Zuckerberg is the devil

Hah! I told you he was evil! Read this small NY Times article about Mark Zuckerberg's temptations to possible employees, especially the insightful comment at the end, for proof of his aspirations:

A Walk in the Woods With Mark Zuckerberg

By NICK BILTON

NY Times, July 11, 2011
          You might think a long quiet walk through the woods with Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, is a treat only his closest friends and dearest family get to enjoy. Yet a chummy stroll with one of the richest men in the world is actually reserved for a few select potential Facebook employees.
          Although the hiking path is often the same, through a wooded area of Palo Alto that skirts Stanford University, those invited change each time.
          Several people who have been courted by Mr. Zuckerberg told the same story. The 27-year-old chief executive surprises them with the idea of a walk through the woods. A little startled by the invite, people often agree, and are then led across the Facebook parking lot where they eventually end up hiking along a trail that reaches a Silicon Valley lookout. This is where Mr. Zuckerberg delivers his pitch.
          The individuals who shared these stories asked not to be named as they were asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement with Facebook during the interview process. Facebook did not respond when asked if this was a regular practice by Mr. Zuckerberg when trying to hire high-level employees.
An intimate walk with Facebook’s founder is of course a rarity in the competitive battle to work for the company. Getting a job at Facebook is considered one of the top career moves in Silicon Valley. Potential employees go through a long and arduous interview process that includes an online application, phone interviews and then in-person sessions with more Facebook employees and managers.
          But a handful of rock-star engineers and designers get to leapfrog that entire process.
          A potential employee who took a walk with Mr. Zuckerberg earlier this year said the encounter began with a very unexpected e-mail.
          “I opened my e-mail one morning and there was a message from Mark Zuckerberg. I almost choked on my coffee,” said the person. “He asked me to come down to the Facebook campus in Palo Alto to discuss possibly working for the company.”
          When the visitor arrived, he met Mr. Zuckerberg in his office, and was then immediately whisked away to the wooded trail. More than one potential employee who experienced the same encounter said the entire experience was “pretty disorienting.”
          “Zuckerberg said money wasn’t an object and that if I wanted the job — and why wouldn’t I, he questioned — the paperwork was already ready to go back at the office,” said the person, who ran a small start-up Mr. Zuckerberg was trying to acquire. “The entire experience was totally surreal. I really felt like I was on a date.”
          Another person who was taken on the same walk last year said that when they arrived at the end of the trail, they were confronted with an amazing view of Palo Alto. There, Mr. Zuckerberg stood and explained the technological history of the area.
          “He pointed out Apple’s headquarters, then Hewlett-Packard and a number of other big tech companies,” the individual explained. “Then he pointed to Facebook and said that it would eventually be bigger than all of the companies he had just mentioned, and that if I joined the company, I could be a part of it all.”

Here is the most recommended comment of this story by Kevin Koshy:

Hmm... Reminds me of a story in the bible when the devil took Jesus to a high place and showed all the kingdoms of the world, telling Jesus he would give them all to him only if he could bow down before him.

US Military using 'Internet in a Suitcase' to overthrow dictators

Clever, clever! Seizing the day, a US military project is placing 'Internet in a suitcase' in the hands of civilians living in brutal dictatorships in an attempt to aid them in their protest movements. With a combination of wireless laptops linked to secure cell phones, none of which are hooked to the government's systems, they are placing at the disposal of democracy-minded civilians, a way to communicate with each other that cannot be blocked by the host country. Here's how it works:

Read more details in the NY Times article. The military saw the advantage while in Afghanistan when they noticed that the Taliban would shut down the cell-phone system at night to run their own plans. They started placing cell-phone towers within their own protected bases to ensure that people could communicate.

This is a big step up from Voice of America where, instead of us beaming American propaganda across an Iron Curtain, we are leaking the Internet across these country borders to allow locals see what's happening here. Then they can organize their own protests using the existing social media without interference.

But will we deploy this within the brutal dictatorships that are our ostensible allies: Saudi Arabia and Bahrain?
Doubt it!

Facebook

Cast of Rent

I remember when my wife took me to the Broadway play 'Rent' and I sat there stewing in my seat. The only character I could connect with the 'evil' landlord who wanted to kick out all the low-lifes and drug users squatting rent-free in the building he OWNED so that he could sell it.

I'm getting deja vu now with the popularity of 'The Social Network'. Am I really supposed to root for the slimy thief who stole the Winklevosses idea while pretending to work for them? Just because they are tall, great-looking, aryan, olympic athletes with rich parents? Sorry but I can't.

Reading the story in the Times reveals that the Winklevosses have a legitmate claim to a settlement, especially since they sold their competing site to Facebook as part of the settlement. But Zuckerberg screwed them again during the settlement by lying about the company's valuation when converting their settlement dollars into shares.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

...according to court documents, the parties agreed to settle for a sum of $65 million. The Winklevosses then asked whether they could receive part of it in Facebook shares and agreed to a price of $35.90 for each share, based on an investment Microsoft made nearly five months earlier that pegged Facebook’s total value at $15 billion. Under that valuation, they received 1.25 million shares, putting the stock portion of the agreement at $45 million.
Yet days before the settlement, Facebook’s board signed off on an expert’s valuation that put a price of $8.88 on its shares. Facebook did not disclose that valuation, which would have given the shares a worth of $11 million. The ConnectU founders contend that Facebook’s omission was deceptive and amounted to securities fraud.

Read the whole article here:

Times Article about the Winklevoss lawsuit

Watching the movie made me sicker and sicker as I saw this jerk screwing people over, one after the other. I know that the story about the Winklevosses was true from the articles I read and the interviews I've seen. The co-founder, Eduardo Saverin seems to own a 5% stake in the company now, down from the 30% he owned at the founding. That story hurt the most, watching Zuckerberg screw over his only friend for money. I don't know if his motivation was jealousy over the popularity of his friend as the movie suggests.

Fro those who want to see more, here is a video of the Winklevosses explaining their argument with Zuckerberg:

And here is a video of the creep himself. Notice how he almost never blinks his eyes? That must be a true sign of an evil heart.

Finally, for a lighter view on the story, here is Saturday Night Live's spoof of Zuckerberg:

Social Networks Fueling Protests

When I first read about flash mobs back in 2003 I was amused. But hidden in the article was a question of whether this technology could be used for protests. Seattle's anti-globalization protests were one of the first to use it. I'm sure lots of repressive governments saw the potential at the same time and started preparing. NY Times 2003 flash mob article

But the biggest show of using social networks to protest a dictatorship is still going on in Egypt.

Wael Ghonim, a Google marketing man, just got out of an Egyptian jail after 10 days of blindfolded imprisonment. He admitted to being one of the people who set up the Facebook page protesting the death of Khaled Said, who was beaten to death by Egptian police while in custody. No wonder Egypt has shut down Facebook and Twitter.

There is a new type of leader emerging. Reluctant, perhaps, but still powerful. Let's see how this works out.

Video of Wael Ghonim discussing the protests:

Watch him here addressing the crowds. Not much of a rabble-rouser but he brought the crowd together. To what end?

Here's an article about Wael Ghonim setting up the facebook page: NY Times article about facebook page

And here are some of my favorite flash mobs. Enjoy!

Hallelujah Chorus:

Grand Central Freeze: