Why social media shaming is getting out of hand, President Obama's Cyber Security Summit at Stanford, the Oscars head outdoors for an 11-day event.
President Obama meets with tech CEOs at cybersecurity conference
At Stanford in Northern California, CEOs from the country's top tech companies, private security contractors and President Obama are in Northern California talking about cybersecurity.
, Co-Director of Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation, spoke with Tess Vigeland on Take Two. She explained that, as cybersecurity threats have grown in severity and importance, it's become more necessary for companies to treat online threats more seriously. That's why so many people are showing up at the event.
For Obama, the visit was planned more than a month ago, but the need became even more urgent as news broke last week of yet another massive hack - this time at health insurance provider Anthem.
Earlier this week, the Obama administration announced a new intelligence unit to track online data breaches. It's called the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center and its goal is to bring together cybersecurity information from different government agencies like the NSA and the FBI so that the data can be utilized better.
At the conference at Stanford, today, the discussion is focused on how to initiate better cooperation between the private sector and the government when it comes to sharing information about things like cyber attacks and security breaches.
"This affects potentially, Americans all across our country and the companies that are providing a lot of the basic infrastructure that the federal government doesn't provide, has to be partners in this effort..."
That's according to Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to the President, who spoke with Alex Cohen on Take Two.
"We think that it's a great opportunity for companies to voluntarily participate. It's in their self interest.... Speed is of the essence, so as soon as we have any indication there's been a breach, we want to make sure that we have open dialogues... the first step is to try to prevent it before it happens... Second, if it does happen, we want to make sure that we address it and that we do so in a way that has the least amount of damage to either the businesses or certainly their customers. And we want to make sure that the customers are alerted to what's going on as well, because if there's a breach that effects their information that the customers be a part of that as well."
But not everyone Silicon Valley company has gotten behind the Obama administration's cybersecurity policies. Google and Facebook come to mind. Neither of their CEOs showed up to the conference today. Both have clashed with the Obama administration over surveillance policies that came to light in the Snowden leaks.
"Is there a natural tension? Sure there is, but the President says, "Look, we can't ignore it. It's a delicate balance, but let's engage and work together and see what we can do to both protect our country, preserve peoples privacy rights and liberties, but make sure that we keep America safe..."
The new Facebook feature that lets you manage your digital afterlife
There are so many web profiles of the deceased that are still viewable to the general public that websites have been created catering to a morbid fascination with digital death. Facebook, the world’s most popular social media site, already offers the option of memorializing the page of the departed, requiring family members to include a link to an obituary with their request.
But as of yesterday, Facebook took a step toward digital estate planning, announcing a new feature that allows users to appoint an electronic executor called a “Legacy Contact.” The legacy contact would be able to take over the user’s page, should he or she meet an untimely demise.
Why does social media so often go from sharing to shaming?
Open up your favorite social media site on just about any given day and here's what you'll find: news, cute animal videos, photos of last night's dinner... and someone being pilloried for an errant tweet.
Author Jon Ronson outlines the problem in a powerful piece published in this weekend's New York Times magazine.
But it's not hard to find examples just from the last few days. Actress Uma Thurman was shamed over her appearance at a red carpet event, and director Kevin Smith was ridiculed for posting a photo of himself hugging and grieving for his dying dog.
So what is wrong with people? Why do so many express so much glee in taking people down whether they deserve it or not?
Aaron Mishara, professor of clinical psychology at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, explains public shaming can actually be rewarding on a psychological and chemical level.
"There is a purpose to this public shaming," Mishara says. "We make a downward comparison with others less fortunate than ourselves, those outside our social group to protect our self-esteem. That makes us feel somewhat better and offers a sense of reassurance."
And while public shaming is nothing new, social media has made it extremely easy to spread.
As The Emily Post Institute's Lizzie Post explains, "It used to be just maybe in your social circle or maybe just to the few people in your town that this social shaming would happen, and now we gossip globally."
Posting something on a social media platform, offensive or not, makes it "public and permanent," Post adds. "It's going to follow you for as long as someone can research it."
But just as public shaming is "hard-wired" into us, Mishara says, so is empathy. And that can offer a potential solution. Engaging in our empathetic side and taking the time to see things from the other person's perspective, "sort of balances this sort of other attacking side."
