Blippy does that!
April 23, 2010 9:24 AM Subscribe
Want to share your credit card purchases with your friends on facebook? Blippy does that. Want to share your credit card numbers with everyone? Blippy also does that.
This is truly hilarious.
I think I'm in love.
posted by aramaic at 9:28 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
I think I'm in love.
posted by aramaic at 9:28 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
The stupidity of people on facebook is confirmed by this....
posted by HuronBob at 9:28 AM on April 23, 2010
posted by HuronBob at 9:28 AM on April 23, 2010
Oh dear oh dear....
posted by lemonfridge at 9:30 AM on April 23, 2010
posted by lemonfridge at 9:30 AM on April 23, 2010
The startup, based in Palo Alto, Calif., allows people to link their credit cards and e-commerce accounts to its site, so those people can share with friends and strangers everything they buy
Just that description alone sounds like such a horrible, pointless idea without even jumping to the fear of having card numbers revealed. I feel like anybody who reads the above and thinks "hey, great, sign me up" deserves whatever they get.
posted by anazgnos at 9:31 AM on April 23, 2010 [22 favorites]
Just that description alone sounds like such a horrible, pointless idea without even jumping to the fear of having card numbers revealed. I feel like anybody who reads the above and thinks "hey, great, sign me up" deserves whatever they get.
posted by anazgnos at 9:31 AM on April 23, 2010 [22 favorites]
oh, pud. Can you do nothing right?
posted by GuyZero at 9:31 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by GuyZero at 9:31 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
This is one of those situations where the risks seem so obvious and the benefits seem so nonexistent that it's hard to understand the motivations of people who signed up for the service in the first place. At what point did thousands of people look at Blippy and say, 'Yeah, that seems like a good idea'?
posted by him at 9:32 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by him at 9:32 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
And lo, the web was filled with the data packets of thousands of Facebook users updating their status to 'In overdraft'.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 9:34 AM on April 23, 2010 [10 favorites]
posted by Hardcore Poser at 9:34 AM on April 23, 2010 [10 favorites]
Who wants people knowing their credit card purchases? Jesus fuck people. I can see no situation where this would be desirable.
Also, if you're trusting a service called "Blippy" with your credit card information I think perhaps you get what's coming to you.
posted by graventy at 9:35 AM on April 23, 2010 [5 favorites]
Also, if you're trusting a service called "Blippy" with your credit card information I think perhaps you get what's coming to you.
posted by graventy at 9:35 AM on April 23, 2010 [5 favorites]
A personal web presence created entirely through commerce. Good job, late capitalism!
*hides gross of Tena Lady under the stairs*
posted by mippy at 9:36 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
*hides gross of Tena Lady under the stairs*
posted by mippy at 9:36 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
The upside of this mistake is that this essentially kills any good reputation that Blippy and similar services might have once had.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:36 AM on April 23, 2010 [10 favorites]
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:36 AM on April 23, 2010 [10 favorites]
Don't be a pussy, Blippy seems legit.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:39 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by uncleozzy at 9:39 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Pud's second to most recent tweet: New York Times, "For Web’s New Wave, Sharing Details Is the Point"
Unfortunate.
posted by mhum at 9:39 AM on April 23, 2010 [3 favorites]
Unfortunate.
posted by mhum at 9:39 AM on April 23, 2010 [3 favorites]
Yeah, but, see, if you had a Blippy account, any unauthorized purchases would be apparent immediately, yes? The problem sort of almost solves itself!
posted by Sys Rq at 9:39 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Sys Rq at 9:39 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
I don't understand how it's even possible for this to happen. Did their web programmers accidentally output their CC numbers just at the moment the googlebot scraped their site? Why on earth would CC numbers ever, ever be output in HTML?
posted by mathowie at 9:40 AM on April 23, 2010 [18 favorites]
posted by mathowie at 9:40 AM on April 23, 2010 [18 favorites]
oh, pud. Can you do nothing right?
Couldn't imagine anything worse than "Private Label Porn", yet here it be....
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 9:40 AM on April 23, 2010
Couldn't imagine anything worse than "Private Label Porn", yet here it be....
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 9:40 AM on April 23, 2010
Ugh. Debit card users will be doubly screwed.
posted by zarq at 9:41 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by zarq at 9:41 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Idiocy in action.
posted by Liquidwolf at 9:42 AM on April 23, 2010
posted by Liquidwolf at 9:42 AM on April 23, 2010
if you had a Blippy account, any unauthorized purchases would be apparent immediately, yes?
I crowd source my credit card fraud detection. I made up a new buzzword to call it: The crowdtheftcloudsource.
and letting burglars know of my new electronics purchases.
posted by wcfields at 9:42 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
I crowd source my credit card fraud detection. I made up a new buzzword to call it: The crowdtheftcloudsource.
and letting burglars know of my new electronics purchases.
posted by wcfields at 9:42 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
I don't understand how it's even possible for this to happen.
Anything is possible when you mix a colossally bad idea with millions in venture cash!
posted by threetoed at 9:43 AM on April 23, 2010 [23 favorites]
Anything is possible when you mix a colossally bad idea with millions in venture cash!
posted by threetoed at 9:43 AM on April 23, 2010 [23 favorites]
I can hardly wait for them to support the Bluetooth suppository API.
posted by CynicalKnight at 9:44 AM on April 23, 2010
posted by CynicalKnight at 9:44 AM on April 23, 2010
That's just dumb. I mean, I don't get all panicky about these security risk things, because I have never met anyone who has suffered any actual loss from a security hole on the internet. Worse case, you call the CC company and dispute the charge. What Facebook or anyone else is doing with the (quite limited) info they have on me is somewhere down near number four million on the list of things I worry about when I go to sleep at night.
But this is just so *dumb.* When I saw VCs had given them money for this "idea," I literally checked the date on the top of the story to make sure it said "2010" not "1998." So dumb. That it involves a guy who formerly ran a site called "Fucked Company" just takes the cake.
posted by drjimmy11 at 9:44 AM on April 23, 2010 [5 favorites]
But this is just so *dumb.* When I saw VCs had given them money for this "idea," I literally checked the date on the top of the story to make sure it said "2010" not "1998." So dumb. That it involves a guy who formerly ran a site called "Fucked Company" just takes the cake.
posted by drjimmy11 at 9:44 AM on April 23, 2010 [5 favorites]
Whoa whoa whoa, I didn't want my private information broadcast online in a huge obvious way! I want to keep it where only FaceBook employees (and application developers and probably hackers too) can get it and use it secretly.
posted by DU at 9:45 AM on April 23, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by DU at 9:45 AM on April 23, 2010 [3 favorites]
From the NYT article:
posted by ericb at 9:45 AM on April 23, 2010 [5 favorites]
"A Providence, R.I., company has a similar idea. It’s called Swipely and is led by Netscape and TellMe veteran Angus Davis. That site is still in private beta, so there’s no way to know how it will distinguish itself from Blippy, although Mr. Davis promises 'a real service that my mom and millions of people can use every day to improve their lives.'"Warning: The 'Dot.com 2.0 Bubble' is about to burst.
posted by ericb at 9:45 AM on April 23, 2010 [5 favorites]
When Blippy first came out, the usual cast of characters, like Jason Calacanis, were all over it. I looked into it, saw that Pud was involved and made the casual observation that a man who would tout a woman's vagina in order to sell t-shirts is not to be trusted with my personal financial information.
But that's just me.
posted by jsavimbi at 9:46 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
But that's just me.
posted by jsavimbi at 9:46 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
internet fraud detective squad, station number 9: "peer pressure not to buy stupid stuff"
Nobody seems to be embarrassed, though, judging by the few comments I can find on the cached pages. Maybe it just saves you time you would have spent twittering "At Starbucks".
This level of show-off consumerism is depressing.
posted by graventy at 9:48 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Nobody seems to be embarrassed, though, judging by the few comments I can find on the cached pages. Maybe it just saves you time you would have spent twittering "At Starbucks".
This level of show-off consumerism is depressing.
posted by graventy at 9:48 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
I don't get all panicky about these security risk things, because I have never met anyone who has suffered any actual loss from a security hole on the internet.
AKA the "what's the deal with seatbelts I survived childhood just fine" school of logic.
posted by DU at 9:49 AM on April 23, 2010 [8 favorites]
AKA the "what's the deal with seatbelts I survived childhood just fine" school of logic.
posted by DU at 9:49 AM on April 23, 2010 [8 favorites]
And on the VERY day they land a front page NYT article!
heh.
posted by R. Mutt at 9:50 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
heh.
posted by R. Mutt at 9:50 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
I don't follow web personalities for fear of spontaneous ragestrokes; can someone give us the rundown on pud and the other dumb stuff he's done?
posted by Optimus Chyme at 9:53 AM on April 23, 2010 [7 favorites]
posted by Optimus Chyme at 9:53 AM on April 23, 2010 [7 favorites]
If the stolen card numbers are used to buy stupid ostentatious shit that nobody really needs, won't it wind up being a win/win for all concerned?
posted by Shepherd at 9:53 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Shepherd at 9:53 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Also, I forgot: ahahahahahahahahahaha
posted by Optimus Chyme at 9:54 AM on April 23, 2010 [7 favorites]
posted by Optimus Chyme at 9:54 AM on April 23, 2010 [7 favorites]
hm, the numbers all start with 54, I think that's Mastercard, correct?
posted by smoothvirus at 9:55 AM on April 23, 2010
posted by smoothvirus at 9:55 AM on April 23, 2010
Stupid idea? You bet your sweet Blippy!
posted by Never teh Bride at 9:58 AM on April 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by Never teh Bride at 9:58 AM on April 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
I don't follow web personalities for fear of spontaneous ragestrokes; can someone give us the rundown on pud and the other dumb stuff he's done?
I don't dare -- he's like Mary Worth. He may appear in the mirror and steal my soul while picking my pocket.
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 9:59 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
I don't dare -- he's like Mary Worth. He may appear in the mirror and steal my soul while picking my pocket.
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 9:59 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
when we were evolving and living in small, dense groups of people, we would know much more about each other's day-to-day life than we do now.
