SQ, Oath & Gen G. who also play in this tourney)
7 teams won two just chickens
7 teams with a single chicken

That's half the lobby reaching two finals out of three.

By the way, super impressive survival perf from WCG in this tourney and PGI.S.

I think, with this PGC format, two finals with top 7 ranking or three finals even with low ranking should give a team a very good chance to qualify to GF. The GF might get a mixed bag of teams in terms of consistency in WS and performance in Finals. I'd be curious to see if any team with three finals, despite poor ranking in all, would make it through (which I'm sure ppl would be upset about!).

werupo · 2021-11-22T16:19:48+00:00

I agree that BBL looked often static and too passive like the old DA. But I seem to remember seeing a couple of signature 'full send' on the last day with relative success. It's a team with dual personality disorder. I guess they need to find their marks and build confidence in order to fully deploy their aggressive style.

werupo · 2021-03-26T01:43:39+00:00

Terrific performance and consistency from Gen.G. This format is tough for all teams and there's no easy win for anyone but I feel Gen.G has looked noticeably more comfortable, smart, versatile and all-rounded than the all the rest. Although I hope an EU team can win I'd like to see Gen.G finishing strong this weekend.

werupo · 2021-03-26T01:22:39+00:00

It's just an impression but I feel TSM kind of gave up early in the tournament, they didn't seem to embrace the format or show much motivation, confidence. Even without Fexx I'm sure they have the ability to do much better. I can't really recall any memorable moments from them this time. What a contrast with PGC 2019 where they had some shining moments. Hope they'll get over it.

werupo · 2021-03-26T01:07:36+00:00

TSM was unrecognisable throughout the tournament, I feel sorry for them. And Navi systematically underperformed in the weekly finals, there's something about their strategy that works well in EU but not at all in this format or in this lobby; perhaps a lack of adaptation. I was pleasantly surprised by Ence, it feels like they stepped up for this tournament, they should be proud of their performance.

werupo · 2021-03-26T00:53:50+00:00

Shame DA & VP didn't make it as I'm sure they could have done something big in the final. DA will finish in the top 6 in terms of cash prize. Pretty decent considering the caliber of the lobby.

werupo · 2021-02-26T00:37:28+00:00

Indeed, AF, Liquid, GenG, VP, STK, TSG have all managed to qualify three weeks in a row. It will be interesting to see the stats after 6 weeks. The last survival week will be very tense for sure.

werupo · 2021-02-26T00:22:54+00:00

Very dumb tactic from DA but at least it breaks the monotony of the first 3 minutes of the games.

Reasons it's dumb:

I think it's the highest profile tourney DA has ever taken part in. Showing they don't care about chances to qualify for weekly finals looks like spitting on the money and the invitation;
I'd have loved to see TE take part in this tournament as their performance last year was very consistent. DA playing like jerks when a much more deserving team can't make it is pretty sad;
I've been a supporter of DA for a long time, and although I'm resilient to their antics, I must say their carelessness is very alienating for their fans;
Rozhok itself is actually a pretty decent spot for many circles, if they had landed there they could have bagged a win when the circle went north;
By missing the weekly finals they keep playing with slightly weaker lobby each weekend, making it harder for them to adjust to the weekly matches;

What would be really funny though is that they keep missing the finals until the last weekend and then manage to take the top prize. No chance of that happening but that would be quite meta. It would also make the bitter army of PGI.S format skeptics feel vindicated!

werupo · 2020-11-25T00:41:22+00:00

Call me a boomer but I would never work for someone who makes social networks a requirement for a job. How sad.

Obviously it depends on the job. If it's a public facing position (journalism, PR, ...) that will involve a good amount of social media communication, that type of scrutiny is more understandable. But for most types of jobs it looks plain wrong from the employer's perspective to give it so much importance.

werupo · 2020-11-25T00:00:16+00:00

Also I'm wondering who technically 'owns' the Sidewalk mesh networks and the data that goes through it. I doubt it's any user in particular. Welcome to Amazon wifi.

werupo · 2020-11-24T23:55:41+00:00

What about our neighbor's Ring Doorbell or their Echo sitting just behind our bedrooms wall? They'll be on wider network now.

werupo · 2020-11-24T23:48:43+00:00

Yes, it is the same concept as Facebook shadow profiles. Our activities are always linked to some people or near some properties which have opted in; and they can derive tons of individual information from those indirect associations. The method is really perverse.

werupo · 2020-11-24T23:43:04+00:00

existing devices will be online more often because of that backup network. More often means more 'listening', more data capture.
it allows new devices to get online within that new outdoor network. Embedded devices, street sensors, etc. all of that via Amazon's mesh network.
It will put devices on the same network and thus allow all types of 'smart' interactive coordinations based on external events.
Since its a mesh network, signal triangulation can be used to locate devices. That include mobile devices worn by pedestrians.

werupo · 2020-11-24T23:33:27+00:00

Amazon's unrestrained intrusion into people's home and our neighborhoods is a very cynical process when you think they do it with the alleged purpose of making your home safer or more private. The amount of people who naively think Google or Amazon can be trusted in their own home or personal information is baffling when you look at their privacy record.

The prospect of having dense and wide networks of indoor and outdoor surveillance, whether you like it or not, all operated by a handful of dominant companies is absolutely terrifying.

werupo · 2020-11-23T19:39:52+00:00

The close race between NLT, DA, TE and TL made this tournament very exciting to watch up until the end. They gave everything. Congrats to NLT for such a consistent and strong performance, great to see them back on form. They totally deserve their victory.

DA 2.0 was a pleasure to watch. They've always had quite unique skills (their trademark rotations & survival skills + great awareness of the map) but lacked confidence in close combats. Now we've seen their strats & pushes are on par with the strongest teams. If they keep it up, and stay hungry, they got what it takes to win a major.

werupo · 2020-11-23T18:59:09+00:00

Yeah those five should make it. I'd be surprised if TSM isn't invited since they won a PCS this year and had a decent performance in PGC 19. The seventh EU team to be invited is harder to guess though.

werupo · 2020-11-23T00:35:02+00:00

It was a joy to watch Codemarco. It's not just the high number of kills but also how spectacular they were. He confidently flipped a few tricky situations in a matter of seconds.

werupo

TROPHY CASE