Post recommends that when you get the urge to public shame online, "it's always good for us to remember, 'Boy, I'm not perfect, I would hate for all my biggest mistakes to be out there publicly and have everyone constantly bringing them back up.'"
Another good thing to remember, Post says: "Don't post anything [on social media] that you wouldn't post in your town square for everyone to see."
Wal-Mart and Mexico team up to improve farmworker conditions
Two months after an investigative series published in the LA Times took an in-depth look at Mexican farm workers struggling to survive in labor camps, Wal-Mart and Mexico’s government are joining forces to improve the lives of the country’s workers.
Mexico’s secretary of agriculture Enrique Martinez y Martinez unveiled a new initiative Thursday that aims to advance worker access to housing, schools and health care.
Richard Marosi and a cameraman traveled with these farm workers. He tells Take Two that workers were “essentially trapped in these barbed-wire fenced labor camps, often in very bad conditions, rodent-infested, lacking water … They’re trapped because sometimes their wages are withheld or they fall into debt at company stores and they’re not able to leave until they pay off that debt.“
Since the release of his series, conditions have started to improve at a few labor camps, but Marosi says that the newly founded coalition still has a long way to go. “I think Wal-Mart is trying to improve conditions without actually spending a lot of money on it. It’s not clear exactly what steps they’re gonna take and there’s been tremendous resistance from the industry in the past ... because some of the ventures cost money.... “
Historic Hollyhock House reopens after 3 years
Hollyhock House, one of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpieces and his first project in Los Angeles, reopens Friday to the public after three years of major renovation and nearly a century from when it first was built.
Commissioned by oil heiress Aline Barnsdall in 1919, Hollyhock House is part of what Barnsdall imagined as cultural arts center for the performing arts.
"Aline Barnsdall was a woman's woman," said Jeffrey Herr, curator at Hollyhock House, during a tour of the grounds. "She was a feminist before there were feminists and she was quite an assertive personality."
In addition to the home, Barnsdall envisioned building a theater, director's residence, artists dormitory and cinema, but due to financial constraints and artistic differences, that dream never came to fruition.
Though short of Barnsdall's original plan, the home that was constructed is unlike anything else else in the world, said Herr.
"What you see when you come to visit the residence that Wright created for her [Barnsdall] is not like a house you could ever imagine. It is monumental. It looks like a temple. It dominates the top of a hill from where you could actually see the Pacific Ocean on a clear day," he said.
For one night only, the city of Los Angeles and the Barnsdall Art Park Foundation will open Hollyhock House for self-guided tours for 24 hours, starting 4:00 p.m. Friday. That means the house will be open through the night to offer visitors a rare glimpse at the space after dark.
"Most people never get a chance to see Hollyhock House at night and it becomes a very different house in the evening, especially after dark," said Herr.
WHAT: Open House @ Hollyhock House (admission fee waived through 11 a.m. Saturday)
WHEN: Starting at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13 through Saturday, Feb. 14.
WHERE: 4800 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles, California 90027
For more information on Hollyhock House, click here.
Author Kathleen Thorne-Thomsen talks 'Frank Lloyd Wright for Kids'
If you're planning to bring the whole family to the reopening of Hollyhock House in Barnsdall Park this weekend, what's a good way to spark your children's interest in the historic home and its famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright?
Author Kathleen Thorne-Thomsen tells more about teaching the American designer's life and ideas to children.
Todd Oldham on Modernism Week and his hero Alexander Girard
The 10th annual Modernism Week is underway right now in Palm Springs. On Saturday, designer Todd Oldham will deliver the event's keynote speech about one of his heroes, artist and designer Alexander Girard.
California, Nevada places of growth for solar industry
According to the Solar Foundation, California is king when it comes to solar industry jobs, and Nevada is also experiencing a big uptick in growth.
'Oscar Goes Outdoors' celebrates Hollywood's famous mountains
The night of the golden statues is a little over a week away. The favorites for Best Picture: "Birdman" and "Boyhood." But there's always a chance of an upset, with some betting on "American Sniper," starring Bradley Cooper.
The film is set in Iraq, but, like so many other movies, it has California to thank for its impressive backdrop. Some of the scenes were filmed at Paramount Ranch, Leo Carrillo Beach and the Blue Cloud Movie Ranch in the Santa Clarita area.
This weekend the National Park Service celebrates the majestic movie mountains of Hollywood with "Oscar Goes Outdoors."