Show-off consumerism is not about what people know about me. It's about what I tell other people.
If I buy a big TV and just watch it, I'm not being a show-off even if you, a fellow member of my village, know about it. (I may be stupid in other ways, though.)
If I buy a big TV and then shout out the door of my hut "HAI GUYZ CHECK OUT THIS HUGE TV I JUST BOUGHT" I am being a show-off.
posted by DU at 9:59 AM on April 23, 2010 [5 favorites]
Show-off consumerism is not about what people know about me. It's about what I tell other people.
If I buy a big TV and just watch it, I'm not being a show-off even if you, a fellow member of my village, know about it. (I may be stupid in other ways, though.)
If I buy a big TV and then shout out the door of my hut "HAI GUYZ CHECK OUT THIS HUGE TV I JUST BOUGHT" I am being a show-off.
posted by DU at 9:59 AM on April 23, 2010 [5 favorites]
If I were running Blippy, I'd bury a clause in the Terms of Service specifically authorizing Blippy to do whatever it damn well pleases with your credit card number. Problem "solved."
posted by uncleozzy at 10:00 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by uncleozzy at 10:00 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
I don't understand how it's even possible for this to happen. Did their web programmers accidentally output their CC numbers just at the moment the googlebot scraped their site? Why on earth would CC numbers ever, ever be output in HTML?
From what I can tell, Google is apparently scraping the page that the logged-in user sees. If you run the search the Gizmodo shows, clicking on the cached link for any of the results shows a bunch of entries that say 'This purchase appears on your statement as:' and gives the exact line from your CC statement, complete with card number.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:02 AM on April 23, 2010
From what I can tell, Google is apparently scraping the page that the logged-in user sees. If you run the search the Gizmodo shows, clicking on the cached link for any of the results shows a bunch of entries that say 'This purchase appears on your statement as:' and gives the exact line from your CC statement, complete with card number.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:02 AM on April 23, 2010
*amazon.com . . . create new account*
Wait, I would have to sign up for this ridiculous service for them to get what my amazon purchases are, right? The article says that Amazon doesn't let Blippy do this, or are my reading comprehension skills not working?
posted by anniecat at 10:03 AM on April 23, 2010
Wait, I would have to sign up for this ridiculous service for them to get what my amazon purchases are, right? The article says that Amazon doesn't let Blippy do this, or are my reading comprehension skills not working?
posted by anniecat at 10:03 AM on April 23, 2010
Services usually fulfill a need. What does this service do?
posted by djduckie at 10:06 AM on April 23, 2010
posted by djduckie at 10:06 AM on April 23, 2010
From what I can tell, Google is apparently scraping the page that the logged-in user sees.
Which should also not have my CC number on it. That's why these sites usually show "From card XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-1234" or whatever.
posted by DU at 10:08 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Which should also not have my CC number on it. That's why these sites usually show "From card XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-1234" or whatever.
posted by DU at 10:08 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Services usually fulfill a need. What does this service do?
Fulfill a need for $11 million in venture financing?
posted by killdevil at 10:10 AM on April 23, 2010 [3 favorites]
Fulfill a need for $11 million in venture financing?
posted by killdevil at 10:10 AM on April 23, 2010 [3 favorites]
I don't follow web personalities for fear of spontaneous ragestrokes; can someone give us the rundown on pud and the other dumb stuff he's done?
Apparently he's this guy. I was hoping for the Dubble Bubble dude, but anyhoo.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:11 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Apparently he's this guy. I was hoping for the Dubble Bubble dude, but anyhoo.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:11 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Blippy must be related to Clippy:
posted by benzenedream at 10:11 AM on April 23, 2010 [73 favorites]
It looks like you're buying a coffee at Starbucks.
Would you like to:
() Buy a coffee
() Publish Mastercard Number on Internetposted by benzenedream at 10:11 AM on April 23, 2010 [73 favorites]
Back in the day, when we were evolving and living in small, dense groups of people, we would know much more about each other's day-to-day life than we do now.
And we would know who knows about us. This kind of sharing really doesn't scale.
posted by me & my monkey at 10:11 AM on April 23, 2010 [6 favorites]
And we would know who knows about us. This kind of sharing really doesn't scale.
posted by me & my monkey at 10:11 AM on April 23, 2010 [6 favorites]
This level of show-off consumerism is depressing a handy way to organize one's burglaries.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:13 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Sys Rq at 10:13 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
We wouldn't need to twitter about our sandwich, we would already be within range of most of our important people so they would already know about our sandwich.
Sandwiches were the primary form of communication in Them Days. The semiotics attached to condiment choices were risky and varied - god forbid that a straight man apply pickle upside down.
posted by mippy at 10:13 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Sandwiches were the primary form of communication in Them Days. The semiotics attached to condiment choices were risky and varied - god forbid that a straight man apply pickle upside down.
posted by mippy at 10:13 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
I think that's Mastercard, correct?
Yes. Supposedly it's Citibank Mastercards only. Make of that what you will. I'm too busy buying shit online to dig further.
posted by yerfatma at 10:14 AM on April 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
Yes. Supposedly it's Citibank Mastercards only. Make of that what you will. I'm too busy buying shit online to dig further.
posted by yerfatma at 10:14 AM on April 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
This service isn't really that useful. It really should be providing expiration dates and CVVs along with the card numbers.
posted by killdevil at 10:14 AM on April 23, 2010 [23 favorites]
posted by killdevil at 10:14 AM on April 23, 2010 [23 favorites]
Well, this is sure to enliven dull Facebook days.
Cortex just bought "Bonkers for Huge Honkers" from Amazon.com.
posted by Skot at 10:15 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Cortex just bought "Bonkers for Huge Honkers" from Amazon.com.
posted by Skot at 10:15 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Imagine going to a forum in 2002 and some guy has a thread that says "Give me all of you credit card statements and I'll compare them and post them to a website and we can talk about what we buy!" Heh... no likely!
Imagine reading a breathless link off of Digg about how giving your purchase information to some site will let you compare purchases with other people and it will be like the twitter-facebook of consumer spending. HOLY SHIT, SIGN ME UP!
posted by codacorolla at 10:15 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Imagine reading a breathless link off of Digg about how giving your purchase information to some site will let you compare purchases with other people and it will be like the twitter-facebook of consumer spending. HOLY SHIT, SIGN ME UP!
posted by codacorolla at 10:15 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
I find people fascinating, but not in every detail. I don't want to know about their experiences in the bathroom, their favorite sexual positions, how well they are digesting their food, or what's in their shopping bag. I'm still stunned by the phenomenon of going to my grocery store and listening to folks on their cell phones giving a moment by moment account of their shopping experience. Why do they feel the urge to report this minutiae? Who are the people on the other end who are willing to listen to it?
I guess I should be more concerned about the idiocy of jumping up and down to ask the ID thefts to "Rob me! Rob me!" but I also just don't get the urge to report one's every move.
posted by bearwife at 10:15 AM on April 23, 2010 [6 favorites]
I guess I should be more concerned about the idiocy of jumping up and down to ask the ID thefts to "Rob me! Rob me!" but I also just don't get the urge to report one's every move.
posted by bearwife at 10:15 AM on April 23, 2010 [6 favorites]
This level of show-off consumerism is depressing.
Sure it is, but is is worse than any other form? At least with Twitter and Facebook I don't have to follow or befriend the douchebags, whereas I do have to deal with the woman who crams her oversized Versache purse in my gut on the subway or the obnoxious loud talker on his lastest iPhart device at the table next to mine.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:16 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Sure it is, but is is worse than any other form? At least with Twitter and Facebook I don't have to follow or befriend the douchebags, whereas I do have to deal with the woman who crams her oversized Versache purse in my gut on the subway or the obnoxious loud talker on his lastest iPhart device at the table next to mine.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:16 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Does anyone here know someone who uses or would like to use a service that broadcasts info about their purchases over the web? I am really mystified as to why anyone would want to do this, and I'd like to hear their rationale for doing so.
posted by spoobnooble at 10:16 AM on April 23, 2010
posted by spoobnooble at 10:16 AM on April 23, 2010
I can't help but feel that the people who signed up for this service are getting exactly what they should be getting.
"From what I can tell, Google is apparently scraping the page that the logged-in user sees"
But why would the googlebot ever see this page, unless Blippy is letting the googlebot in to see locally cached pages or some crap? Google isn't spidering any pages in my browser cache, and anyone not logged in (such as a web spider) should not be allowed to access any of this stuff.
This means that Blippy isn't generating these pages from a database on the fly when asked - it's holding this info in a page that remains accessible to anyone and remains static long enough for it to get crawled by search engines. This is a stupid, stupid, stupid mistake on the part of the developers.
posted by caution live frogs at 10:17 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
"From what I can tell, Google is apparently scraping the page that the logged-in user sees"
But why would the googlebot ever see this page, unless Blippy is letting the googlebot in to see locally cached pages or some crap? Google isn't spidering any pages in my browser cache, and anyone not logged in (such as a web spider) should not be allowed to access any of this stuff.
This means that Blippy isn't generating these pages from a database on the fly when asked - it's holding this info in a page that remains accessible to anyone and remains static long enough for it to get crawled by search engines. This is a stupid, stupid, stupid mistake on the part of the developers.
posted by caution live frogs at 10:17 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Show-off consumerism is not about what people know about me. It's about what I tell other people.
I chose my glasses because they were the nicest ones on me when I picked them out. However, they have a designer name on the side, visible on my person for about 18hrs per day, and occasionally I feel like I'm showing off. Either my 'good taste', or how much money I had to spend on a pair of glasses. Admittedly people who know about these things could infer who made them from the shape and style, just like certain designers' ware is discernable from the cut and cloth rather than the logo on the front, but still.
