Linked by David Adams on Mon 27th Apr 2009 22:59 UTC
The internet has heralded in a whole new era of citizen engagement and the latest innovations in social networking have just intensified the enthusiasm for creating a "virtual town square" where people can speak up, join together, and make things happen. And that's really happening! We're using the net to organize politically, communicate with other people who share our interests, and connect with long lost friends. But what about when people use the strengths of the network to undermine the collaborative process? You get tyranny of the minority. Update: Read below for an update on the bike-naming contest.
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RE: Online polls are not exactly polls...
by EsoX on Tue 28th Apr 2009 10:03
in reply to "Online polls are not exactly polls..."
Member since:2005-08-21
Hmm, I don't know if I agree with that. In Sweden where (some) banks are in league with the government and responsible for issuing electronic "identity cards" I would argue that statistics from polls where the participants sign with their "electronic identity card" is reliable, given that all other parameters are identical (or adjusted) to match a "real world poll". The only major source of error would be that a certain group of people tend to acquire an electronic "id". However given Swedish GINI and literacy coefficients that would not be very relevant.
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As an explanatory note everyone in Sweden (from birth) has a "personnummer" (think "social security number" in US) that follows the person through his/her whole life. Opening a bank account requires valid identification complete with "personnummer". Getting a electronic "identity card" requires an bank account.
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/25/13 0:45 UTC
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 23:59 UTC
The Tizen Greek Community has some screenshots of a very recent build of Tizen running on a Samsung GT-i8800. It looks wholly unremarkable.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 22:33 UTC
Joint statement to The Next Web from Microsoft and Google: "Microsoft and YouTube are working together to update the new YouTube for Windows Phone app to enable compliance with YouTube's API terms of service, including enabling ads, in the coming weeks. Microsoft will replace the existing YouTube app in Windows Phone Store with the previous version during this time." Good to know these children stopped acting like little pricks. Can we have full Google support in Windows 8 now, please?
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Yahoo is acquiring Tumblr, the microblogging and social networking website, for $1.1 billion USD. Tumblr offers little revenue but lots of eyeballs if Yahoo can monetarize them. Now Yahoo is bidding for Hulu, the streaming video service. After years of ineffective responses while Google, Facebook, and others took large chunks of the online advertising market, Yahoo is fighting back. Can Yahoo reignite the momentum it had at the turn of the century? What do you think?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 14:44 UTC
"Sources have described iOS 7 as 'black, white, and flat all over'. This refers to the dropping of heavy textures and the addition of several new black and white user interface elements." I couldn't be happier.
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 22:04 UTC
"Google is facing a new antitrust probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission into whether the company is using its leadership in the online display-advertising market to illegally curb competition, people familiar with the matter said." Sucks to be Google today, apparently.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 22:01 UTC
"In the midst of the major press blitz surrounding its annual I/O Conference, Google dropped some unfortunate news about its instant messaging plans. In several places around the web, the company is replacing the existing 'Talk' platform with a new one called 'Hangouts' that sharply diminishes support for the open messaging protocol known as XMPP (or sometimes informally Jabber), and also removes the option to disable the archiving of all chat communications. These changes represent a switch from open protocols to proprietary ones, and a clear step backward for many users." That's why I always say: only suckers trust companies.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 17:52 UTC
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/22/13 22:23 UTC
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Member since:
2006-02-10
I think the crux of your article was that online polls are so unreliable they are basically garbage. So, if you really want to know what people think (or want), I suggest you trust an experienced statistician more than a web designer!
Everytime I hear about an "online poll" I know it's either a misguided attempt or plain propaganda. Real statistics are hard and obsessed about little details.
The other part, about some people being more influential than they would deserve otherwise due to their popularity... I think this is the way things have been for better or worse since antiquity, at least in (semi)free societies.