The full-day event will feature talks from Hollywood historians and conclude with a movie location walk. Harry Medved, one of the volunteers behind the event and co-author of Location Filming in Los Angeles joins the show to share the secret sites of Oscar-winning and nominated movies.
Quentin Tarantino's gritty, western, "Django Unchained," was also filmed in California. The opening scene of slaves being led through wilderness took place at Lone Pine in Central California. You can see the clip below.
Some of the sites volunteers will be highlighting include:
- Malibu Creek State Park (How Green Was My Valley, Planet Of The Apes, M*A*S*H)
- King Gillette Ranch (White Cliffs Of Dover)
- Paramount Ranch (Reds, American Sniper)
- Leo Carrillo Beach (Inception, Letters From Iwo Jima, American Sniper)
- Lasky Mesa/Upper Las Virgenes Canyon (Django Unchained)
David Cross wants you to pay-what-you-want to see his film
The crowdsourcing site Kickstarter has been used to raise money for everything from building an iPhone dock to the most expensive bowl of potato salad ever - that one raised some eyebrows - and more than $55,000.
Recently, actor David Cross, of Arrested Development and Mr. Show fame, took to the site to help distribute an indie film he made called "Hits."
Cross asked for $100,000 on Kickstarter, to bring his film to about twenty different cities across the US, where fans could see the film on the big screen - and pay whatever they wanted. The money raised would cover the cost of renting a theater, staffing it, and marketing the pay-what-you-want screening in each of those cities.
The funds would also go toward bringing "Hits" to fans via BitTorrent - the peer-to-peer file sharing service. There, folks can download the film for whatever amount they choose to pay.
Cross says he got the idea to put the film out this way after he went to Sundance. "Hits" was well-received there, but "the plans that the distributors had for us were pretty lackluster and very typical for an indie film - show it in New York for a week, LA for a week...and then Apple Itunes and DVD in about three months. And that's fine, but it doesn't get the movie out to the fans," Cross said in his Kickstarter pitch - fans of comic actors like Michael Sera, Matt Walsh and Amy Sedaris - all of whom appear in the film.
Well, the pitch worked. Cross raised over $100,000.
"Hits" screened in theaters across the country on February 12th, and fans paid as much as they saw fit to view it. And starting February 13th, fans can snag the movie on BitTorrent too.
"Hits" is a dark comedy about a guy in upstate New York named Dave Stuben, played by Walsh. Stuben becomes the bane of his local city council due to his long-winded rants at public meetings. But, at its core, the film is really about the nature of fame in the age of social media.
Watch the trailer:
David Cross spoke with Take Two host Alex Cohen about what inspired him to write this particular story for his directorial debut.
If you'd like to see the film on the big screen, you can also see "Hits" in select theaters across the US - for regular ticket price - beginning February 13. Click here for locations and showtimes.
Valentine's weekend on the cheap: Romantic strolls and an undie run
It’s Friday and love is in the air - it's Valentine's weekend. And whether you're single or spoken for, there's plenty to do in Southern California.
KPCC’s social media producer Kristen Lepore joins Take Two every Friday with some cool things to do on the cheap.
Highlights this weekend: Take your Valentine for a sickeningly sweet - and cheap - stroll through the South Coast Botanic Garden, swing a bat at a piñata representation of your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend at Bird's Cafe in Hollywood, or make a run through WeHo in your undies. Seriously. Happy Valentine's Day!
To read the full weekend guide of fun and almost-free things to do, click here.
Chef Zoe Nathan and her husband Josh Loeb mix work and love on Valentine's
It's Valentine's Day this weekend, and people who are into the holiday are buying flowers and candy, making dinner reservations or maybe plans for a romantic home-cooked meal.
But what do chefs and restaurant owners do for Valentine's Day? How do they make the day special when they're working to please table after table full of customers looking for a special meal of their own?
To find out, we asked Zoe Nathan and Josh Loeb, husband and wife co-owners of Huckleberry Café, Rustic Canyon Wine Bar, Milo & Olive and Sweet Rose Creamery about how they mark Valentine's Day as a couple and as restaurant owners.
One way they do it? With personalized heart-shaped cookies:
http://instagram.com/p/y7UMhyOOLT/?modal=trueTo hear the full interview with Zoe Nathan and Josh Loeb, click the link above.