I grew up hating the whole sportswear trend where I lived, where people turned themselves into walking billboards for sweatshop companies (Nike do not manufacture anything themselves - they're essentially a logistics and marketing corporation) and everything was judged on what it cost and where you bought it and whose name sits on the side. And occasionally, I find myself favouring one item over the other; occasionally I know it's because somewhere I took in the information that that brand or manufacturer was 'acceptable' or 'classy' or 'quality', and I wonder what my fifteen year old self would have thought of me.
posted by mippy at 10:18 AM on April 23, 2010 [3 favorites]
I chose my glasses because they were the nicest ones on me when I picked them out. However, they have a designer name on the side, visible on my person for about 18hrs per day, and occasionally I feel like I'm showing off. Either my 'good taste', or how much money I had to spend on a pair of glasses. Admittedly people who know about these things could infer who made them from the shape and style, just like certain designers' ware is discernable from the cut and cloth rather than the logo on the front, but still.
I grew up hating the whole sportswear trend where I lived, where people turned themselves into walking billboards for sweatshop companies (Nike do not manufacture anything themselves - they're essentially a logistics and marketing corporation) and everything was judged on what it cost and where you bought it and whose name sits on the side. And occasionally, I find myself favouring one item over the other; occasionally I know it's because somewhere I took in the information that that brand or manufacturer was 'acceptable' or 'classy' or 'quality', and I wonder what my fifteen year old self would have thought of me.
posted by mippy at 10:18 AM on April 23, 2010 [3 favorites]
And we would know who knows about us. This kind of sharing really doesn't scale.
Well, it sort of scales. There are apparently 'private' Blippy accounts (exactly like Twitter) where you have to be friended to see their purchases.
On the other hand, like DU said, maybe your small-town neighbors knew you'd purchased a sandwich. It was never "HEY I SPENT 6.72 AT STARBUCKS THEN I SPENT 34.09 AT THE GAS STATION LOL GAS IS EXPENSIVE"
posted by graventy at 10:19 AM on April 23, 2010
Well, it sort of scales. There are apparently 'private' Blippy accounts (exactly like Twitter) where you have to be friended to see their purchases.
On the other hand, like DU said, maybe your small-town neighbors knew you'd purchased a sandwich. It was never "HEY I SPENT 6.72 AT STARBUCKS THEN I SPENT 34.09 AT THE GAS STATION LOL GAS IS EXPENSIVE"
posted by graventy at 10:19 AM on April 23, 2010
So is Citi sending them unencrypted credit card numbers? That's...bad, right?
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 10:20 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 10:20 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Why on earth do they even store credit cards in plain text at Blippy?! This whole story is so freaking insane...
posted by mathowie at 10:21 AM on April 23, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by mathowie at 10:21 AM on April 23, 2010 [3 favorites]
But why would the googlebot ever see this page, unless Blippy is letting the googlebot in to see locally cached pages or some crap? Google isn't spidering any pages in my browser cache, and anyone not logged in (such as a web spider) should not be allowed to access any of this stuff.
Right, my point wasn't 'Here is why everything is okay and nothing is the matter,' it was 'This is fucked up and dumb and here is some more information.'
posted by shakespeherian at 10:21 AM on April 23, 2010
Right, my point wasn't 'Here is why everything is okay and nothing is the matter,' it was 'This is fucked up and dumb and here is some more information.'
posted by shakespeherian at 10:21 AM on April 23, 2010
(BTW, on the front page for Blippy.com they include quotes from The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets extolling the service Blippy offers. There's also a quote from The Colbert Report: “More exciting than old receipts!” Okay... is TCR now considered a mainstream media source, or are Blippy's publicity staffers simply as oblivious as their site users seem to be?)
posted by spoobnooble at 10:22 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Jesus Blippin' Christ, what a bunch of assholes. (Blippy people, I mean.)
posted by kmz at 10:25 AM on April 23, 2010
posted by kmz at 10:25 AM on April 23, 2010
twoleftfeet collects the pot. Congratulations, twoleftfeet.
posted by boo_radley at 10:26 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by boo_radley at 10:26 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
This just makes me despair for humanity.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 10:28 AM on April 23, 2010
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 10:28 AM on April 23, 2010
> >From what I can tell, Google is apparently scraping the page that the logged-in user sees.
> Which should also not have my CC number on it.
My idle speculation is that they may have been using a javascript-dependent login/session system that the Googlebot inadvertently ignored. (I read a story once about a site the Googlebot destroyed because the site had such a system and one of the links that was supposed to be available only to logged-in users was "delete page.")
And if you look at the Google cache of the search shakespherian linked to, it looks like most of the credit card numbers are Xed out (but for the final four digits.) Some bug seems to have been letting some of them through.
posted by Zed at 10:28 AM on April 23, 2010
> Which should also not have my CC number on it.
My idle speculation is that they may have been using a javascript-dependent login/session system that the Googlebot inadvertently ignored. (I read a story once about a site the Googlebot destroyed because the site had such a system and one of the links that was supposed to be available only to logged-in users was "delete page.")
And if you look at the Google cache of the search shakespherian linked to, it looks like most of the credit card numbers are Xed out (but for the final four digits.) Some bug seems to have been letting some of them through.
posted by Zed at 10:28 AM on April 23, 2010
There's also a quote from The Colbert Report: “More exciting than old receipts!” Okay... is TCR now considered a mainstream media source, or are Blippy's publicity staffers simply as oblivious as their site users seem to be?
TCR is hot, as is self-deprecation.
posted by DU at 10:28 AM on April 23, 2010
TCR is hot, as is self-deprecation.
posted by DU at 10:28 AM on April 23, 2010
I'm the only non-conspicuous consumer I know. Heat gun took the badges off of my car, acetone took the decals off of my bike. If you are my sponsor I'll wear your logo stuff, otherwise no. Can't imagine tweeting my purchases (these Bippers go to Burger King a lot, that shit will kill you).
posted by fixedgear at 10:29 AM on April 23, 2010
posted by fixedgear at 10:29 AM on April 23, 2010
people can share with friends and strangers everything they buy
Just that description alone sounds like such a horrible, pointless idea...
My stomach flips over a little at any ostentatious display of wealth, so I'm definitely not the target market for this, but it does seem like a logical extension of a society that's driven by both consumerism and competition.*
That is: If you're the type who wants everyone to know about your fancy new lawn furniture or that expensive new car you bought with daddy's money... why stop with just your neighborhood?
The Internet truly enables.
* I suppose by that I mean capitalism. Hm.
posted by rokusan at 10:30 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Just that description alone sounds like such a horrible, pointless idea...
My stomach flips over a little at any ostentatious display of wealth, so I'm definitely not the target market for this, but it does seem like a logical extension of a society that's driven by both consumerism and competition.*
That is: If you're the type who wants everyone to know about your fancy new lawn furniture or that expensive new car you bought with daddy's money... why stop with just your neighborhood?
The Internet truly enables.
* I suppose by that I mean capitalism. Hm.
posted by rokusan at 10:30 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
For those of you that don't get blippy, some people are really douchy about showing off their purchases. This lets them take it to the next level.
OH HAI I JUST BOUGHT A DIAMOND ENCRUSTED TANK
posted by craven_morhead at 10:33 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
OH HAI I JUST BOUGHT A DIAMOND ENCRUSTED TANK
posted by craven_morhead at 10:33 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
graventy: Who wants people knowing their credit card purchases?There's a scene in the dystopian nightmare of Brazil in which a jackbooted-thug-with-a-heart-of-gold counsels a victim of imminent state-sanctioned torture, saying: "Don't fight it son. Confess quickly! If you hold out too long you could jeopardize your credit rating!"
So out here in the real world, we are beginning to adopt our credit ratings as elements of our personal identities, as figures of monumental importance to our self-image. Not because anyone is forcing us to, but because we want to. Some of us leap headfirst at the chance.
The conclusion is so obvious it hardly bears spelling out: We must immediately lock up writer/director Terry Gilliam until he tells us everything else he knows about the future.
posted by Western Infidels at 10:33 AM on April 23, 2010 [19 favorites]
People share way too much information these days.
I know that statement makes me sound like a 90-year old ranting about the "good times" but the reality is that I'm still young, and it's discouraging to see so many of my peers put all of their data right out in the open. The scary thing is that no one seems to care - those of us who are advocating strong government regulation for personal information are routinely laughed at or derided as supporters of "big government" intervention.
The reality is that while people fear the government, the real Big Brothers are all found in the private sector. Supermarket discount cards, credit cards, ISPs, Google, flash cookies, geolocation - those are just some of the ways in which our privacy is being compromised on a daily basis. All of that data is being aggregated by private corporations who want to track your every move so they can sell you more shit.
Unfortunately, I highly doubt that the US will ever implement sensible privacy measures like those that exist in the EU. I think that the best way to fight back might be data poisoning - creating a bunch of fake identities and flooding these corporations with useless information. But the lobbyists will probably manage to make that illegal very soon.
It's a thoroughly depressing situation.
posted by Despondent_Monkey at 10:33 AM on April 23, 2010 [14 favorites]
I know that statement makes me sound like a 90-year old ranting about the "good times" but the reality is that I'm still young, and it's discouraging to see so many of my peers put all of their data right out in the open. The scary thing is that no one seems to care - those of us who are advocating strong government regulation for personal information are routinely laughed at or derided as supporters of "big government" intervention.
The reality is that while people fear the government, the real Big Brothers are all found in the private sector. Supermarket discount cards, credit cards, ISPs, Google, flash cookies, geolocation - those are just some of the ways in which our privacy is being compromised on a daily basis. All of that data is being aggregated by private corporations who want to track your every move so they can sell you more shit.
Unfortunately, I highly doubt that the US will ever implement sensible privacy measures like those that exist in the EU. I think that the best way to fight back might be data poisoning - creating a bunch of fake identities and flooding these corporations with useless information. But the lobbyists will probably manage to make that illegal very soon.
It's a thoroughly depressing situation.
posted by Despondent_Monkey at 10:33 AM on April 23, 2010 [14 favorites]
lol at internet, web 2.0, capitalism
posted by Damn That Television at 10:38 AM on April 23, 2010
posted by Damn That Television at 10:38 AM on April 23, 2010
Actually, I can see a real use for this, but only in a privatized mode. Blippy could basically provide me with an API to my credit card, so I could (for example) show a running total of how much I owe on my smartphone or whatever. (I assume the CC companies don't already have such an API.)
That'd be pretty cool, especially for people having trouble controlling the plastic or using a debit card.
posted by DU at 10:38 AM on April 23, 2010
That'd be pretty cool, especially for people having trouble controlling the plastic or using a debit card.
posted by DU at 10:38 AM on April 23, 2010
i'm trying to imagine the stolen cc purchases showing up on blippy.
from
samstrong77 just bought SMOOTHIE at PINKB
samstrong77 just bought BATTLESTAR S4 at AMAZN
to
samstrong77 just bought UNLEAD GAS at EXON
samstrong77 just bought DIAPERS at CVS
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:39 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
from
samstrong77 just bought SMOOTHIE at PINKB
samstrong77 just bought BATTLESTAR S4 at AMAZN
to
samstrong77 just bought UNLEAD GAS at EXON
samstrong77 just bought DIAPERS at CVS
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:39 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
I am imagining the Blippy IT wishing to be affected by the McAfee VirusScan update bug right now.
posted by ardgedee at 10:41 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by ardgedee at 10:41 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
We must immediately lock up writer/director Terry Gilliam until he tells us everything else he knows about the future.
I prefer to let him dole it out in two hour courses every couple of years or so.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:45 AM on April 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
I prefer to let him dole it out in two hour courses every couple of years or so.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:45 AM on April 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
The success of Blippy makes me optimistic about the prospects for a free web service I've had in development for the last couple years: Stabby.
To join Stabby, you simply click on the smiley-face-with-sleepy-eyes icon when it pops up on your Facebook page. You'll be asked to create an account, complete with full legal name, home address, place of employment, and regular hang-out spots, as well as a complete list of living kin. Then just click on the oversized "Stabbify Me" button and you're done. It's just that easy!
Then, sometime in the following fortnight, at a time and place of our choosing, we'll send over a friendly member of the Stabby Kuttin' Krew to stab you and a loved one repeatedly in the stomach.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:47 AM on April 23, 2010 [5 favorites]
To join Stabby, you simply click on the smiley-face-with-sleepy-eyes icon when it pops up on your Facebook page. You'll be asked to create an account, complete with full legal name, home address, place of employment, and regular hang-out spots, as well as a complete list of living kin. Then just click on the oversized "Stabbify Me" button and you're done. It's just that easy!
Then, sometime in the following fortnight, at a time and place of our choosing, we'll send over a friendly member of the Stabby Kuttin' Krew to stab you and a loved one repeatedly in the stomach.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:47 AM on April 23, 2010 [5 favorites]
fixedgear: "I'm the only non-conspicuous consumer I know. Heat gun took the badges off of my car, acetone took the decals off of my bike."
I used a rasp - it's all aluminum anyway and the scratches prevent theft by sabotaging the resale value.
posted by idiopath at 10:49 AM on April 23, 2010
I used a rasp - it's all aluminum anyway and the scratches prevent theft by sabotaging the resale value.
posted by idiopath at 10:49 AM on April 23, 2010
someone stole my card once, made some awesome shoe purchases
Sounds fishy to me, I think we'd better call the internet fraud detection squad, oh, wait.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:49 AM on April 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
Sounds fishy to me, I think we'd better call the internet fraud detection squad, oh, wait.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:49 AM on April 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
OH HAI I JUST BOUGHT A DIAMOND ENCRUSTED TANK
Oh like you would be real discreet about that.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:50 AM on April 23, 2010
Oh like you would be real discreet about that.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:50 AM on April 23, 2010
This is just like that scene in the Matrix where the black guy says "welcome to the desert of the real" and then computers start whizzing all around and then the white guy shits and pisses for four straight hours because the black guy just revealed the unkind truth of reality: the white guy bought a copy of "Buttsex Sluts Go Bonkers 17: Revenge Of That One Girl" last Thursday and now everyone, including his grandmother, who is dead, knows. "I know kung-fu"
posted by Damn That Television at 10:51 AM on April 23, 2010 [8 favorites]
posted by Damn That Television at 10:51 AM on April 23, 2010 [8 favorites]
Add one more person to the old fogey list that's boggled that anyone would use this service (I'm on the unlink your feeds bandwagon). I'd read the Times article linked upthread and the in-my-head response to the description of Blippy was "that's a security disaster waiting to happen".
posted by immlass at 10:52 AM on April 23, 2010
posted by immlass at 10:52 AM on April 23, 2010
I hope the web 3.0 killer application is the application of critical thinking skills.
posted by davejay at 10:53 AM on April 23, 2010 [6 favorites]
posted by davejay at 10:53 AM on April 23, 2010 [6 favorites]
I used a rasp - it's all aluminum anyway and the scratches prevent theft by sabotaging the resale value.
China seems to be stuck in one of its usual paradoxes here. The new urban wealthy of the Chinese are EXTREMELY brand concious. At the same time they are Chinese (known doubly stereotypically to some as the 'Jews of Asia'). My friends would buy the most expensive, ostentatious, bells-and-whistles bikes made, then they would "distress" the bike to make it less likely to "get lost" (their euphamistic term for theft). They must walk a fine line between looking like they bought a second-hand knock off and looking like they bought a second-hand knock off.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:57 AM on April 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
China seems to be stuck in one of its usual paradoxes here. The new urban wealthy of the Chinese are EXTREMELY brand concious. At the same time they are Chinese (known doubly stereotypically to some as the 'Jews of Asia'). My friends would buy the most expensive, ostentatious, bells-and-whistles bikes made, then they would "distress" the bike to make it less likely to "get lost" (their euphamistic term for theft). They must walk a fine line between looking like they bought a second-hand knock off and looking like they bought a second-hand knock off.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:57 AM on April 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
I do not know what killer apps Web 3.0 will rely on, but I can tell you what they will rely on in Web 4.0 - rocks!
posted by Damn That Television at 10:58 AM on April 23, 2010
posted by Damn That Television at 10:58 AM on April 23, 2010
From the Times article:
In March, Blippy sidestepped Amazon by asking its customers for access to their Gmail accounts, and then took the purchase data from the receipts Amazon had e-mailed them. Blippy says thousands of its users have supplied the keys to their e-mail accounts;
Holy shit! It takes a special kind of stupid to sign up for that.
posted by MikeKD at 10:59 AM on April 23, 2010 [13 favorites]
In March, Blippy sidestepped Amazon by asking its customers for access to their Gmail accounts, and then took the purchase data from the receipts Amazon had e-mailed them. Blippy says thousands of its users have supplied the keys to their e-mail accounts;
Holy shit! It takes a special kind of stupid to sign up for that.
posted by MikeKD at 10:59 AM on April 23, 2010 [13 favorites]
samstrong77 just bought DIAPERS at CVS
Nah, just
posted by kirkaracha at 10:59 AM on April 23, 2010
I'm the only non-conspicuous consumer I know.
You can do a fair amount with sugar cubes as well. And duct tape.
posted by jessamyn at 11:02 AM on April 23, 2010 [3 favorites]
You can do a fair amount with sugar cubes as well. And duct tape.
posted by jessamyn at 11:02 AM on April 23, 2010 [3 favorites]
Pud responds: "It's a lot less bad than it looks."
posted by starvingartist at 11:02 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by starvingartist at 11:02 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Damage control over at the Blippy blog.
seriously, what a stupid name.
posted by dnesan at 11:07 AM on April 23, 2010
seriously, what a stupid name.
posted by dnesan at 11:07 AM on April 23, 2010
Blippy sidestepped Amazon by asking its customers for access to their Gmail accounts
lolWAT
The situation so far: Idiots wanted to do something corrosive have contracted with other idiots willing to do it stupidly and it ended badly. The only question is if there will be film at 11.
posted by DU at 11:10 AM on April 23, 2010
lolWAT
The situation so far: Idiots wanted to do something corrosive have contracted with other idiots willing to do it stupidly and it ended badly. The only question is if there will be film at 11.
posted by DU at 11:10 AM on April 23, 2010
“While we take this very seriously and it is a headache for those involved, it’s important to remember that you’re never responsible if someone uses your credit card without your permission.
You're right, Blippy, that makes perfect sense. Here, please take my social security number and birthdate.
posted by jbickers at 11:13 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
You're right, Blippy, that makes perfect sense. Here, please take my social security number and birthdate.
posted by jbickers at 11:13 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
You've got a group of people who won't use their credit card online even to purchase something they need from a store they know...and another group of people who will give it to you, no questions asked, not even to purchase anything.
This is like conspicuous consumption where the moving company left your front door open!
posted by Hiker at 11:17 AM on April 23, 2010
This is like conspicuous consumption where the moving company left your front door open!
posted by Hiker at 11:17 AM on April 23, 2010
mathowie: "I don't understand how it's even possible for this to happen. Did their web programmers accidentally output their CC numbers just at the moment the googlebot scraped their site? Why on earth would CC numbers ever, ever be output in HTML?"
This is answered in starvingartist's link. If I read it correctly, some retailers were putting the credit card number in unexpected parts of the raw data feed, so the automated parsing was putting the CC # into their cooked data feed inadvertently. So it seems like Pud wants to blame unexpected data formatting.
My issue with this is that the data already contained the CC #, it was Blippy's bright idea that they could take part of the data and make it public "safely". It isn't Quizno's fault if the CC shows up in an unexpected place, don't go blaming the other guy for unexpected data in your feed, write a better parser. And I would say if the data is a credit card transaction, you are already a fool for thinking you can clean it up for public display, something like this was bound to come up.
posted by idiopath at 11:17 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
This is answered in starvingartist's link. If I read it correctly, some retailers were putting the credit card number in unexpected parts of the raw data feed, so the automated parsing was putting the CC # into their cooked data feed inadvertently. So it seems like Pud wants to blame unexpected data formatting.
My issue with this is that the data already contained the CC #, it was Blippy's bright idea that they could take part of the data and make it public "safely". It isn't Quizno's fault if the CC shows up in an unexpected place, don't go blaming the other guy for unexpected data in your feed, write a better parser. And I would say if the data is a credit card transaction, you are already a fool for thinking you can clean it up for public display, something like this was bound to come up.
posted by idiopath at 11:17 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Blippy is the worst name for anything ever. Why not just call it Buggy? Same feel but with added truth.
posted by fire&wings at 11:19 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by fire&wings at 11:19 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Anything is possible when you mix a colossally bad idea with millions in venture cash!
I have a metric asston of bad ideas ranging in size from "big" to "super-mega-colossal." Just to whet your appetite, I'll throw this one out: genetically engineered, toothless dick-sucking monkey that connect to the internet.
Memail me, VC!
posted by vibrotronica at 11:20 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
I have a metric asston of bad ideas ranging in size from "big" to "super-mega-colossal." Just to whet your appetite, I'll throw this one out: genetically engineered, toothless dick-sucking monkey that connect to the internet.
Memail me, VC!
posted by vibrotronica at 11:20 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Eh, this is a logical result of conspicuous consumption. C'mon now 21st Century! You've promised big big buckets of crazy and I'm here to collect! Maybe something where internet people can comment on your purchases - maybe a whole team of unpaid interns working around the clock to shame and humiliate people online so they'll buy their companies' products.
posted by The Whelk at 11:23 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 11:23 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Here is the thing: aren't the banks and credit card companies also to blame for this? I mean, why do they forward sensitive information to such a service? It is no different than the MANY credit card machines at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, retail shops etc that would print out your full credit card until a while ago.
I have heard that in some countries you can ask your bank to send you an SMS every time a credit card purchase is made with your card. Now THAT would be much more useful, because it would allow for quicker response to potentially fraudulent purchases. How about an automated verification request to your cell? Putting a photograph on the credit card? Throw away credit card numbers for online purchases? So many ways to reduce fraud ... I just get the impression that banks and credit card companies just don't care that much.
It is not their problem ... it is yours.
Kinda like Facebook and Google see privacy these days.
posted by TheyCallItPeace at 11:24 AM on April 23, 2010
I have heard that in some countries you can ask your bank to send you an SMS every time a credit card purchase is made with your card. Now THAT would be much more useful, because it would allow for quicker response to potentially fraudulent purchases. How about an automated verification request to your cell? Putting a photograph on the credit card? Throw away credit card numbers for online purchases? So many ways to reduce fraud ... I just get the impression that banks and credit card companies just don't care that much.
It is not their problem ... it is yours.
Kinda like Facebook and Google see privacy these days.
posted by TheyCallItPeace at 11:24 AM on April 23, 2010
I came in here, thinking, oh wow, interesting story. I'm sure it's fixed now .... uh, nope.
I easily found about 10 or so unique CC#s in the first 100 Google results.
I don't even know what I would do with them, but I'm sorta tempted to start recording names and credit-card numbers, but if a credit-card number becomes public info, is it really worth anything?
Like the rest of you, my mind boggles at the reason for using such a site ...
Seriously, what is the genuine use case here? Who on Earth wants to broadcast their credit-card purchases? Honestly. Just get a Tumblr fashion/music/food blog or something.
Why on earth would CC numbers ever, ever be output in HTML?
Yeah, my mind boggles here too. I would think the first lines of code for such a site would be devoted to transmogrifying the CC# into another unique ID to associate with the user (or as DU mentions, using XXXX-1234). I guess that's why I am not a software developer.
posted by mrgrimm at 11:25 AM on April 23, 2010
I easily found about 10 or so unique CC#s in the first 100 Google results.
I don't even know what I would do with them, but I'm sorta tempted to start recording names and credit-card numbers, but if a credit-card number becomes public info, is it really worth anything?
Like the rest of you, my mind boggles at the reason for using such a site ...
Seriously, what is the genuine use case here? Who on Earth wants to broadcast their credit-card purchases? Honestly. Just get a Tumblr fashion/music/food blog or something.
Why on earth would CC numbers ever, ever be output in HTML?
Yeah, my mind boggles here too. I would think the first lines of code for such a site would be devoted to transmogrifying the CC# into another unique ID to associate with the user (or as DU mentions, using XXXX-1234). I guess that's why I am not a software developer.
posted by mrgrimm at 11:25 AM on April 23, 2010
It looks like Google is now blocking that specific search result with a 'suspected automatic queries' page now.
posted by shakespeherian at 11:27 AM on April 23, 2010
posted by shakespeherian at 11:27 AM on April 23, 2010
Who could have predicted Blippy would have a downside?
posted by mazola at 11:27 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by mazola at 11:27 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Blippy co-founder Philp Kaplan gave comment to the Times:
posted by boo_radley at 11:28 AM on April 23, 2010
In a phone interview Friday morning, Blippy’s co-founder, Philip Kaplan, said the card numbers in question belonged to four Blippy users. He explained that when people link their credit cards to Blippy, merchants pass along their raw transaction data - including some credit card numbers - and the site scrubs that information to present just the merchant and the dollar amount spent. But several months ago, when Blippy was being publicly tested, that raw transaction data was present in the site’s HTML code, where it was retrieved by Google.The Man Is A Master of Understatement.
Mr. Kaplan said that early on, Blippy started disguising the raw transaction data behind the scenes, but it did not know about the breach until today. He added, “This still looks pretty bad."
posted by boo_radley at 11:28 AM on April 23, 2010
it’s important to remember that you’re never responsible if someone uses your credit card without your permission.
This is true but not super helpful. I've had my CC number stolen/misappropriated twice in the last few years. I did not have to pay the $500 charged at Walmart or the $500-ish charged to the people that make Farmville. However what I did need to do was get called in the early morning [seriously like 6 am] on a weekend, asked about a purchase and when I denied making that purchase my credit card number was suspended on the spot. I had to wait for almost two weeks to get another one issued unless I wanted to pay for fedexing it (I didn't). Which means putting everything that was on auto-pay that was coming due in those two weeks on another credit card until I got the replacement card. And, at some level, every time a credit card company has to eat a fraudulent charge, the roll it into the cost of doing business.
I'm not whining terribly, I like having free and available credit and all the rest, but to even imply that the only hassle here is seeing a charge that isn't yours and making a quick phone call is dramatically understating the headache this sort of thing can cause, and that's to someone who is on top of it and whose credit card company is on top of it [thanks STCU!]. I can only imagine the fallout for people who aren't quite as on the ball.
posted by jessamyn at 11:33 AM on April 23, 2010 [3 favorites]
This is true but not super helpful. I've had my CC number stolen/misappropriated twice in the last few years. I did not have to pay the $500 charged at Walmart or the $500-ish charged to the people that make Farmville. However what I did need to do was get called in the early morning [seriously like 6 am] on a weekend, asked about a purchase and when I denied making that purchase my credit card number was suspended on the spot. I had to wait for almost two weeks to get another one issued unless I wanted to pay for fedexing it (I didn't). Which means putting everything that was on auto-pay that was coming due in those two weeks on another credit card until I got the replacement card. And, at some level, every time a credit card company has to eat a fraudulent charge, the roll it into the cost of doing business.
I'm not whining terribly, I like having free and available credit and all the rest, but to even imply that the only hassle here is seeing a charge that isn't yours and making a quick phone call is dramatically understating the headache this sort of thing can cause, and that's to someone who is on top of it and whose credit card company is on top of it [thanks STCU!]. I can only imagine the fallout for people who aren't quite as on the ball.
posted by jessamyn at 11:33 AM on April 23, 2010 [3 favorites]
Just like boo.com became the poster child of everything that went wrong with the dot.com bubble, it seems we've found ourselves the ludicrous what-were-they-thinking example for when the current rush for social-anything is definitely over.
posted by blogenstock at 11:36 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by blogenstock at 11:36 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
boo_radley: "The Man Is A Master of Understatement."
To be fair to Mr. Kaplan, he is also a Master of Overstatement. In the few cached pages I viewed, Blippy was doing a pretty shitty job of displaying the merchant in a readable fashion.
posted by graventy at 11:38 AM on April 23, 2010
To be fair to Mr. Kaplan, he is also a Master of Overstatement. In the few cached pages I viewed, Blippy was doing a pretty shitty job of displaying the merchant in a readable fashion.
posted by graventy at 11:38 AM on April 23, 2010
You're trying to tell me you didn't spend $500 on Farmville?
posted by shakespeherian at 11:42 AM on April 23, 2010
posted by shakespeherian at 11:42 AM on April 23, 2010
updating their status to 'In overdraft'
*updates status to 'In hovercraft'*
This level of show-off consumerism is depressing
Know what else I just bought?
*updates status to 'In hovercraft - wearing kilt'*
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:42 AM on April 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
*updates status to 'In hovercraft'*
This level of show-off consumerism is depressing
Know what else I just bought?
*updates status to 'In hovercraft - wearing kilt'*
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:42 AM on April 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
OH HAI I JUST BOUGHT A DIAMOND ENCRUSTED TANK
Are you about to go midfielding? (Lyrics, if you want to cut to the chase).
Today I learned that Noel Fielding is fond of the woodland animals of England, in a comical sort of way.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:43 AM on April 23, 2010
Are you about to go midfielding? (Lyrics, if you want to cut to the chase).
Today I learned that Noel Fielding is fond of the woodland animals of England, in a comical sort of way.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:43 AM on April 23, 2010
For what it's worth in my recent experience if someone steals your credit card and uses it at a business you've also had legitimate transactions with you will not get the fully padded fraud experience, you will be shunted to the dispute process.
My credit union is normally great but that was extremely unpleasant. You may have noticed that there are some global corporations out there now.
posted by Wood at 11:44 AM on April 23, 2010
My credit union is normally great but that was extremely unpleasant. You may have noticed that there are some global corporations out there now.
posted by Wood at 11:44 AM on April 23, 2010
It looks like Google is now blocking that specific search result with a 'suspected automatic queries' page now.
Yep, I noticed that too. Happened about right when I posted.
It looks like they may have also blocked all "synopses" for searches on site:blippy.com.
posted by mrgrimm at 11:44 AM on April 23, 2010
Yep, I noticed that too. Happened about right when I posted.
It looks like they may have also blocked all "synopses" for searches on site:blippy.com.
posted by mrgrimm at 11:44 AM on April 23, 2010
blippy is pud? Holy crap. Talk about a fucked company.
posted by 3.2.3 at 11:48 AM on April 23, 2010 [5 favorites]
posted by 3.2.3 at 11:48 AM on April 23, 2010 [5 favorites]
I'm trying to decide what the appropriate use of transaction data is. I mean, before Blippy, the only place it ever showed up was on your bank statement, right? So why should credit card numbers ever be printed in plain text there, either? For better or worse, bank statements get thrown away, unshredded, all the time. That should be reasonably safe, as an address or phone number might be visible… but not unobfuscated account info. Most people wouldn't have a clue that their CC# could ever be shown plainly in those pages. And their CC# really shouldn't.
So aren't the CC gateways who stupidly put whole credit card numbers into the transaction logs really the ones to blame here? I agree that Blippy is a stupid useless service, but even so, I don't think it was particularly dumb to assume that the raw data was safe. It SHOULD be safe, if the systems that write the logs have any sense at all. There's gotta be a transaction data spec document out there somewhere, and I bet it says something about including personally identifiable account info in the dump.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 11:50 AM on April 23, 2010
So aren't the CC gateways who stupidly put whole credit card numbers into the transaction logs really the ones to blame here? I agree that Blippy is a stupid useless service, but even so, I don't think it was particularly dumb to assume that the raw data was safe. It SHOULD be safe, if the systems that write the logs have any sense at all. There's gotta be a transaction data spec document out there somewhere, and I bet it says something about including personally identifiable account info in the dump.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 11:50 AM on April 23, 2010
Wow. I've had an idea about a genuinely useful service I could create with this information that I've done nothing with for years, simply because I assumed that in order to get it, I'd have to enter into a deal with a few major banks or CC processing firms. It had literally never occurred to me that people would voluntarily sign up to share purchase information.
I'm going to have to rethink my idea. And my ideas about humanity.
posted by weston at 11:51 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm going to have to rethink my idea. And my ideas about humanity.
posted by weston at 11:51 AM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm still stunned by the phenomenon of going to my grocery store and listening to folks on their cell phones giving a moment by moment account of their shopping experience. Why do they feel the urge to report this minutiae?
Overheard by me: "Hey ... hi ... we just landed. I'm getting my bag outta the overhead. The line is starting to move. I'll call you back to let you know that I got to the front of the plane."
WTF?
posted by ericb at 11:53 AM on April 23, 2010 [7 favorites]
Overheard by me: "Hey ... hi ... we just landed. I'm getting my bag outta the overhead. The line is starting to move. I'll call you back to let you know that I got to the front of the plane."
WTF?
posted by ericb at 11:53 AM on April 23, 2010 [7 favorites]
There are, apparently, thousands of people who think it's a good idea to broadcast their credit card purchases on Facebook.
There are millions of people who don't think it's unspeakably dumb to buy bootleg viagra in response to email spam.
There are even people who think that, if they send their checking account number to a complete stranger, Mobutu Sese Seko's granddaughter will make them millionaires.
I've never met any of these people. Who are they?
posted by steambadger at 11:58 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
There are millions of people who don't think it's unspeakably dumb to buy bootleg viagra in response to email spam.
There are even people who think that, if they send their checking account number to a complete stranger, Mobutu Sese Seko's granddaughter will make them millionaires.
I've never met any of these people. Who are they?
posted by steambadger at 11:58 AM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
potsmokinghippieoverlord: "Couldn't imagine anything worse than "Private Label Porn", yet here it be...."
OK, his wikipedia page is beyond useless, and all I can find searching is some offshoot Fucked Company board with people gloating over his mistakes. Anyone care to sum up what 'Private Label Porn' was?
posted by graventy at 11:59 AM on April 23, 2010
OK, his wikipedia page is beyond useless, and all I can find searching is some offshoot Fucked Company board with people gloating over his mistakes. Anyone care to sum up what 'Private Label Porn' was?
posted by graventy at 11:59 AM on April 23, 2010
Why are you linking to Gizmodo, Brent Parker? I thought we agreed not to link to Gizmodo until they apologize publicly to Gray Powell.
Not that this is a bad post - I though it was interesting, too. But they did this post at HN without linking to Gizmodo, and I think we should've, too. It's just a good idea now: avoid Gizmodo until they apologize.
posted by koeselitz at 12:02 PM on April 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
Not that this is a bad post - I though it was interesting, too. But they did this post at HN without linking to Gizmodo, and I think we should've, too. It's just a good idea now: avoid Gizmodo until they apologize.
posted by koeselitz at 12:02 PM on April 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
While we take this very seriously and it is a headache for those involved, it’s important to remember that you’re never responsible if someone uses your credit card without your permission.
Phew. Thanks. That allays my concerns.
posted by ericb at 12:07 PM on April 23, 2010
Phew. Thanks. That allays my concerns.
posted by ericb at 12:07 PM on April 23, 2010
Oh man. Well, I have to chime in and say April is Records and Information Management Month, and this is a good example of why RIM professionials need to toot their horns a little more :-)
posted by Calzephyr at 12:22 PM on April 23, 2010
posted by Calzephyr at 12:22 PM on April 23, 2010
Give Blippy Another Chance, They Deserve It
"Blippy is being run by some of the smartest folks online..." Really?
"The company has solid investors..." So did Pets.com, Webvan, Kozmo.com, Flooz.com, eToys.com, Boo.com, MVP.com, Go.com and Kibu.com (to name a few).
posted by ericb at 12:24 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
"A darling of the technology and investment worlds, Blippy signed up the tech elite overnight, and raised $11 million in short order. Today after the privacy breach, people are publicly writing the company off. They broke the trust that made thew whole idea feasible, so the logic goes."A darling of the technology and investment worlds..." Really?
After reading what actually happened, I think that any level-headed observer can say this: if Blippy was a good idea a week ago, it still is today after the leak.
Blippy is being run by some of the smartest folks online, including everyone’s favorite Phillip “Pud” Kaplan, who has a special place in bloggers’ hearts for past written works. The company has solid investors, an interesting (some say innovative) product, and they (were) growing like a weed."
"Blippy is being run by some of the smartest folks online..." Really?
"The company has solid investors..." So did Pets.com, Webvan, Kozmo.com, Flooz.com, eToys.com, Boo.com, MVP.com, Go.com and Kibu.com (to name a few).
posted by ericb at 12:24 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Yeah, this is an insanely stupid "service" and I can't for the life of me understand why anyone takes part in it. What really irks me about the whole thing is that Blippy's irresponsibility brings about negative consequences for any merchant who does business online, any service (like mint.com) which involves sharing personal information, and really anyone who uses a credit or debit card to make purchases. The understanding that your information is never certainly safe is something that some people have all their lives, some people never realize, and some people figure out after it has harmed them. Knowing this is good, but it seems unfair to me that people after this would be less likely to do anything with their credit cards online. Online shopping has become a major part of our national and international economies, and companies like Blippy just move us further back into the Stone Age every time they do something dumb.
posted by Night_owl at 12:24 PM on April 23, 2010
posted by Night_owl at 12:24 PM on April 23, 2010
Oh, and while were talking about sharing inappropriate information. Who are these clowns on cell phones in public toilets?
Ewww!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:25 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Ewww!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:25 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Who are these clowns on cell phones in public toilets?
Leaving Minnesota for Colorado, I decide to make a stop at one of those rest areas on the side of the road. I go in the washroom. The first stall was taken so I went in the second stall. I just sat down when I hear a voice from the next stall: "Hi there, how is it going?"posted by ericb at 12:36 PM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Okay, I am not the type to strike conversations with strangers in washrooms on the side of the road. I didn't know what to say so finally I say: "Not bad..."
Then the voice says: "So, what are you doing?"
I am starting to find that a bit weird, but I say: "Well, I'm going back to Colorado..."
Then I hear the person say all flustered: "Look I'll call you back, every time I ask you a question this idiot in the next stall keeps answering me."*
Can someone here tell me where I sign up for Blippy? Sounds pretty cool.
posted by haveanicesummer at 12:42 PM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by haveanicesummer at 12:42 PM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Having some trouble reconciling the comments in this thread with the ones here. This is a blindingly obvious bad idea, but that's totally "sign me up"?
posted by sageleaf at 12:44 PM on April 23, 2010
posted by sageleaf at 12:44 PM on April 23, 2010
Uh, one posts to Facebook and the other doesn't?
posted by restless_nomad at 12:54 PM on April 23, 2010
posted by restless_nomad at 12:54 PM on April 23, 2010
Who are these clowns on cell phones in public toilets?
So I'm in the bathroom at the Sea-Tac airport and the woman in the stall next to me starts talking on her cell phone. She sighs and asks concernedly "So, how was the funeral?"
posted by stinker at 12:57 PM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
So I'm in the bathroom at the Sea-Tac airport and the woman in the stall next to me starts talking on her cell phone. She sighs and asks concernedly "So, how was the funeral?"
posted by stinker at 12:57 PM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Anyone care to sum up what 'Private Label Porn' was?
This was a site or service that pud came up with and promoted on Fucked Company. I think a buyer could specify what they wanted, so it was a personalized product.
posted by zippy at 1:00 PM on April 23, 2010
This was a site or service that pud came up with and promoted on Fucked Company. I think a buyer could specify what they wanted, so it was a personalized product.
posted by zippy at 1:00 PM on April 23, 2010
if Blippy was a good idea a week ago, it still is today after the leak.
The inverse is also true, and has the benefit of a colossal fuckup to back its position.
posted by SpiffyRob at 1:01 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
The inverse is also true, and has the benefit of a colossal fuckup to back its position.
posted by SpiffyRob at 1:01 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh, and while were talking about sharing inappropriate information. Who are these clowns on cell phones in public toilets?
True story: A couple years ago, I needed to bring in some temps to fill in for some basic office stuff. I had to give the boot to one guy on day two after 1. hearing people telling me of him just going missing for extended periods of time and 2. finding out that he was gone missing for these times because he was eating in one of our toilet stalls.
He seemed genuinely surprised when I told him I needed his keycard and that he could go home. He's probably working on Blippy these days.
posted by Skot at 1:05 PM on April 23, 2010
True story: A couple years ago, I needed to bring in some temps to fill in for some basic office stuff. I had to give the boot to one guy on day two after 1. hearing people telling me of him just going missing for extended periods of time and 2. finding out that he was gone missing for these times because he was eating in one of our toilet stalls.
He seemed genuinely surprised when I told him I needed his keycard and that he could go home. He's probably working on Blippy these days.
posted by Skot at 1:05 PM on April 23, 2010
Anyone care to sum up what 'Private Label Porn' was?
Oh, Reginald, you should really try this '07 Chateau Neuf de Skank. It has a leathery nose with hints of balloon fetish and elder bang.
posted by Pollomacho at 1:19 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh, Reginald, you should really try this '07 Chateau Neuf de Skank. It has a leathery nose with hints of balloon fetish and elder bang.
posted by Pollomacho at 1:19 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
I don't understand how it's even possible for this to happen.
That explains why mathowie will never be a visionary like pud.
posted by lukemeister at 1:20 PM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
That explains why mathowie will never be a visionary like pud.
posted by lukemeister at 1:20 PM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
2. finding out that he was gone missing for these times because he was eating in one of our toilet stalls.
If this was his explanation, it sounds ... unlikely.
posted by zippy at 1:21 PM on April 23, 2010
If this was his explanation, it sounds ... unlikely.
posted by zippy at 1:21 PM on April 23, 2010
zippy: "This was a site or service that pud came up with and promoted on Fucked Company. I think a buyer could specify what they wanted, so it was a personalized product."
Oh. Like that Brazilian guy the Something Awful goons paid to make 2 Girls 1 Cup. Only probably meant to be a *lot* more tame.
posted by graventy at 1:22 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh. Like that Brazilian guy the Something Awful goons paid to make 2 Girls 1 Cup. Only probably meant to be a *lot* more tame.
posted by graventy at 1:22 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Why on earth would CC numbers ever, ever be output in HTML?
In their defense, the credit card numbers were enclosed in a div labeled "do not use for theft."
posted by zippy at 1:24 PM on April 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
In their defense, the credit card numbers were enclosed in a div labeled "do not use for theft."
posted by zippy at 1:24 PM on April 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
So the Fucked Company guy talked some VC firm into giving him $11 million dollars to share credit card purchase data online?
WTF am I doing wrong in my life?
posted by COD at 1:34 PM on April 23, 2010 [7 favorites]
WTF am I doing wrong in my life?
posted by COD at 1:34 PM on April 23, 2010 [7 favorites]
So the Fucked Company guy talked some VC firm into giving him $11 million dollars to share credit card purchase data online?
WTF am I doing wrong in my life?
posted by COD
Maybe try getting your cash at time of purchase?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:38 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
WTF am I doing wrong in my life?
posted by COD
Maybe try getting your cash at time of purchase?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:38 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
OK, his wikipedia page is beyond useless, and all I can find searching is some offshoot Fucked Company board with people gloating over his mistakes. Anyone care to sum up what 'Private Label Porn' was?
Like it says on the tin. It was custom porn where the customer would describe the scenes they wanted and actresses and whatever.
The tale was he made one sale.
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 1:40 PM on April 23, 2010
Like it says on the tin. It was custom porn where the customer would describe the scenes they wanted and actresses and whatever.
The tale was he made one sale.
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 1:40 PM on April 23, 2010
"No, no one should be getting this."
Look Internet Fraud Detective I agree with you in principle, and was about to say I changed my mind, but then I read this: "In March, Blippy sidestepped Amazon by asking its customers for access to their Gmail accounts, and then took the purchase data from the receipts Amazon had e-mailed them. Blippy says thousands of its users have supplied the keys to their e-mail accounts;" That makes it really, REALLY hard to feel sorry for too many people on Blippy. You do something dumb, you end up getting hurt by it, well, that sucks, but you kinda asked for it. Giving a third party access to your credit card numbers so that they can share your purchases? Dumb. Also giving them the keys to your email, which due to the integrated nature of Google includes potential access to all the personal info Google has gathered about you? I have no sympathy left for you, sorry.
"Heat gun took the badges off of my car, acetone took the decals off of my bike"
Mindless consumerism is not my cup of tea either, and I did remove any and all dealer logos from my car, but... my bike? Heck no. I've been riding that brand for close to 20 years, and have had a good enough experience with them that I'd rather let people know I am riding it by choice and by preference than go all Pattern Recognition on the thing.
posted by caution live frogs at 1:58 PM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Look Internet Fraud Detective I agree with you in principle, and was about to say I changed my mind, but then I read this: "In March, Blippy sidestepped Amazon by asking its customers for access to their Gmail accounts, and then took the purchase data from the receipts Amazon had e-mailed them. Blippy says thousands of its users have supplied the keys to their e-mail accounts;" That makes it really, REALLY hard to feel sorry for too many people on Blippy. You do something dumb, you end up getting hurt by it, well, that sucks, but you kinda asked for it. Giving a third party access to your credit card numbers so that they can share your purchases? Dumb. Also giving them the keys to your email, which due to the integrated nature of Google includes potential access to all the personal info Google has gathered about you? I have no sympathy left for you, sorry.
"Heat gun took the badges off of my car, acetone took the decals off of my bike"
Mindless consumerism is not my cup of tea either, and I did remove any and all dealer logos from my car, but... my bike? Heck no. I've been riding that brand for close to 20 years, and have had a good enough experience with them that I'd rather let people know I am riding it by choice and by preference than go all Pattern Recognition on the thing.
posted by caution live frogs at 1:58 PM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
How is Blippy a less stupid idea than Mint.com, from a security point of view?
With Mint, you share your data with some unregulated poorly-secured Web 2.0 startup. With Blippy, you share your data with some unregulated poorly-secured Web 2.0 startup, plus a few friends who you choose.
Plus Mint has full access to your assets, not just your credit card transactions.
I really don't see how you can support Mint and not Blippy.
posted by miyabo at 2:07 PM on April 23, 2010
With Mint, you share your data with some unregulated poorly-secured Web 2.0 startup. With Blippy, you share your data with some unregulated poorly-secured Web 2.0 startup, plus a few friends who you choose.
Plus Mint has full access to your assets, not just your credit card transactions.
I really don't see how you can support Mint and not Blippy.
posted by miyabo at 2:07 PM on April 23, 2010
Mint's actually pretty uptight about data security. They had a few comments over on AskMe talking about it. You still may not want to do business with them, but they treat data security like something important.
posted by jessamyn at 2:09 PM on April 23, 2010
posted by jessamyn at 2:09 PM on April 23, 2010
BlippyVerts made my FICO explode.
posted by adipocere at 2:20 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by adipocere at 2:20 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh dang ericb, I just had a theory. It came to me in an intuitive flash so it must be right!
The fractured, monumentally confusing, peripatetic nature of Modern Life means that narrative doesn't work anymore. Things change too fast to freeze into a coherent story. I'm not just talking about art, I'm talking about the internal monologue running through our heads to tell us what we are doing, stuff as basic as where we are fixed in time and space.
So people talking through purchases at the grocery store or texting their whereabouts at shows or Blippying or what-have-you aren't merely relaying information their intimates, they are attempting, piece by piece, to create a coherent story out of the random activities of their lives. The farther you deviate from habit and routine, as when you are travelling, the more compelling the impulse is. ("We've just landed...I'm getting my bag...I'm walking down the aisle...I'm narrowly averting an existential crises...I'm entering the jetway...." and so on.)
I have no doubt that not only have others advanced this theory before, but that it's been widely published, discussed, blogged, and rejected by sophisticated people for something much better. However, the fractured monumentally confusing hominahomina of today's modern hooha means I'm not even going to try to investigate any of this further. In fact, an hour from now I'll have forgotten I made this comment at all. Or that Blippy exists. I look forward to that shining future.
posted by melissa may at 2:24 PM on April 23, 2010 [19 favorites]
The fractured, monumentally confusing, peripatetic nature of Modern Life means that narrative doesn't work anymore. Things change too fast to freeze into a coherent story. I'm not just talking about art, I'm talking about the internal monologue running through our heads to tell us what we are doing, stuff as basic as where we are fixed in time and space.
So people talking through purchases at the grocery store or texting their whereabouts at shows or Blippying or what-have-you aren't merely relaying information their intimates, they are attempting, piece by piece, to create a coherent story out of the random activities of their lives. The farther you deviate from habit and routine, as when you are travelling, the more compelling the impulse is. ("We've just landed...I'm getting my bag...I'm walking down the aisle...I'm narrowly averting an existential crises...I'm entering the jetway...." and so on.)
I have no doubt that not only have others advanced this theory before, but that it's been widely published, discussed, blogged, and rejected by sophisticated people for something much better. However, the fractured monumentally confusing hominahomina of today's modern hooha means I'm not even going to try to investigate any of this further. In fact, an hour from now I'll have forgotten I made this comment at all. Or that Blippy exists. I look forward to that shining future.
posted by melissa may at 2:24 PM on April 23, 2010 [19 favorites]
So the Fucked Company guy talked some VC firm into giving him $11 million dollars to share credit card purchase data online?
True fact that I've learnt in my few brushes with VC: money and good sense do not always go together.
posted by Skeptic at 2:52 PM on April 23, 2010
True fact that I've learnt in my few brushes with VC: money and good sense do not always go together.
posted by Skeptic at 2:52 PM on April 23, 2010
Keep your eyes peeled for invites to the beta of my new social media site, Robbr.
If some credit card details have fallen into your lap due to the coinciding of shameless attention whores and clueless web developers, you can log in to your Robbr account and post what loot you've blagged with them. See what major scores others have made, tag jobs where you were an accomplice and play Grass Or Not. Swap tips for alarm evasion and barrel-sawing via the exciting Robbr Crimmunities, and set up We Miss You fanpages for anyone whose status has changed to: Busy For 12-15 Years.
posted by reynir at 2:52 PM on April 23, 2010
If some credit card details have fallen into your lap due to the coinciding of shameless attention whores and clueless web developers, you can log in to your Robbr account and post what loot you've blagged with them. See what major scores others have made, tag jobs where you were an accomplice and play Grass Or Not. Swap tips for alarm evasion and barrel-sawing via the exciting Robbr Crimmunities, and set up We Miss You fanpages for anyone whose status has changed to: Busy For 12-15 Years.
posted by reynir at 2:52 PM on April 23, 2010
"Heat gun took the badges off of my car, acetone took the decals off of my bike"
Will Self - my current intellectual crush - did just this with his car.
posted by mippy at 2:55 PM on April 23, 2010
Will Self - my current intellectual crush - did just this with his car.
posted by mippy at 2:55 PM on April 23, 2010
We must immediately lock up writer/director Terry Gilliam until he tells us everything else he knows about the future.
Can't I just have tea with him?
posted by Evilspork at 2:56 PM on April 23, 2010
Can't I just have tea with him?
posted by Evilspork at 2:56 PM on April 23, 2010
a-and the competitor to Blippy is to be called Swipely?
Give your credit card details to Blippy and yer being incautious.
Give your credit card details to Swipely, well, damn.
I plan to set one of these up ASAP. Help me with the cute Web 2.0 name, willya?
Bilkme
Robmi
Ruptme
Scammy
Miner409er
Pilfr
u.s.w....
posted by chavenet at 3:15 PM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Give your credit card details to Blippy and yer being incautious.
Give your credit card details to Swipely, well, damn.
I plan to set one of these up ASAP. Help me with the cute Web 2.0 name, willya?
Bilkme
Robmi
Ruptme
Scammy
Miner409er
Pilfr
u.s.w....
posted by chavenet at 3:15 PM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Pilfr
That would be the site where you upload and share all your pharmaceutical prescriptions
posted by device55 at 3:44 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
That would be the site where you upload and share all your pharmaceutical prescriptions
posted by device55 at 3:44 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
I don't dare -- he's like Mary Worth. He may appear in the mirror and steal my soul while picking my pocket.
... However, the fractured monumentally confusing hominahomina of today's modern hooha means I'm not even going to try to investigate any of this further. In fact, an hour from now I'll have forgotten I made this comment at all. Or that Blippy exists.
I love it when MeFites post while stoned. More please.
posted by mrgrimm at 4:08 PM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
... However, the fractured monumentally confusing hominahomina of today's modern hooha means I'm not even going to try to investigate any of this further. In fact, an hour from now I'll have forgotten I made this comment at all. Or that Blippy exists.
I love it when MeFites post while stoned. More please.
posted by mrgrimm at 4:08 PM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
I don't think it was particularly dumb to assume that the raw data was safe. It SHOULD be safe, if the systems that write the logs have any sense at all.
Keep reading that over and over again to yourself, and you'll find the problem.
posted by rokusan at 4:11 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Keep reading that over and over again to yourself, and you'll find the problem.
posted by rokusan at 4:11 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'll throw this one out: genetically engineered, toothless dick-sucking monkey that connect to the internet.
Well, I don't know about the genetically engineered part, but...
posted by rokusan at 4:12 PM on April 23, 2010
Well, I don't know about the genetically engineered part, but...
posted by rokusan at 4:12 PM on April 23, 2010
Plus Mint has full access to your assets, not just your credit card transactions.
I really don't see how you can support Mint and not Blippy.
Mint's actually pretty uptight about data security.
Well, they say they are. And Blippy would have said the same thing, yesterday.
One guy answering a question about (Mint/Blippy) today does not ensure the entire future of the enterprise, the skills it may employ, or the values it may hold tomorrow. But your data? That lives across generations.
posted by rokusan at 4:15 PM on April 23, 2010
I really don't see how you can support Mint and not Blippy.
Mint's actually pretty uptight about data security.
Well, they say they are. And Blippy would have said the same thing, yesterday.
One guy answering a question about (Mint/Blippy) today does not ensure the entire future of the enterprise, the skills it may employ, or the values it may hold tomorrow. But your data? That lives across generations.
posted by rokusan at 4:15 PM on April 23, 2010
Next from Blippy: Bliproulette!, in which you show your credit card to a stranger on the Internet.
posted by lukemeister at 5:43 PM on April 23, 2010 [9 favorites]
posted by lukemeister at 5:43 PM on April 23, 2010 [9 favorites]
That it involves a guy who formerly ran a site called "Fucked Company" just takes the cake.
Pud was involved in this company? Fucked Company was an acerbic blog about Silicon Valley failures in the middle of the dot com implosion. He was obnoxious even though his blog did give some of us who were directly affected a bit of an outlet, but it's interesting that he doesn't seem so cynical when the vc money is flowing.
posted by krinklyfig at 6:21 PM on April 23, 2010
Pud was involved in this company? Fucked Company was an acerbic blog about Silicon Valley failures in the middle of the dot com implosion. He was obnoxious even though his blog did give some of us who were directly affected a bit of an outlet, but it's interesting that he doesn't seem so cynical when the vc money is flowing.
posted by krinklyfig at 6:21 PM on April 23, 2010
I don't understand how it's even possible for this to happen.
If they were adhering to PCI compliance, it wouldn't have. I'm sure they will get examined soon enough.
posted by krinklyfig at 6:25 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
If they were adhering to PCI compliance, it wouldn't have. I'm sure they will get examined soon enough.
posted by krinklyfig at 6:25 PM on April 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm sure they will get examined soon enough.
"A lawyer who talked to VentureBeat on background — that’s reporter-speak for 'he doesn’t want us to use his name' — thinks that Blippy needs to prepare for a pile-on of opportunists, government regulators, and just-plain-mad customers.posted by ericb at 6:49 PM on April 23, 2010
...Blippy’s biggest worry may be that the company has failed to comply with Federal Trade Commission rules on protecting customer privacy.
'Noncompliance could open a company up to an FTC law enforcement action,' our lawyer source said, 'including civil penalties and injunctive relief,' which means the company could be ordered to pay fines, or to perform actions that range all the way up to going out of business. In 2000, a judge ordered file-sharing service Napster to shut down.
Also, in America consumers are also allowed to separately sue businesses that don’t comply with the law. They can collect payments both for perceived damages, and to cover their own attorney’s fees. Now that it’s widely known the company has recently closed $11.2 million in funding, the odds are higher than before that lawyers will look for ways to sue."*
internet fraud detective squad, station number 9: "graventy: "Back in the day, when we were evolving and living in small, dense groups of people, we would know much more about each other's day-to-day life than we do now. We wouldn't need to twitter about our sandwich, we would already be within range of most of our important people so they would already know about our sandwich."
You had a sandwich??? Please allow me to subscribe to you RSS feed!
posted by Kskomsvold at 8:25 PM on April 23, 2010
You had a sandwich??? Please allow me to subscribe to you RSS feed!
posted by Kskomsvold at 8:25 PM on April 23, 2010
If that's a ham sandwich, I'd appreciate it if you didn't sit so close to me on the subway.
posted by rokusan at 9:22 PM on April 23, 2010
posted by rokusan at 9:22 PM on April 23, 2010
Unfortunately, I highly doubt that the US will ever implement sensible privacy measures like those that exist in the EU.
The same EU that has an insane number of CCTVs?
I think everyone acts like you can talk about the amount of privacy (either in black or white terms or in matters of degree) when really it's more accurate to talk about the nature of privacy. So in the UK maybe there aren't grocery store membership cards but nearly every minute of your non-residential life is captured on video. And in small villages in developing countries no one knows your "personal information" but they do know everything about you, your family, and if you made love last night, they heard it.
I find the easiest way for me to deal with the nature of privacy in the US is to consider that I am not that important. Even if they have personal, identifiable information about me in Google, Facebook, etc. the truth is my value as a piece of information directly linking to my name and address is not that much more useful than a generic hashkey in the database.
All that said, I was a little freaked out when I saw an ad on Facebook a year or so ago asking me if I was looking for an interfaith minister for a marriage. I'd just gotten engaged to dancingfruitbat. I'm Jewish, she's not. Obviously, this was information we'd both made freely available but it was still a bit jarring to see it used so accurately (we did end up using an interfaith minister, but not one advertised by Facebook). It definitely made me think carefully about the kind of information I want to make available.
posted by Deathalicious at 6:40 AM on April 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
The same EU that has an insane number of CCTVs?
I think everyone acts like you can talk about the amount of privacy (either in black or white terms or in matters of degree) when really it's more accurate to talk about the nature of privacy. So in the UK maybe there aren't grocery store membership cards but nearly every minute of your non-residential life is captured on video. And in small villages in developing countries no one knows your "personal information" but they do know everything about you, your family, and if you made love last night, they heard it.
I find the easiest way for me to deal with the nature of privacy in the US is to consider that I am not that important. Even if they have personal, identifiable information about me in Google, Facebook, etc. the truth is my value as a piece of information directly linking to my name and address is not that much more useful than a generic hashkey in the database.
All that said, I was a little freaked out when I saw an ad on Facebook a year or so ago asking me if I was looking for an interfaith minister for a marriage. I'd just gotten engaged to dancingfruitbat. I'm Jewish, she's not. Obviously, this was information we'd both made freely available but it was still a bit jarring to see it used so accurately (we did end up using an interfaith minister, but not one advertised by Facebook). It definitely made me think carefully about the kind of information I want to make available.
posted by Deathalicious at 6:40 AM on April 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
Well, I don't know about the genetically engineered part, but...
Clearly, you are man who knows a genius bad idea when he sees one. Think of the sales to truck drivers alone! And I got a million more ideas just as bad as that one!
My prospectus. Let me show you it.
posted by vibrotronica at 1:40 PM on April 24, 2010
Clearly, you are man who knows a genius bad idea when he sees one. Think of the sales to truck drivers alone! And I got a million more ideas just as bad as that one!
My prospectus. Let me show you it.
posted by vibrotronica at 1:40 PM on April 24, 2010
in the UK maybe there aren't grocery store membership cards
Ahem.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 9:33 PM on April 24, 2010
Ahem.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 9:33 PM on April 24, 2010
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*amazon.com . . . create new account*
posted by Think_Long at 9:27 AM on April 23, 2010